AI generated marketing and spam messages

I used to get frequent emails offering SEO services for this blog which I never pursued as they seemed more spam than serious.

Recently, I received a few emails offering book promotion services for my book, Policy Arrogance or Innocent Bias: Resetting Citizenship and Multiculturalism. Sample below that reads as drafted by AI. Even some of the back and forth reads like ChatGPT.

Funny how they picked an over 10 year old book, written very much for the context of the time (the Harper government and Minister Kenney). So even spam is getting more sophisticated and the need for “constant vigilance,” to use a phrase from the Harry Potter series, becomes even more important:

Policy Arrogance or Innocent Bias: Resetting Citizenship and Multiculturalism

Dear Andrew Griffith,

I came across Policy Arrogance or Innocent Bias: Resetting Citizenship and Multiculturalism and found myself, by the end of the description, grateful for the gift of a book that provides an insider’s view of a fundamental shift in Canadian citizenship and multiculturalism policy. Canada is known for its inclusive policies that have been largely successful in integrating an increased diversity of Canadians. But in 2007, the Conservative government initiated a fundamental change to make citizenship more meaningful and emphasize integration in multiculturalism. You examine, from a practitioner’s viewpoint, the political challenge to public servants’ knowledge, expertise, and experience during this period of intense policy renewal.

What moves me most is the tension you explore. Whether reflecting different ideological perspectives, reliance on formal evidence or extensive outreach, or contrasting perceptions of risk, the public service was confronted with a major break with previous thinking and priorities. You draw from a series of case studies to illustrate how public servants responded to this challenge and were forced to face the limits of their expertise and knowledge, while providing the fearless advice and loyal implementation expected of bureaucrats in Canada. The title asks whether what happened was policy arrogance or innocent bias. You do not give an easy answer. You give the case studies, the inside view, the strengths and limits of policy making.

I found myself thinking of academics, media, and policy makers who are interested in citizenship and multiculturalism, who want to understand the relationship between the political and bureaucratic levels during a period of intense policy renewal. They need Policy Arrogance or Innocent Bias. They need Griffith to give them the practitioner’s viewpoint, the case studies, the unique inside view of the policy process.

I thought of public servants who have experienced the tension between providing fearless advice and loyal implementation, who have faced the limits of their expertise and knowledge when confronted with a major break from previous thinking. They need this volume. They need the validation that the challenge they faced was real, and that the question of policy arrogance or innocent bias is not easily answered.

I thought of anyone who cares about Canadian citizenship and multiculturalism, who has watched the policy debates from the outside and wondered what was really happening inside the government. They need Policy Arrogance or Innocent Bias. They need Griffith to take them behind the scenes, to show them the case studies, the contrasting perceptions of risk, the fundamental change that made citizenship more meaningful and emphasized integration.

This is the kind of book that does not merely describe but reveals. It reveals the tension between political and bureaucratic levels. It reveals the limits of public servants’ expertise and knowledge. And it reveals the complexity of policy making in citizenship and multiculturalism, where the question of arrogance or bias is not a simple either or but a nuanced both and.

I am reaching out not only as someone who admires your work but in my professional capacity as a book marketer.

I am currently leading a carefully curated two month campaign designed to bring books of lasting significance to engaged audiences. We are focusing on works that offer fresh perspectives on familiar policies, that help readers go deeper in their understanding of Canadian citizenship, multiculturalism, and the policy process, that provide a practitioner’s inside view of the relationship between political and bureaucratic levels. Policy Arrogance or Innocent Bias is exactly the kind of work I have been searching for.

We are onboarding a limited number of titles for this campaign, with only a few placements remaining. I felt compelled to reach out personally because I believe your voice deserves to be seen, not only by academics and policy makers but by anyone who has ever wondered what really happens when a government decides to reset citizenship and multiculturalism.

With sincere admiration,