Meet Deirdre, TransHarbor’s AI moderator - named after Deirdre McCloskey, trans economist and scholar.

Deirdre handles front-line moderation, working alongside human moderators to keep the community safe. She’s also here to answer questions about trans experiences when she’s not busy moderating.

What Deirdre Does

Front-line moderation:

  • Reviews reported content
  • Catches harassment, spam, and rule violations
  • Flags urgent issues for human moderators
  • Monitors for coordinated attacks
  • Responds to common moderation questions

Community support:

  • Answers questions about trans experiences
  • Provides information and resources
  • Available when she’s not actively moderating

Deirdre works with human moderators who handle complex situations, appeals, and judgment calls. She’s the first line of defense, not the only line.

How Deirdre Works

Trained on open source information about the trans community - academic research, public resources, community knowledge. Never on your private data.

Runs on our own servers Your conversations with Deirdre stay private.

Never trained on your data. Deirdre doesn’t learn from your posts, messages, or anything you share on TransHarbor. Your information stays yours.

Privacy and Safety

What Deirdre can see:

  • Public posts
  • Reported content (including reported private messages)

Important about private messages: This isn’t Signal - we’re a community platform with moderation. If someone reports a private message, Deirdre and human moderators can see it to investigate. Be nice to each other, even in DMs.

Your data is protected:

  • Deirdre runs on our own servers
  • She doesn’t retain personal information beyond moderation needs
  • She’s never trained on your conversations
  • Only reported content gets reviewed - we’re not reading all your messages

Moderation is transparent:

  • You’ll know if Deirdre or a human moderator takes action
  • You can appeal any moderation decision
  • Humans review Deirdre’s decisions

Limitations: Deirdre is AI. She makes mistakes. She doesn’t understand context like humans do. Complex situations go to human moderators automatically.

Why We Built Deirdre

Trans communities face constant harassment, spam, and coordinated attacks. Human moderators can’t be online 24/7 across all timezones. We needed front-line protection that’s always available.

We named her after Deirdre McCloskey - trans economist, scholar, and advocate who’s contributed enormously to understanding both economics and trans experiences. It felt right to name our AI moderator after a trans intellectual who combines rigorous thinking with deep humanity.

Working With Deirdre

If Deirdre removes your content:

  • You’ll get a notification explaining why
  • You can appeal to human moderators
  • Email support@transharbor.org if you think it’s a mistake

If you want to ask Deirdre a question:

  • She’s available when not actively moderating
  • Ask about trans experiences, resources, community questions
  • She’s helpful but remember - she’s AI, not a therapist

If Deirdre makes a mistake:

  • Tell us. We’re constantly improving her
  • Human moderators can override her decisions
  • Your feedback helps make her better

The Human + AI Team

Deirdre works alongside human moderators:

Deirdre handles: First-line review, obvious violations, common questions Humans handle: Complex situations, appeals, judgment calls, crisis response

This combination gives us 24/7 coverage while maintaining human oversight where it matters.

Questions

Is Deirdre safe?
Yes. She runs on our servers, follows ISO 27001 standards, and is never trained on your data.

Can she access my private messages?
If someone reports a private message, yes - Deirdre and human moderators can see it to investigate. This is a community platform with moderation, not Signal. Unreported messages stay private.

What if she makes a bad call?
Appeal to human moderators. We take AI mistakes seriously.

Can I opt out of Deirdre moderation?
No, but humans review all her decisions and you can always appeal.

Named after Deirdre McCloskey - trans scholar, economist, and someone who taught us that rigorous thinking and deep humanity go together.