Let's Talk About AI -- Eventually

But first, some personal history

Let me start this article by saying that originally, I was going to write an article about AI. When I started writing it, I realized that I needed to write a PRECEDING article about AI because the first article needed information from the first to flesh it out. No problem, these things happen — I’ll just turn it into a two-parter.

But when I started writing THAT article, I realized that I needed to write a DIFFERENT article first — one that touches on the impact of AI from a fairly personal standpoint.

Fair warning here: this article kind of goes off into the weeds and gets fairly emotional. It is much ‘wordier’ than what I normally write. But sometimes these things need to be said, and today is one of those times.

I’ve spent nearly the last decade of my life in the incredibly niche industry of online content creation. On this ‘Stack I often refer to it as “writing for others”. Maybe a small business needs a little blurb about an upcoming event, or somebody just entering (or re-entering) the job market needs some help with a resume. Big companies need people to write product descriptions for their endless array of new products, that kind of stuff.

For a while, things were great. There was so much work that I could choose my own hours and work as long as I wanted. (This is still true to an extent, but the work is harder to find and pays less these days.) This gig offered freedom and flexibility that I value very highly, and the writing/editing was mostly interesting to boot. Back in those days, content had a fairly high value — high enough to pay the bills, anyway.

That slowly changed as Google tweaked its algorithms and “locked in” on some sites getting good placement while others languish at the bottom of the search rankings. Small businesses were mostly shut down by the pandemic and those who came out the other side cut back on ‘luxury’ purchases such as outsourcing their marketing or social media presence.

And now, as gato put it in a recent brilliant post:

AI is in the process of …………. making the cost of producing content asymptotically indistinguishable from 0.

Now obviously I’m far from the only one who’s being affected by this. The Hollywood writers’ strike is ongoing, and those people have much larger bills (and drug habits) than I do. Newspapers are bleeding employees and are still struggling. Those who remain at traditional media outlets are increasingly forced to toe the company line or be shown the door.

I empathize with all of these people. I understand that the vast vast vast majority of “content creators” are being paid to write very specific things. I get it — I wouldn’t have many repeat clients if I wrote about the evils of the Federal Reserve instead of the marketing copy I was being paid to create. Hell, even Leonardo da Vinci had to create war machines to pay the bills.

“Writing for others” means writing what others ask you to write — after all, he who pays the piper calls the tune. When your client can just ask ChatGPT or some other content-creating AI to zap up what they need, as a freelance writer you’re as useful as buggy whip manufacturer.

Not a lot of those around today, I’m afraid.

And it’s likely I’ll end up in the same boat, being automated out of a job as “progress” continues steamrolling over the country. Creative destruction is a powerful force, and ultimately a necessary one as well.

But that doesn’t mean that I have to like it — and maybe I can avoid being steamrolled in the first place, by “writing for myself.”

When I first starting this ‘Stack, I didn’t really have any plans with it. I was just SO PISSED OFF I got thrown off Twitter that I wanted to “stick it to ‘em” by continuing to Scream about the mess we were making with our covid response.

Then the space started to grow, and then grow some more. Soon we had one of the most impressive comment sections on Substack. (I may be a little biased there.) I am not joking when I say that you guys helped keep me sane and grounded during an EXTREMELY difficult time (and hope I have returned the favor in some small part).

One day I realized that if I was going to keep living my “American Dream” of being able to write for a living, then “writing for myself” would probably have to be the main focus. And I’m not exaggerating when I say that every well-thought-out comment left on this ‘Stack, every share or ‘renote’, every single subscription — paid or not — gives me such a profound feeling of joy and love. I truly appreciate everybody who supports Screaming into the Void, however that support looks. I don’t say thank you enough (to anybody) so I want to say THANK YOU (to everybody).

As long-time readers know well, I’m a free-market type of guy. I believe that the market rewards value, and I love that the incentives are “correctly” aligned on Substack, where the writers are writing for the readers, not to advertisers. Therefore I’m doubly humbled when one of you decides to support this totally free ‘Stack with a paid subscription. Not only does the cash help (obviously), but it also represents the affirmation that what I’m saying DOES have value and others recognize that. (This means so much to me because the market has been telling me the opposite for a year or two.)

My gratitude is compounded FURTHER by knowing the economy is in the toilet for regular people. Inflation is eating away at the value of our savings and labor and it’s getting harder and harder to get by (ironically as it should be getting easier and easier thanks to advances such as AI). That somebody would choose to use their resources to support Screaming into the Void is sort of baffling to me at times.

Building this ‘Stack has been one of the most enjoyable experiences of my life and it would be a DREAM if I could do it full-time — and somehow that dream is visible at the edge of the horizon.

God knows we need as many Screamers as we can get. Everywhere you look it seems that society is falling apart and the government is gaslighting us. Democrats are trying to jail their chief political rival and it’s getting harder and harder to just make ends meet. I think it’s important to have people who are willing to stand up and yell “EVERYTHING SUCKS AND WE DESERVE SOME FUCKING ANSWERS ABOUT WHY!”

We have a few examples of “Substack men” who are doing very well for themselves. Glenn Greenwald (the reason I’m even here), and Matt Taibbi are titans in the industry, and the market is rewarding them handsomely for it. I’m not saying I’m anywhere near that level of skill OR popularity (nor do I need to be, to get by), but they do provide a blueprint that lesser writers like myself can attempt to follow if we want to take a crack at Screaming professionally.

(Note: Substack is also FILLED with “lesser-known” writers and reporters who are out there killing it every single day. I subscribe to as many of them as I can, but there are so many more out there who deserve ALL the success as well.)

Ultimately, these days I am happiest when I am working on an article, or responding to a comment from a fellow Screamer. I think I have to believe that — despite the value of content rapidly approaching 0 — I can create something that IS worthy of somebody throwing down $30 for a yearly membership and encouraging me to keep Screaming. There’s a whole bunch of people out there — surely I should be able to create something that 500 or 1000 of them enjoy enough to pay for, shouldn’t I? And if not, isn’t that just the market talking and the customer being right?

That’s what I tell myself.

Wow, I apologize for the length of this one and how it sort of rambles to and fro, I just wanted to provide a little personal insight into the next article — and perhaps acknowledge that I might be a little bit biased when it comes to this issue.

Next time we’ll discuss how AI will impact some specific aspects of our lives, including in government services. Here’s a terrifying preview:

This should keep you up at night

Part II is now up and available here