A Note on AI

When I started Wildwear Market, I stood ankle-deep in a creek behind our summer place taking pictures of tiny rain boots. A lot of those photos are still on this site- of rain suits, of backpacks, of boots- and they are some of my favorite things I have ever made. I loved every one of those photo shoots. I got chewed on by bugs and laughed at myself. I loved hanging each rain suit just right.

I am a researcher. I am a writer. I am a teacher and a mom of two. I am, like a lot of you, a human trying to do too much.

A couple of seasons of teaching and a couple of growth spurts later, I have come to a quiet realization: I do not have the bandwidth to source, hand-wash, rate, and photograph every single one-of-a-kind item we carry, and still be present for my daughters- one little, one suddenly not-so-little- and the students I teach. Something had to give. And so, thoughtfully and sparingly, I have started leaning on AI.

There is also something I want to name honestly: a few years ago I went through chemotherapy, and my brain is just not quite what it was. AI helps me hold onto things I would otherwise forget, and that has been its own small gift to my sanity.

What AI helps me with

  • Keeping our inventory database accurate- catching duplicates and errors across thousands of items
  • Dictation. I am often speaking notes into my phone with my hands full- right now, in fact, cutting and tying the hemp cord on a stack of hangtags
  • Researching the technical specs on obscure European models where the original product page is in Swedish, Finnish, or German
  • Translating and double-checking those specs so I can give you honest details on every single thing we carry
  • Organizing my research and notes so I have everything in front of me when I sit down to write
  • Building my brand map- I designed all of the little details and asked Claude to build exactly what was in my brain, and I really, really love it
  • Helping me remember. Chemo took some of that from me, and AI helps me hold onto everything I would otherwise let slip

I may also begin using AI to create pretty utility product images that i could use again and again- a way to make our items searchable and purchasable on the site without photographing every piece up front.

What is mine

Every word of copy on this site is written by me- product descriptions, page copy, emails, all of it. AI does not write for me. It does transcribe for me. The site itself was designed by me and built and maintained by my husband. The photographs of items in our market were taken by me.

Why Anthropic

The AI I use is Claude, made by Anthropic, and I chose them because I believe they are building the best possible version of an AI. Every use of AI carries a real environmental cost, and I treat it that way: as an expensive tool, used sparingly, only where it lets me do more of what I am actually good at.

Letting AI handle the parts of running a small business that quietly drain my time means I can spend my hours on the parts I love- curating, talking to families, giving gear TLC, and being creative- and on the next chapter of Wildwear Market that is taking shape this year. More on that soon.

Thanks for reading,
Bonnie