We Built This Mess: AI, Power, and the Human Cost of Moving Fast With Katrina German

Описание: AI is changing everything, but the real crisis is trust, and leaders are not measuring the human cost.

In this 2026 episode of *Product for Humans*, Christa Hill gets into it with Katrina German, one of Canada’s clearest voices on ethical digital leadership.

They start with what sparked Katrina’s recent media coverage: AI-enabled harassment and the rise of synthetic sexualized imagery used to silence women online. From there, the conversation zooms out to a bigger question: how did we go from early internet guardrails to today’s “terms of service as consent” reality, and what does that mean for Canadians trying to lead through platform power, misinformation, and fragile digital infrastructure?

Then they shift to the human side. Katrina names the thing many leaders feel but cannot articulate: *technostress*. They talk boundaries, organizational clarity, and why leaders in 2026 have one job above all else: rebuilding trust.

They wrap with a fast, fun “Smash or Pass” round on AI self-regulation, unenforced principles, and the myth that we are “too early” to govern.


WHAT WE COVER

Why AI-generated sexualized imagery is being used to silence women online, and why platforms cannot shrug it off as “user responsibility.”
The media problem: whose voices get airtime, and what it costs when expert women get clipped to one sentence
A practical solution for journalists and experts: Informed Perspectives, a network that helps match media with expert women
Regulation memory loss: what Canadians already regulated well (and why we stopped pushing for the same accountability in social platforms)
Platform power vs public interest: why commercial incentives are not the same as societal stewardship
Canada’s opportunity moment: and why “building our own” is back on the table
The human cost of constant change: technostress, burnout signals, and what leaders are asking people to carry
What leaders must prioritize in 2026: *trust as a strategic pillar*, not a brand value
Smash or Pass lightning round: self-regulation, terms of service, “responsible AI” without enforcement, and leadership literacy

GUEST
Katrina German is the Founder and CEO of *Ethical Digital*. Her work focuses on ethical digital leadership, trust, and helping organizations build human-centred digital strategy with real accountability.

WEBSITES MENTIONED
https://www.katrinagerman.com/
https://www.ethicaldigital.ca/
  / katrinagerman  
https://informedperspectives.org/
https://informedopinions.org/
https://ised-isde.canada.ca/site/cana...
https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/internet/anti/...
https://www.edelman.com/trust/2026/tr...


Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Context of the Conversation
07:27 The Mess We Built: Regulation and Technology
26:00 The Human Cost of Not Measuring
26:58 Navigating Emotional Responses in a Digital World
28:29 The Importance of Self-Care in Tech
30:19 Understanding Techno Stress and Burnout
32:35 Strategies for Managing Tech Overload
36:49 The Future of AI: Integration or Opt-Out?
39:13 Building Trust in the Age of Technology
44:14 The Role of Ethics in AI Development