Eric Mann

  • From Defense AI Drift to Policy Enforcement: Why I Built Firebreak

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    I wrote earlier about why defense AI companies drift toward offensive applications. Today for a hackathon I built the engineering solution I wish had existed when I was inside that world. Firebreak is a policy-as-code enforcement proxy that makes pre-negotiated AI boundaries hold — automatically, at machine speed, with full audit trails.

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  • AI Slop and the em-dash

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    There’s a common perception that em-dashes may indicate AI-generated writing. But for those of us who use tools like WordPress for publishing … we might be using em-dashes regularly without even knowing. Our tools polish our typography, letting us focus on the content. While em-dashes can signal professionalism, they shouldn’t be solely equated with AI…

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  • The Gravity Problem: Why Defense AI Companies Drift Toward Offense

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    The Secretary of Defense has pressured Anthropic to permit military use of its AI for “all lawful purposes,” threatening to invoke the Defense Production Act. Anthropic refuses to enable mass surveillance or autonomous weapons, highlighting the industry’s shift from defensive to offensive applications. The situation reflects broader challenges in maintaining ethical AI boundaries amidst government…

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  • Gratitude

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    Another leader once encouraged managers to express gratitude to their teams through hand-written thank you notes. This has evolved into an annual tradition for me. Sharing gratitude with your team is a way to show leadership, even outside of a management role.

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  • Burnout Prevention Through Strategic Reassignment

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    Corporate burnout prevention programs often miss the point entirely. Instead of addressing workload, unrealistic expectations, or systemic issues, they treat burned-out employees as the problem to be managed or removed from the equation entirely.

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  • When it rains …

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    Planning for an AWS outage might seem like overkill until you need to evacuate vacation rental guests during a tropical storm and your entire infrastructure goes dark. Sometimes the improbable becomes critical, and understanding your business continuity options can mean the difference between frustration and tragedy.

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