By Dean Cipriaso
8th grade | Walker Junior High School | California
Finalist, Information and AI category
With lines from ”How Your Data Ends Up in AI Training Sets” by Niamh McIntyre, a Pulitzer Center reporting project
In Moscow, winter presses down,
A man walked past a playground,
Slips on hidden ice,
Steadies him on a parked car.
He moves on,
Unaware that he has been recorded.
One moment of imbalance
Feeds a machine.
A worker in Pakistan sees him,
He described his movement,
“Running,”
“Biking,”
“Other.”
The camera doesn’t blink.
His face unblurred,
A license plate nearby,
A recognizable swing set.
Details drift across the globe,
Ready to be reassembled.
“Your face, your voice, and your most sensitive information
Can end up in AI without you knowing.”
The secrets of AI whispers beneath the noise,
A truth buried beneath terms and code.
He is not special,
Neither are we.
Old photos, long forgotten accounts,
Conversations we don't remember having,
Are now fuel,
Training sets for digital sight.
While governments cite safety,
Companies seek an advantage.
Surveillance grows,
Not just in Moscow,
But London, Chicago,
Where eyes never close.
What is consent
In a world that watches everything?
The man who slipped
Became a lesson
For machines
And for us.
Dean Cipriaso is a rising 9th grader in Buena Park, California. He is passionate about photography, mathematics, engineering, and technology. Dean enjoys combining his creative interests in science and technology, using writing to explore how advancements like artificial intelligence shape human experience and identity. This poem was inspired by reflections on how artificial intelligence shapes our understanding of truth and identity.
Read more winning entries from the 2025 Fighting Words Poetry Contest.