You've probably heard about author Mia Ballard. Her debut novel "Shy Girl" has been at the center of a controversy about whether she used AI to help write it. After a New York Times article, her publisher dropped her book. She's since deleted most of her social accounts and gone dark. 

This story is much bigger than whether one writer did or didn't use AI. It's about the question of who gets to set the standard in AI and creative work? And more importantly who gets protected, and who gets sacrificed to it?

Subscribe to Drey's excellent substack for sharp reporting and open source investigative journalism into tech and power: https://thedreydossier.substack.com 

Read / Watch Drey’s reporting on Shy Girl: https://thedreydossier.substack.com/p/the-shy-girl-ai-scandal-is-way-worse

Follow Drey on Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok: @thedreydossier

Read more about the limitations of AI-detection software, and why many of the country's most respected universities have banned it. https://timrequarth.substack.com/p/why-you-shouldnt-trust-ai-detector 

Read Thad’s blog post called Shy Girl: The Background to the New York Times Story: https://thefutureofpublishing.com/2026/03/shy-girl-the-background-to-the-new-york-times-story/

Bridget’s SMNTY ep about ShyGirl: What the Shy Girl Conversation Says About AI and Art: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/105-stuff-mom-never-told-you-21123631/episode/what-the-shy-girl-conversation-says-about-ai-and-art-328745937

 

Let us know what you think by emailing hello@tangoti.com or leaving a comment on Spotify. 

Follow Bridget and TANGOTI on social media!  ||  instagram.com/bridgetmarieindc/ || tiktok.com/@bridgetmarieindc ||  youtube.com/@ThereAreNoGirlsOnTheInternet || bsky.app/profile/tangoti.bsky.social

 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You've probably heard about author Mia Ballard. Her debut novel "Shy Girl" has been at the center of a controversy about whether she used AI to help write it. After a New York Times article, her publisher dropped her book. She's since deleted most of her social accounts and gone dark.&nbsp;
This story is much bigger than whether one writer did or didn't use AI. It's about the question of who gets to set the standard in AI and creative work? And more importantly who gets protected, and who gets sacrificed to it?
Subscribe to Drey's excellent substack for sharp reporting and open source investigative journalism into tech and power:&nbsp;<a href="https://thedreydossier.substack.com">https://thedreydossier.substack.com</a>&nbsp;
Read / Watch Drey&rsquo;s reporting on Shy Girl: <a href="https://thedreydossier.substack.com/p/the-shy-girl-ai-scandal-is-way-worse">https://thedreydossier.substack.com/p/the-shy-girl-ai-scandal-is-way-worse</a>
Follow Drey on Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok: @thedreydossier
Read more about the limitations of AI-detection software, and why many of the country's most respected universities have banned it.&nbsp;<a href="https://timrequarth.substack.com/p/why-you-shouldnt-trust-ai-detector">https://timrequarth.substack.com/p/why-you-shouldnt-trust-ai-detector</a>&nbsp;
Read Thad&rsquo;s blog post called Shy Girl: The Background to the New York Times Story: https://thefutureofpublishing.com/2026/03/shy-girl-the-background-to-the-new-york-times-story/
Bridget&rsquo;s SMNTY ep about ShyGirl: What the Shy Girl Conversation Says About AI and Art:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.iheart.com/podcast/105-stuff-mom-never-told-you-21123631/episode/what-the-shy-girl-conversation-says-about-ai-and-art-328745937">https://www.iheart.com/podcast/105-stuff-mom-never-told-you-21123631/episode/what-the-shy-girl-conversation-says-about-ai-and-art-328745937</a>
&nbsp;
Let us know what you think by emailing&nbsp;<a href="mailto:hello@tangoti.com">hello@tangoti.com</a> or leaving a comment on Spotify.&nbsp;
Follow Bridget and TANGOTI on social media!&nbsp; ||&nbsp; instagram.com/bridgetmarieindc/ || tiktok.com/@bridgetmarieindc ||&nbsp; youtube.com/@ThereAreNoGirlsOnTheInternet || bsky.app/profile/tangoti.bsky.social
&nbsp;
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Marginalized voices have always been at the forefront of the internet, yet our stories often go overlooked. Bridget Todd chronicles our experiences online, and the ways marginalized voices have shaped the internet from the very beginning. We need monuments to all of the identities that make being online what it is. So let’s build them.

There Are No Girls on the Internet

Mia Ballard's novel Shy Girl was cancelled for using AI. You only know half the story

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/09ddbeb0-d7ef-4cd2-b25e-b426000ffe5e/transcript