The AI effect

Munich is about as different from Las Vegas as you can get. It has to be one of the quieter and calmer major cities in the world. I’m beginning to think I might be more European than American. Thanks to DLD for the invite to speak here. This is a great event that brings together people from many different disciplines — topics following me included everything from clean tech to neuroscience to surfing — in a way that makes sense.

I suspect this year will be the year of AI as new tools and uses materialize. This week, I’m taking an early shot at parsing what it will mean for publishing. Would love to hear your feedback. Just hit reply to this email.

Thanks to Impact.com for sponsoring this week. It has a pair of tools worth considering: Pressboard helps publisher content studios more efficiently manage their branded content partnerships, and Trackonomics similarly helps publishers efficiently manage their affiliate programs. .

The AI effect

First, a confession: It isn’t looking good for my optimism that underneath the idiocy of ape JPGs, there was something to the entire web3 thing. I blame too much time in Miami. With that in mind, I think it’s a safer bet to say that artificial intelligence will have a profound impact on the media industry.

Earlier this week, my sister texted me to ask if ChatGPT could be used to write thank you notes. I expect that will become the norm this year, as a flood of new AI-enabled tools and platforms come online, particularly those using large language models to produce text and images. Generative AI is a holy-shit technology. When you use it the first time, you end up thinking this is going to change a whole bunch of things.

And as someone who has made a living arranging words in a certain order, I understand the qualms many have. I have no desire for some berserk AI to turn us all into paper clips while trying to conserve energy. That would suck. And as a confirmed member of the laptop class, I tend to worry more about automation tools that replace so-called knowledge work versus when machines replace assembly and manual labor. Go figure.

I tend to view technological advances as inevitable. The degrowth movement is dumb because it is simply not possible for us to do as a species. We got this far by using technology to better our lot, and we’re going to continue to do that. I mean, we split the atom, so AI is coming. The impacts it could have across the economy and society are mind-boggling, so it’s best to confine this to early thoughts on how AI will alter media.