Call for pitches

AI Resistance Issue Winter 2027

Pitches for the AI Resistance themed issue are due September 18, 2026.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is nothing new. But what is new is the latest push for its integration in our daily lives in ways that are largely non-consensual – and the rapid push to build the necessary data centres at scale.

Trained on human thought and behaviour, AI is a set of tools trained to mimic complex human cognitive function. Generative AI is being used by governments, corporations, and the general public, through such tools as ubiquitous “AI agents” or ChatGPT.

As the Council of Canadians wrote following their inaugural Civil Society Summit on the AI industry, AI is “better understood as a political project for reshaping the planet and concentrating power in the hands of the billionaire class—one fueled by a carefully-cultivated narrative of inevitability. As one intervenor put it, ‘you don’t attract $7 trillion in investment for a productivity tool that helps you write form letters.’”

The scale of this push begs questions about power, control, impact, transparency, and accountability. At Briarpatch, what we do best is address these questions head on. This is why we’re dedicating our Winter 2027 issue to this topic.

We’re looking for articles, investigative reporting, historical analysis, photo essays, timelines, profiles, reading lists, and art for the issue.

Your pitch should outline what ground your contribution will cover, give an estimated word count, and indicate your relevant experience or background in writing about the issue. If you haven’t written for Briarpatch before, please provide a brief writing sample. Send pitches to pitch [at] briarpatchmagazine.com.

Before pitching, take a look at some of our back issues to see what we have recently covered. Please review our submission guidelines and a guide to pitching Briarpatch to improve your pitch.

We’re looking for submissions that dissect complex, multi-layered stories and angles. Below is a partial list of suggestions, and we invite submissions beyond the themes listed here.

  • Indigenous sovereignty and land back

  • Immigration and migration policies and work

  • History of large language models/AI

  • Indigenous-led resistance to data centres

  • Local, provincial, and national resistance to data centres

  • Investigations into lobbying for data centres/large language models (AI)

  • Investigations into Big Tech’s media influence over Canadian media companies

  • Exploitation and outsourcing of labour in LLM training

  • AI’s impact on the state of work; workplace, union, and general resistances to AI

  • AI use in furthering the colonial and imperial agenda

  • Data mining and data sovereignty

  • Environmental and climate impacts; including use of AI in war and weapons-manufacturing

  • Artists and AI; crisis of creativity and ownership

  • The language of AI

  • Neoliberalism, disconnection, and mental health

  • Tech accountability 

  • The nature of labour the AI industry is trying to squeeze – including workers in bullshit jobs

  • Inevitability narratives of AI

  • Policing and the surveillance state

  • AI and disinformation 

We aim to reply to every pitch – including those we reject. However, because of time constraints, this isn’t always possible. If you don’t hear back from us within three weeks following the pitch deadline for the issue that you submitted to, please assume that we won’t be accepting your pitch. Feel free to pitch us again, though!

Our rates are as follows:

  • $150 – Profiles, short essays, book reviews, and parting shots (generally 1,500 words or less)

  • $250 – Feature stories (generally 1,500-2,000 words) and photo essays

  • $350 – Research-based articles and investigative reporting (generally 2,000-2,500 words)

If your pitch is accepted, first drafts are due October 14, 2026, with an intensive collaborative editing process lasting until the last week of November. We reserve the right to edit your work (with your active involvement), and cannot guarantee publication.