But Here’s The Part Nobody’s Talking About —

It has been nice - peaceful even - keeping a distance from the AI conversation. But as somebody who has been creating for 20 years, I guess it was just a matter of time I would feel compelled to share a perspective. Both for fellow creators, and for those who are contemplating the value of creators.

Since the ChatGPT boom, I have both explored AI as a tool, and consumed it - from the lens of a photographer, web and graphic designer, marketer, musician, writer and avid YouTube subscriber. I've also heard clients in law, finance, and tax share their experiences.

One day, a client sends photos of AI headshots joking that my business is doomed. Next, an AI produced song - songwriting is replaceable! And my entrepreneur friends are certain Claude could be the missing link to getting my app prototypes live once and for all.

No matter which way I look, AI seems to be the one for the job.

But here's the part nobody is talking about (get it?)

Along with the increasing adoption of AI, I am noticing more and more abstaining, irritation, and even mockery of AI.

At the same time, there seems to be a growing appreciation and longing for what is henceforth known as “the old fashioned way” aka done by human.

Could the world be taking a collective step back and saying woah, this party kinda sucks?

Working With AI, Without Taste

There is no denying AI’s capabilities, but there is also no denying how stupid it can be. And the more you use it, the more you will understand the phenomenon: impressive insights with inexplicable misunderstandings, inability to recall conversations, follow instructions, distinguish memories, and absolutely zero judgement or taste.

Taste, by the way, is largely the difference between a $5k job and a $50k job, a successful ad and a blunder. Since AI is all about averaging, it can produce, just don’t expect it to start a trend. Don’t get me wrong, I see value in AI. But I’m starting to see the theme from every angle - helpful, but ultimately a dependent.

In high value scenarios, that small nuance is disproportionately large - enough to wonder, what happens when large investments from different competitors all end up feeding the same machine.

I’m sure there are some areas where AI truly can perform better than a human, but decisions drawn from the tasks, the creative direction, and the analysis for a larger output seems risky to leave to AI.

To paraphrase a client conversation - if you want a good laugh, watch ChatGPT try to interpret the law.

So the pattern in its various forms is that AI can 90% of a lot, generically and quickly. That model is the basis for many successful industries, but these industries still have the high end, well thought-out, intentional high end markets - fashion, food, art itself. Interestingly, the more AI gets involved in the outputs, the more valuable and desired real human art will become. For creatives, and professionals leaning on their people skills, this may be a cue to up your game and become even more distinguished. The better AI gets, the more valuable the 10% becomes.

But the important thing is less about our experience of using AI, which may improve, and more to do with what happens when everyone and every business continues to integrate AI.

Branding is the art of distinction. Yet there has been a tidal wave of content pushed out which clearly came from a ChatGPT prompting.

Thinking about all the “replaceable copywriters”, I would be curious to see how that plays out. As companies, influencers, etc. copy & paste their way onto more social posts, youtube uploads, email blasts, and beyond, they are #quietly becoming less like themselves and more like the competitors who also let AI lead the charge.

To my favorite swim channel, I tuned in more when you sounded like you, and not like The Sleepy Astronomer channel.

That’s right, in July 2025, I was heavily invested in 3I/Atlas, and tuned into "The Sleepy Astronomer" on YouTube almost every night for updates on the interstellar traveler. As days went by though, it became clear all I was watching was somebody a random astrophotography slideshow with Text to Voice AI.

I could tell because each episode contained the same cadence. Throughout the video, time and again you’d hear things like “but here's the part nobody's talking about...”

In essence, that is the taste issue with AI, it doesn’t realize that a statement like that stands out, you can’t just repeat it at nauseam.

As mentioned:

No Originality.

No taste.

Just regurgitation.

Eventually, I got tired of hearing the predictable ChatGPT narration and searched for my 3I-Atlas updates elsewhere, and that led to a bigger issue.

In my search, I discovered the other channels I had passed on actually feature the exact same ChatGPT narrator. Same cadence to a tea, complete with the overdramatic “ and here’s the part nobody is talking about” moments. Thanks to the low time investment required, a single creator could theoretically operate an entire network of channels and dominate the space…space. Whether that was actually happening or not, the result is different channels but indistinguishable content and voice.

And it’s everywhere: swimming tutorials, cooking channels, policy reporting, everywhere. I even caught several white house updates being delivered entirely through AI. One male, one female reciting the same exact script. No matter what you watch or listen, it’s sadly ChatGPT.

Ironically, AI is highlight just how meaningful personality is. I’m telling you, one too many “quietlys” and you can’t ignore the beauty of a unique human voice.

If you aren’t spotting ChatGPT in the wild just yet, I trust you will as the ChatGPT voice ~quietly~ takes over. And soon, if not already, the variety that is meant to exist within the content we ingest will feel less like a nice library of unique personalities, and more like a suburb, with 10 options for where to eat.

But here is the part nobody is talking about (lol) —

Thanks to AI, we can all start to see the importance, beauty, and value of truly inspired work.

Truly Inspired Work

By now, most professionals have heard the phrase "people buy on emotion and justify with logic."

We accept that marketing works, and we have studied exactly how - through emotion. So even without the acknowledgement of the AI grey area - morality, legally, etc - another important question is how exactly does AI compete in our emotionally driven creative marketing industries, where every generation comes with risk: is this something where AI’s lack of taste or judgement will cost me? Whether it is a simple answer, a month of content, or big picture idea.

None of this is to suggest we should avoid AI. I would say learn it, and let it help you move faster, generate ideas, and expand what you're capable of offering. Creatives in particular can work less as a graphic designer, for example, and more like a creative director.

But never confuse production with creativity, or output with taste.

As for buyers, beware.

The purpose of branding has never been to blend in. It is to stand out and be remembered.

If AI causes everything to look, read, and sound as if it were written by one thing, it defeats the very purpose of the brand itself. Imagine a world where your movie selection is reduced from tens of thousands of creators to Option A: Disney, Option B: Warner Bros.

Until the board rooms are bot rooms, humans will still be be the ultimate decision makers, buying, selling, serving, and entertaining human to human, and the value of originality becomes invaluable.

Thanks to AI, we may all be getting a reminder of what truly inspired work looks like.

You Don’t Serve Steak & Shake At The Symphony

I took my dad for father's day to the orchestra perform a tribute to Steven Spielberg and John Williams.

You could argue that the combination of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and those particular scores is one of the best demonstrations of beauty that only a human can produce, and no AI bot would appreciate - though they may be able to say why they should.

And while I've heard his music many different times in many different places, hearing multiple scores back to back provided a unique experience.

While sitting there jaw-dropped in awe, with my dad’s head bobbing to the beat, I remember thinking - do all his songs sound the same?

Obviously not the same, but there are several very noticable similarities, and naturally I had to uncover them. Turns out, his choice of instrumentation, tempos & time signatures, melodies, even to the way he accents with flutes, crescendos with horns, - it all adds up to what makes John Williams, Sir John Williams.

And those stylistic choices that happen to work together so well don’t happen by accident. They comes from decades of study, dedication, practice, and of course, the development of taste. The difference between human and AI. His work is truly inspired and connects emotionally, deeply, and universally - like the best marketing can.

Of course, his music isn’t best for every situation. Sometimes you just want to throw on some country and sip a beer, but for other cases, like epic cinema, nothing else will do. There's Steak 'n Shake, and there's Gibsons Steakhouse.

And you just don't serve Steak 'n Shake at the symphony.