Individual vs AI: Why Personal Matters

As generative AI fills our feeds with regurgitated mush, our innate trust in individuals over brands will determine the winners of both attention and revenue. Everyone in media should be racing to become a trusted individual right now.

The personal website and the personal newsletter have always been more interesting to me. They’re also more trustworthy over time. I see personal publishing as only increasing in value to the consumer the further we get into the AI era.

You should probably establish that connection with an audience now, under your name. Soon, it may be impossible to tell if the person behind your favorite content is a person at all.

We all know personal publishing is swimming against the current. But it always has. Our strength is in our flexibility and authenticity. I don’t see that changing. [CJ Chilvers]

CJ’s comments mirror my thinking. When giving the reasons for why I redesigned my home page (and reorganized) my website, I wrote: “The rise of generative AI means that there will be more indistinguishable content on the internet, and the only way to stand out — is by reminding people that you are human.” So instead of worrying about the AI slop, I think and obsess about how I can have a better humanistic relationship with my readers and my community. That starts with trust and honesty.

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Om Malik is a San Francisco based writer, photographer and investor. Read More

9 thoughts on this post

  1. Totally agree. I think this will extend to established and trusted media (as far as any media brand is trusted) and information brands. They will command a premium as AI generated bland content floods the internet. As long as they can persuade readers that professional journalism and editorial control means something.

    1. The challenging part for media is that it is now a business of scale and what that means is that it will be hard for them to really create a “humanistic” bond at the same time adhering to old values and ethos that are both-sideism. The challenge for media outlets is how do they maintain scale and connection.

    1. Indeed they do. And it takes a long time to establish that. I wish, media companies double down on that.

  3. Hey Om, I totally agree with you. In fact, you and a few others are inspiring me to create my own website. Do you have any recommendations or solutions for building a personal site? I’m considering options like WordPress (and if so, which themes would you suggest?), Squarespace, or other platforms. What would you recommend?

  4. I agree with you. But I also think you had a personal relationship with your readers long before you reorganized your blog.

    1. Indeed. However, the re-org helps with creating better bonds, and also a good way to introduce myself to new visitors and readers.

  5. With that said about personal branding. What is interesting is The Economist has most recently un-masked those that have, here to fore, been their anonymous writers and editors at least on their podcasts. The consumer of their content can at lease put a voice to the name.

    1. Interesting development. I have found that amongst all publications they (Economist) are most open to change and evolve, even if they keep their editorial values distinctly old fashioned and deeply rooted in their values. The bylines only add to the value of the overall product.

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