My full talk on the future of AI & media is up!

I used @alexolegimas's prompt of "What will be scarce?" to propose 4 ways that media is changing, and how writers can still win in the AI age:

1) Secrets > summaries

Reporting is the act of taking private knowledge and making it public: when you get a source to tell you about corporate malfeasance, or venture to a remote town that few people have been to, or sneak your way into an underground party, you are working in a space where there is no training data.

2) Live interaction > static content

We’re not far from a world where AI can replicate any prose style. But readers want to know there's a real person generating the text—not just the final presentation, but the proof of work behind it. For creators, doing live events, podcasts, and meetups reveal the life behind the voice. And if I care about my ideas, I want people to know about them, no matter the format.

3) Founders > bureaucracies

AI is already allowing startups to run leaner by helping founders act as their own marketer, data scientist, engineer, etc. It's the same in media — AI is a boon to jacks-of-all-trades. There’s a lot of stuff AI does that I don't want to: verifying cites, reading contracts, negotiating speaking fees. It's an amazing time for independent creatives who want to direct their own vision.

4) Personal style > polish

The house style in most newsrooms is extremely LLMable. What stands out (besides reporting) is a distinct and authentic first-person voice, even if that means the occasional typo / provocation / admitting "I'm not really sure." After all, trust isn't about the perfect sentence: it’s about the track record of who says it. And the stronger your brand, the more trusted you’ll be.

I spend a lot of time covering the real disruptions AI brings. But I also believe, for those with the gumption to seize the opportunity, there's never been a better time to be a writer 🧡