Creating Content in an AI Content World

AI content means that we are going to be bombarded with absolute drivel everywhere.

And I f&^king love it.

Creating crappy content was always easy. It just got easier. But creating outstanding content was always hard (and might have gotten a tiny bit easier). People who create value are going to be more important, not less.

But for both creators and readers, the good news is that every one of us on Team Internet has spent the last decade of our lives in boot camp for getting better at ignoring crap.

We already ignore banner ads (unless they are really, really good). We read a fraction of the emails we actually get. We scan articles - occasionally - and move on.

Most importantly, in many cases we’ve outsourced curation to people we trust. For me (and thousands of others), that’s folks like Ben Thompson, Packy McCormick, Patrick O’Shaughnessy, CFA, and Tim Urban.

And, to be honest, I couldn’t care less if they are using AI or not as long as they continue to deliver “Aha"s for me.

So to help out marketers and readers alike, here’s seven ways to gear up for the AI Content-pocalyspe.

1. Read with intent. There’s too much crap out there to just read everything or doomscroll. Get practical. Put a 15 minute daily reading slot in your calendar and stick to it.

2. Unsubscribe and unfollow. One of my favorite onboarding tips for Readwise’s Reader was them encouraging me to unsubscribe to stuff as frequently as I subscribe. Time is your most precious resource. Guard it.

3. Build stables of curators. Find the people who consistently find great insights. Read their stuff. Then expand your scope by following the people they follow. It’s not about a world of information at your fingertips any more. It’s about the world’s best curators curating that world.

Those work for readers. But what about for us marketers?
4. Produce outstanding content. Nothing changes in this regard. Drive value. Quickly.

5. Have personality. Prove you’re human by talking up your obessions with that taste of the first two seconds of a TicTac. Go loud and proud with your (literally) unhealthy pizza obsession. Take strong positions. Don’t use jargon. Send me your credit card details. By the way, you can still have personality…WHILE writing your own posts with your own personality with ChatGPT!

6. Invest in relationships. At work, I mean. At home, keep on binging on Call of Duty. We trust our friends and dem curators more than strangers. Those relationships are a two way street where you can get curated information and get help with distribution…

7. Use AI…when it makes sense. If there was an account providing 99% accurate stock market forecasts two days in advance, I’d follow that faster than you can say “Ghostbusters actually sucks but no one is brave enough to admit it.” It’s okay to use it to up your game, identify insights, come up with creative anagrams of your mother in law’s name. If it drives value, it’s good to go.

Go forth and content.