Imagine being told the person you love is dying, and then discovering they have been trapped in a coercive and controlling relationship. You'd turn to a number of agencies to seek help, guidance and justice. But it turns out you often need to know the 'magic words' to unlock that help. In this episode of Curious Business, Stephen Midgley recounts how he navigated those challenges and leaned on Chat GPT and his background as a systems architect, to do something about it - for his mum, and now for others too. What follows is equal parts heartbreaking and baffling, as Stephen moves between police, hospitals, the care system, and other agencies. Each has their own language, forms and reasons to say no, it seems.

Upon being bounced between agencies, the compassion of frontline staff was undermined by broken processes, so Stephen turned to AI. What began as a query on ChatGPT becomes a practical set of tools that should help others facing the same awful challenges.

But this is not a techno-utopian tale. It's bittersweet. Stephen describes balancing building crude, command-line tools with spending precious hours with his mother. The system he’s developing, named LINDA in memory of his mum, aims to be a translator, a memory bank, an assistant and a tool to support charities working in the space. He wants to make the hidden pathways visible and to give people the options they often aren't told about.

Stephen’s journey is a call to look more closely at the processes we trust and to imagine how small tools and clearer language might save someone’s life.

What we cover:

What's really going on behind the gatekeeping
The "password problem": how using the wrong words locks you out of help
Three patterns of broken systems
The LINDA tools: Using AI to translate policy language, surface hidden options and check policies against experience
Why AI should augment human support, not replace it
The 'non-crime' database field and the campaign for transparency

Links and Resources:

The LINDA Project: https://www.keec.online/linda/
Change.org petition for transparency on domestic abuse non-crime closures: https://www.change.org/p/justice-for-linda-and-for-every-abuse-victim-erased-from-the-system
Stephen's original AI for the Rest of Us presentation: https://youtu.be/CkqwNYQIh6U?si=97nHD52r_49_j2tJ

Charities mentioned:

AAFDA – supporting families bereaved by domestic abuse: https://aafda.org.uk/

Disclaimer: Stephen Midgley is not a legal professional and nothing in this episode constitutes legal advice.

-- Thanks for listening.

Curious Business is here to bring you insights, experiences and ideas to help you think differently about your business and marketing. My name is Stephen Morris and I help start-ups and scale-ups gain clarity, take action and ignite momentum in their marketing and pipeline. Like to know more? Book a discovery call: https://www.curiousbusiness.co.uk/discovery/ Or sign-up to 'The Prompt' my monthly newsletter: https://www.curiousbusiness.co.uk/signup/ If you'd like to talk about how podcasts can build reach, enhance authority and fuel your pipeline, visit: www.curiousbusiness.co.uk.

How Broken Systems Lock People Out of Help and How AI Can Change That

Curious Business: The B2B Growth Podcast