For one small business, AI was key to a quick start and expansion

Here Now Health, a mental health platform for foster children, relied on AI to go from idea to operating platform 'quickly.' Because nothing says 'trauma-informed care' like a startup that cut corners with large language models. The Fed, meanwhile, launched a panel on AI and productivity — presumably to study why we're replacing human therapists with chatbots for the most vulnerable kids. The efficiency is breathtaking, provided you don't think too hard about what a 'quick start' means when you're dealing with children who've been through the system.

The broader trend, we're told, is AI restructuring the US economy. Yes, because what this country needs is more algorithmic cost-cutting in social services. The Fed panel will no doubt produce a thoughtful report in 2029, just in time for the next crisis. But for now, Here Now Health is the poster child: a feel-good story about speed, ignoring the question of whether speed is actually what foster kids need. Perhaps the next panel can study the gap between 'AI can do it faster' and 'AI should do it at all.'

And let's be honest: the real innovation here is the PR. A mental health platform for foster children? That's not a startup; that's a funding magnet. AI just got them to market before anyone could ask uncomfortable questions about efficacy. The Fed should add a subcommittee on optics.