The Possibilities by Kate Fox

Poet in Residence at EX:CHANGE 2026

So imagine this time
is like the beginning of the Industrial Revolution

Imagine, you’ve long worked on a loom
in your front room,
and as some of you still will,
perhaps creating luxury goods

but now there’s a call
to go into the mills.
Work faster for less money.
Or it feels like you’re now
down the mines-
or wait! You’re the canary in the coal mine!

But everything is on fast forward,
you’ve got new tools
for your skilled job,
but you don’t just want to be churning out
burning out
you and the planet.
And it’s turning out-
there’s lots we don’t know yet. 
There are more questions than answers.
But at least in asking them you’re now aware.
At least in asking them with others
you can share

how you want to feel
you’re more than just a cog in a wheel.

Okay - things have sped up so much
it’s time for another metaphor,
courtesy of Laura and Cory Doctorow/
A.I is making us into
a reverse centaur. 
No longer the human part at the head
we’re the back legs
being led.

But once companies realise
it’s not the solution 
to everything 
(dare you let them find out
the hard way?)
A.I can get things wrong, 
cause them risk,
lead them to lack,
they’ll realise the human head
needs to come back.

So being more transparent to customers,
making invisible labour visible
is one of the tools that unlocks
the black box
of what really happens
in translation
and interpreting.
There’s always been ethics inherent
in the question of quality and sustainability
and a conflict with responsibility.

A safer positionality
could be you
as an actor within a wider linguistic team,
more choice
a bigger voice. 

Already time for another metaphor:
your personal ethics should be your compass
in this uncharted territory,
this super speedy liminality,
though perhaps on a boat
you can steer recognising -
o liberating thought -
not all of this is an inevitability 

nerds and cranks unite!
and yes you might not win a fight
about the importance of quality. 
But there is still so much possibility
to make the case 
that using skilled human translators 
alongside other tools
gives organisations less risk
more safety and accuracy 
and ethical sustainability. 

Now in these boats
entrepreneurship and business development 
is a thing 
even if it’s your thing.
Elon Musk 
is NOT in your boat
with his “move fast and break things” elephant tusk. 
There’s now an elephant in the room, 
it’s crashed through the mine
broken the loom. 

ARTS: Action, Resources, Test, Surprises,
oh hang on, 
the metaphor’s changed again. 
Sonia says you’re now flying a plane. 
Don’t just Wait and See. 
Decide what small action you can take
to reshape your future
gradually. 
Eek, it’s scary to be in the air-
but the sum total of everything you already know (loads)
is already there-
and crew who could help
you do what you do. 

Instead of pitching the clear future vision
(you don’t have)
keep asking questions
and patchwork a quilt after you listen.
Your task 
can be to make a small ask
and question what you can afford
or are willing to lose. 
A fifty-fifty chance to fail
but don’t worry yet-
just don’t make one big untested bet. 
Know you’re not alone.
Collectives could be the way forward.
Openness to surprise
can be your Rosetta Stone
or the beautiful transience of an ice hotel.
Even melting ideas can sell. 

Don’t dither, 
be clear
as you take the controls of the boat
or plane or rocket
and steer. 

Who you serve and why
your personal life-why
is the North star in your sky.
There’s also a way out. 
Failure’s likely without a doubt,
Though (as a fellow Bradfordian)
Yorkshire grit
can help when you’re in the - 
poo.
Fail fast and fail flashy
it’s not an actual plane crashy-y. 
Set off now on the journeying 
so either the succeeding 
or the failing is the learning. 
Or in the face of fear 
and financial fail
send existing clients
a three line email. 
Talk to new people
maybe not pitching 
but again questioning and listening. 

Extending your reach
digging down into your niche. 
Keeping that North Star in sight 
getting over the need 
to always get it right.
More of an adjustment to your flight plan,
not an indictment on you
and assessing whether it’s as reversible as
a hat, a haircut or a tattoo.

So in summary, set off on your journey ethically
know you’re not alone,
yes there is turbulence
diversion is not necessarily loss.
There have been a lot of metaphors -
some contradictions 
Move quickly! The power of the pause!
How empowering to be the boss of your new direction,
so much of this is about human connection.
Seeing each pivot as an experiment, a test
good enough and doing something 
may be better than best.
Refinding the linguistic spark
in the dark,
even with only partial sight.
Begin, just begin, 
committing to something
as Goethe said
has genius, power and magic in it -

take flight.