The CEO of Family First, a credit union based in Michigan, has departed from the company following a controversial post. She shared an AI-generated image of her family wearing “Lake America” sweatshirts during a trip to Canada, which incited backlash online.
In a heartfelt Facebook post announcing her departure, Family First expressed regret for the “concern, disappointment, and pain” the situation has caused among its members and the community.
“We realize that members of our community may have different views on this decision,” the credit union stated in its message. “Our duty is to act in the best interest of the Credit Union, maintain the trust of our members, and continue prioritizing our community.”
The controversial sweatshirts made their debut on September 11, when Smith posted a picture of herself and family using ChatGPT to alter the image to show them wearing the sweatshirts. They were kicking off a ten-day vacation in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
“Like our sweatshirts? Not sure Canada will. Lol lol,” Smith wrote in the now-deleted post.
Interestingly, just two weeks prior, President Trump had signed an executive order to rename the US part of Lake Ontario to “Lake America” amidst rising tensions in US-Canada trade relations. This change faced criticism from Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and various US lawmakers, even as tech companies like Apple and Google complied with the name change, while MapQuest did not.
Smith’s post triggered outrage on social media, with one Reddit commenter stating, “she can take her political drama and f–k off.”
Smith later expressed regret over her original post, clarifying, “We weren’t trying to make a political statement. We were, you know, kind of poking fun at the fact that one of the Great Lakes’ names was getting changed.”
The image had originally been shared on Smith’s private Facebook account, but her sister Lisa, who accompanied her on the trip, reportedly publicly reposted it without indicating that AI had been used.
Due to the negative fallout, Smith said her family had to cut their vacation short because she started receiving death threats and declared she would not use AI for such purposes again.
“I am not a person that would ever want to offend or hurt anybody,” she commented. “I do regret any post that would make someone feel like we don’t value them as human beings.”
Family First operates out of Saginaw, Michigan, approximately 75 miles from the Canadian border.
In an earlier statement to ABC12 News, the credit union firmly distanced itself from the social media content involving their CEO, saying they “unequivocally disapprove and reject” it.
Family First has not yet responded to requests for further comments.
