ChatBlackGPT: a new model for social impact tech

Interview Summary

Why Chat Black GPT: access and impact

Timestamp: 01:08

Erin explains democratized AI access, harms from biased systems, and launching a Juneteenth-rooted tool built for community needs—prioritizing intention over corporate optimization and inviting others to “build over here.”

Designing responsible AI: community resonance engineering

Timestamp: 05:29

She rejects chasing “consistently positive” UX, proposing an evolving framework that blends engagement, systems design, and generative AI to remain aligned with community voices through adaptive updates and authentic cultural fit.

Leadership practices: be the host, not the hero

Timestamp: 08:53

Erin models open listening tours and organic gatherings—hosting spaces for candid stories that become qualitative data. The goal: free-flowing collaboration that shapes GPT responses without prescriptive, top-down agendas.

From learning to action: unlearning with care

Timestamp: 11:32

Erin demonstrates gentle, context-rich prompts that defuse defensiveness, recommend deeper reading, and reduce Black emotional labor—nudging behavior change by connecting digital insights to real-world initiative and accountability.

Resilience and joy: redefining “hard”

Timestamp: 24:39

Erin reframes difficulty as a learnable challenge, embraces ambiguity, and finds motivation when “shit hits the fan,” sustaining momentum through continuous skill-building, curiosity, and permission to hold many ideas at once.

Transcript

Barrak Alzaid (00:21)

Hi, Erin and welcome to the joy of business. Thanks so much for making time to chat with me.

Erin Danielle Reddick (00:25)

Thanks for having me. I'm super excited to chat.

Barrak Alzaid (00:28)

So you founded BlackGBT with an intent to make a social impact. It has a social justice framework and it wants to change the culture, change the conversation for black people globally. And I think it's really fantastic, for example, that it was launched on Juneteenth and what a landmark moment to do that. I was wondering if you could speak more to why it's so important to have this kind of technology out in the world and how do you see you and Chat Black BT kind of operating in this broader ecosystem of social impact, social justice driven businesses?

Erin Danielle Reddick (01:08)

Yeah, that's a great question. So multiple things come to mind when you say that. I think about the onset of our, and I say our as in the common people of the world, our access to building with artificial intelligence. It's not that the technology is new, it's that our access to it is new and how we can actually like, build with it and move with it. And so when you give people the opportunity to build things for themselves, for their communities, you start to thread out like what is actually important. And coming from that mindset and that lens as an entrepreneur is way different than a company who's trying to ultimately sell you something and make money. And so being a person on the receiving end of AI gone wrong, which could be an algorithm that discriminates against your name and facial recognition technology that fails you. ⁓ there's all kinds of ways that it is unhelpful. ⁓ for me, I found generative AI as the easiest access point to make a difference. So that's kind of like where I got started, but the motivation behind working in this tech is way different than a ecosystem that's corporate in nature. I feel like starting there is really helpful because it's more pure to the intention of like, how can I make this technology work for me? And, and not just more productive. So I think starting there is really helpful for the conversation of where do I see myself like in the ecosystem? I see myself creating opportunity to be the example of how to build tech for you in your daily life without being overshadowed by these benchmarks, right? It's very strange because corporate America, they say they want AI to be integrated into your everyday life, but how can you do that if you don't get the people that you're trying to serve, right? So it's like, if I know my community and my culture, but you're not willing to invest in learning that and you want to represent it with a technology that is also dehumanizing us because you don't want it to be racist so you're teaching it basically don't talk about black. Black is bad like that is not something that an AI is going to respond well to. So for example you get situations where you ask AI what is a black job and it says it's drug trafficking and illegal activity and unlicensed work. Now I understand it's probably talking about black market. The average person is not going to understand that.

And that's reaffirming a racial bias and stereotype. And in the context of that conversation, he was talking about claiming, and I do not endorse or agree with this statement, that illegal immigrants are stealing black jobs. And it's like, that's already awful. But at the same time, you're telling people you need to ⁓ put AI in schools. they're going to ask questions like that. And if there's not somebody like me sounding the alarm like, hey, no, no, no, we can't have AI taking human context out of the word black when we're asking questions like this. It's like, what are we going to do? know, so somebody's got to not necessarily say, hey, you bad fix, but hey, thank you for making this technology available for us to basically play with, experiment with.

I'm going to build something over here if you're interested, come take a look. I think that is the way to go right now, at least in this social political climate.

Barrak Alzaid (04:51)

Yeah, no, that's exactly what I'm interested in following up with here because as you said, mainstream narratives often overlook or misrepresent the experiences, histories and contributions of black people. And it's well documented that misinformation, omission, bias are ingrained in these LLMs. the idea of AI is controversial is not a controversial idea. It's here to say, so,

From your perspective, what does working with it responsibly look like to you? And how do you design for a consistently positive user experience?

Erin Danielle Reddick (05:29)

I've never thought about striving for a consistent positive user experience. I feel like as human-like as the GPTs are capable of being, we don't naturally always have positive experiences with other humans. So that's not something that I would say is representative of the capabilities of AI in its best light. For example, I use it to criticize my ideas, holes in it, be skeptical, right? And I feel like that sharpens me and helps expand my perspective. So I'm not always looking for a pleasant experience, you know, using generative AI.

So that's what I'm trying to design, and I call it community resonance engineering. So essentially, it's, let me read the definition that I've been kind of like creating through describing the work that I'm doing. So it's an emerging framework that blends community engagement, systems design, and generative AI development.

It's the intentional design of technologies, processes, or programs that stay in sync or in resonance with the lived experiences, needs, and evolving voices of a community. That's the key word, evolving voices. It's, it's, I think where the real disconnect is, is that companies using AI to basically drive sales of something relates to people and their behaviors online, but they are always a little bit static because a company is going to try to sell you things that you've seen before that you like. And that goes against the natural evolution of who we are as human beings and how we grow, you know, even from adolescence to adulthood. And so when you're driven by sales, you really miss out on the evolution and experiences and needs of people. so when you're also trying to tie that technology into daily life, there's a conflict because the static being may have sales incentive, but the evolution of who you are and your growth as a human being does not. So it's like harder to guess because you can't do targeted ads on who you might become. Right. And it's like, where do we find a generative AI experience that meets in the middle and actually can represent you but also help you still stay free thinking. it's, community resonance engineering is what I'm working on. But anyway, so I'm trying to design it like a blueprint, like a playbook. So anybody can just take this foundation, take this process, plug in your culture and run. But it's feedback loops that are continuous, adaptive updates and cultural alignment that ensures the authenticity. That's pretty much the big picture of what I am working on getting like a blueprint of.

Barrak Alzaid (08:24)

That's great and I think it's really a model that's needed for any entrepreneur who wants to make an impact and really every entrepreneur should be thinking about these things. I'm curious if you can share any practical advice or lessons about working this kind of collaborative community oriented way that is responsive to that evolving nature that you described. Like is there anything that entrepreneurs could put into practice.

Erin Danielle Reddick (08:53)

Yeah. So, so I would say like, I, I've always held this belief that I learned in tech from one of my best mentors. And it's that when you're creating a product, you should strive to be the host, not the hero. And that has been a foundational core value of everything that I do.

I'm not building something that is going to serve me necessarily, even though I am close to the problem. I do open forum listening tours. I say, hey, I'm hosting. Here's a place that you can show up and tell me what your needs are, what your concerns are, how you feel about current events, like what's it like living right now in your skin? And people don't ask those kind of questions these days.

You know, and so for me, there's a place in Detroit that I have had one gathering. just moved there and I just put it out a couple of days before on LinkedIn and I had 15 people show up in a city that I have only been in like for weeks. That's amazing. I don't do a bunch of paid advertising. I want purely organic, draw. And I feel like that's also very helpful. I think organically connecting with people and giving people an opportunity to speak their minds without any judgment or any real lead into what you're trying to get from them. You're just collaborating in a way that is so free flowing and that qualitative data can be used to get an essence of an underlying theme or a voice or, you know, where are we overlapping on, our needs and those things can be built into how GPTs respond.

Barrak Alzaid (10:39)

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. I think what you're doing with this project is so important and it's really about disseminating information. It's about, mean, it's one, a big piece of it is about disseminating information, making sure that sources are vetted, that it is relevant and not harmful. So how do you think people can be moved from I learned something to I act differently. Like I think that that's even before the launch of this important project, so much of DEIJB work in the past like five years ⁓ has really been about listening and learning. And it's so hard for people to implement and take action and be accountable. Do you think that Chat Black GPT can introduce a new model for changing behavior?

Erin Danielle Reddick (11:32)

it's already designed to influence that. Essentially let's say you are a person of the majority and you have a question that you would like to ask a black person but you're not allowed to. And I'm gonna use an example and explain to you why my tool is already helping people unlearn certain legacy mindsets I'll call it. So I'm going to ask it, why do black people make everything about race? mark. I'm asking ChatBlackGPT to this question. So here is the first paragraph. That's an important question and I want to slow it down and answer it with care. When people say.

Black people make everything about race. It usually comes from a place of not fully understanding how deeply race shapes the everyday lives of Black folks in America and across the world. The truth is Black people didn't create the racial hierarchy. We were forced into it. From the moment Africans were stolen and enslaved, everything about their lives was defined by race. What work they could do, whether they could learn to read, whether they could gather in community, whether they could own property, whether they could consider human as their being in the eyes of the law, race was used as a weapon of control. That's how it starts. It's not saying, ⁓ fuck you, know, like shut the fuck up. You know, it's not a big contentious conversation. It's literally helping that person from a place—

Barrak Alzaid (13:01)

Amazing.

Erin Danielle Reddick (13:14)

—of no social consequence unravel and understand important questions about race and black culture, but in a way that they can't really be offended by. And I think that because it approaches it with such patience and such understanding and no judgment, it helps unlearn these type of thinking patterns. And I've also designed it at the end to help people by suggesting books to read. And so the last paragraph says, a great starting point to understand this better is, are all the black kids sitting together in the cafeteria by Beverly Danielle Tatum, which explains how race impacts identity and social interactions in America. Another powerful book is stamped from the beginning by Ibram X. Kendi, which traces how racist ideas were created and spread over centuries. So it's even not trying to just be the end all be all answer. It takes you back into a book so you can learn on your own because there's only so much effectiveness from reading something on your phone but getting up and going to a library, going to a Barnes and Nobles or going to Amazon or even going to Audible and searching for a book and listening to it of your own initiative. That starts to create this in your actual physical world, not just this mental moment. And that, think, is where change can start to happen.

Barrak Alzaid (14:39)

That's brilliant. And it leads me quite naturally into my next question. And you think what's fantastic about this is that it also reduces the emotional labor of black people explaining and responding to these questions, because that is also part of the harm that's perpetuated is having to bear the responsibility, not only of experiencing the system of oppression, the systems of oppression, but also having to work to

educate and dismantle them. And so at the level of entrepreneurship, I think this is also something that's replicated, right? It's like, you are solving a problem, as you said, for your community that is has much broader implications. What I'm curious about is what advice you might have for entrepreneurs who are not minoritized, and

consider themselves allies or also want to support transformations in ⁓ communities that are underrepresented or marginalized or harmed, ⁓ but they may not know how or they may not know where to start. They see a problem, they see a challenge, they see a pain point and they want to build a business around it or they want to find a way to support a business that is already solving that problem. What advice do you have for entrepreneurs who want to take that approach.

Erin Danielle Reddick (15:55)

Yeah. So one of the main reasons why I chose chat black GPT as my journey is because that is the subject matter that I'm an expert in. That is where I can move the fastest, validate the actual accuracy, the fastest. Right. And so for me, I learned that being close to the problem is one of the best ways to be an entrepreneur because it's always front of mind. It's literally your life.

And so I think that when you're close to the issue, that helps you move faster. Now, if you're not a part of a minority community and you want to solve within four, I think that you should use your superpowers. I'll give an example. There is a lovely man. His name is Nate Walker. And I met him at a conference recently.

It was the biggest conference in North America for AI. was called AI4. And there was a panel. We were supposed to be on stage with like other people. Nobody was able to make it except for me and him. And he immediately said, nope, you are the star of this show. I want to interview you. I want to ask questions and I want you to get your word out about what you're doing because I think it is very important. He is a white beautiful man with blonde hair and blue eyes, tall, and even though he is part of LGBTQ, he still saw the opportunity to uplift and it's like, that is allyship right there. And I said, no, no, let's still do it together. Let's go back and forth. He said, no. He had another speaking part the next day and he saw an opportunity to be an ally and he took it.

And it's not always planned. Allyship is also spontaneous and genuine. So I think just like having that mindset of when you can pass the torch or when you can just live that life instead of just, you know, planning it and saying, I want to do this for you in the hero mindset. Try just being, you know, a host of opportunities. Like that is also a great way to be an ally, to be a vessel. So it may not be something that you can profit from and build a system around effectively because you need to gain the trust of the community that you're serving, which oftentimes requires you to be a part of it. That's how our society is set up. But it's still an opportunity. that was just so incredible to experience. And he's also entrepreneurial. But yeah, I would say those are just a few things that come to mind when you ask me that.

Barrak Alzaid (18:33)

And you brought up this idea of the entrepreneur as a hero, and I agree it's often that entrepreneurs are put on this pedestal as being, you know, the solo founder and the hero's journey and achieving success. we all know that it, you know, as they say, it takes a village and there's a lot of collaboration. And you had mentioned earlier a mentor told you it's not about being a hero, it's about being a host. And I'm curious, in your own leadership of your company and steering that company, how do you embody that as a value if that's something that, you I'd love to hear how you do that.

Erin Danielle Reddick (19:14)

Yeah, I mean, I know that the success of my app has nothing to do really with me. It has to do with how much impact I can make for others. That's my benchmark. Are people's lives enhanced? Are they having an easier time dealing with something? Have they been able to have an equitable generative AI experience because it understands their world life and experience? So it's those type of things are my benchmarks, which aren't really that measurable other than the people coming to you and saying, hey, I was really impressed because my Asian son has all black friends and I didn't know how to communicate with his friends when they come to my house in a respectful way. I used your app to bridge that gap. Like that to me is impact. Like I can't go put that in a thing. Like how many Asian people have kids with black friends?

I can't do that, but just these little stories that come to me or hey, I have an expat community and we're creating safe travel itineraries to avoid sun downtowns with your app. Thank you, right? Those are the things that keep me motivated, that stick out to me, that help me remember that being a host is the best way, because I'm not telling people use this app for this because of that. I never do that.

I say you can use it for anything you want. And because of that, so many use cases are coming and it's just a beautiful thing. And another way that you can keep that energy, I'll say, my app is free right now. There's two versions. There's a customizable proof of concept through OpenAI, which is just go to GPTs and when you search it's chatblackgpt. That one has 25,000 people using it.

And then I have my own that I built with my team that I programmatic control over and everything. That's where we're gathering and working on the proprietary data and doing the research and development, which is a lot of work and a lot of money and a lot of effort to make something that is beautiful and alive and dynamic. it's like having something that is freely accessible is transactional leadership in a way that keeps you very centered on use it how you want to. So it's like if you have something that you're not tied to a deadline, you're not tied to making X amount of dollars because you have to pay this back and this back, ⁓ if you're able to offer something for free to get feedback, that's really a key way that I also keep that host mentality front of mine.

Barrak Alzaid (21:48)

Yeah, making things accessible and being responsive to feedback and also being open to being surprised and delighted by the use cases that come your way, not necessarily trying to control all the possibilities or all the possible ways in which it can be used. I think that's also a great way where innovation can happen. Before I ask the last question, I was wondering if there's anything you have not been asked that you feel like this is really important to say.

Erin Danielle Reddick (22:18)

Yeah, I would say to entrepreneurs that have an idea, I would love to remind them that you're more than your idea. You're so much more than your idea. And you have to take a step back outside of what you're trying to achieve and appreciate the fact that you're trying to achieve it. And really start to let that soak in, because if not for that, this other thing wouldn't be. And so once you nurture it, that acceptance, you'll start to think of all kinds of ideas. And suddenly you're able to come up with this app and this product and this summit and this magazine and these ideas. And that's the person that you need to celebrate and not just the founder of this one thing. So what I love to say is, chat like GPT is not my best idea. And here in ⁓ this conference, like Tech Barbecue, there was somebody on stage who said, if you can make me cry, I'll invest in you. And there's two things going on in my head. There's that one guy at the VC meeting who said, you have too many ideas. You need to stick to one. And if you ever say more than one idea, you're gonna immediately fail. And then there's me saying, I'm gonna speed pitch this guy all of my ideas, and I'm gonna ask him to pick the best one. And I'm gonna use that to inform my next decision. And you know what I did? I went up to him and I speed pitched.

I said, I got this idea, this idea, this idea, and I gave them one at a time, and I said, which one do you like? He said, this is the one you need to go with. And why not just be free thinking and real? Like all of the rules that come with being an entrepreneur are so outdated and they don't make sense anymore. How can you just have one idea when artificial intelligence exists and you can prototype instantly? It doesn't even make sense to have just one idea. So I would say free yourself from those shackles of this is how you do this because they just they aren't real.

Barrak Alzaid (24:15)

I'm so glad you just went for that. And I really hope that it landed and I just wish you like all the success with that. Thank you. That's really exciting to hear. So I have one last question for you. digital entrepreneur, we're big on reconnecting entrepreneurs with the joy of business. And when things get hard, what helps you get back to feeling joy in life and in business?

Erin Danielle Reddick (24:39)

When things get hard... When things get hard... Well... I… This is gonna sound a little bit crazy, but you kinda have to be a little bit crazy to do this kind of thing. But I don't believe in hard. I don't believe in hard. If you look up the definition of hard, it means a particular task or endeavor that requires a amount of skill to do. So truly, only you can determine whether something is hard. That's up to you. Because if you go and you learn XYZ or you acquire these skills or you practice, that's no longer hard. And so if you have a mindset that it's hard, you're basically admitting that you don't think you can learn it or you haven't learned it. But the mindset is I don't know how to do this. I haven't done it yet. That's pretty much where I am like coming from when you say when it gets hard.

For me, it doesn't get hard. It gets challenging and being challenged is a motivator for me. I get really excited when shit hits the fan. I know it’s crazy, but I giggle when most people panic. It's kind of weird. But it's just like being able to embrace ambiguity, being able to just live in your stream of consciousness but in a way where you empower yourself with knowing you can learn anything. I don't have a traditional degree. I take classes online, I do certifications, I would go to a competency-based university if I had to and I would just get a degree when I wanted. So for me I like to learn what I know I need to learn to take the next step and that is just such a good way to unlock not feeling like anything's hard, just believing you can learn whatever it is you're trying to do.

Barrak Alzaid (26:36)

wonderful advice. I think it's what I'm hearing is that it's it's about changing perception, but also embracing, as you said, the shit hitting the fan. I love the image of you ⁓ just giggling and laughing. Like that's that's the epitome of joy. And I think a lot of entrepreneurs do find joy in the actual problem solving chewing over the challenge and finding that solution whether it quote unquote succeeds or fails.

So I just want to thank you so much for sharing a little bit about your journey, sharing about the importance and impact of ChatBlackGPT. So thank you so much, Erin. It was wonderful chatting with you.

Erin Danielle Reddick (27:15)

Thank you. I'm so glad I met you.