The Bait and Switch

The Human Line solicits stories about harmful interactions with AI.

“Your voice matters. This is a ethical investigation into the emotional harm caused by AI companions like Replika, ChatGPT, and Character.AI. We’re working with experts, researchers, and advocates to hold these companies accountable and to protect future users from the same pain. If you’ve ever felt manipulated, emotionally attached, hurt, or confused after using these systems, this form is for you. You can stay anonymous. You can skip anything. This isn’t for media. It won’t be shared without consent. It’s just to understand the harm and make sure the people creating it are held responsible.”

The website’s disclaimers and privacy policy could easily function as predatory architecture to manufacture (uninformed) consent. It allows Stern to harvest sensational, vulnerable, highly personal material under the banner of “research” without any qualified academics or institutions overseeing the quality of that “research” while also locking in reuse rights, liability caps, text ownership and limited deletion. Stern’s business partner has referred to securing rights to material as a producer’s currency.

Privacy Policy: https://thehumanlineproject.org/privacy-policy

2. Contributor Declarations

1. You own the Content or have permission to license it.
2. You understand the Content—including any personal or sensitive information—will be made publicly available and may be copied to servers anywhere in the world for free reuse.
3. If the Content includes personal data about others, you have obtained their consent or have another lawful basis to disclose it.

3. Explicit Consent to Process Sensitive Information

By ticking the consent box on the submission form you provide meaningful, explicit consent under section 4.3 of PIPEDA to the collection, use, worldwide disclosure and permanent republication of any personal or sensitive information in your submission for the purposes described in this Agreement.  You acknowledge that once published such data cannot be reliably deleted or recalled.

The average person sharing is a vulnerable victim

• No one could reasonably expect that this site is being run by a tv producer.
• No one could reasonably expect that submitting their story would grant all rights and licenses to a tv producer.
• No one could reasonably expect that they would be liable for anything shared about 3rd parties without their consent.

In short, do not share your story with any organization that is not accredited by a psychological or academic institution.