Summary: New technology (like AI) won’t help your business unless your team understands some basic concepts. Tools require more than procedures. They often require new mental models to avoid dumb mistakes. It’s fun to believe in silver-bullet solutions, but they often fail because they ignore the complexity of the situation. E.g., “Why didn’t the Council…
Summary: AI can mimic famous styles, but to create truly impactful content, it needs better human feedback. This may come through future technologies like smartwatches measuring real-time reactions. Scott Frothingham posted a collection of 15 sayings from Yogi Berra on LinkedIn. They’re funny, a little confusing, and insightful. That made me wonder, “Can AI do…
Summary: AI doesn’t just make mistakes, it lies. That’s uniquely disturbing. Today I explore why AI deception feels more unsettling than human dishonesty, likening it to psychopathy, and urge users to treat AI like a biased news source: with skepticism and caution. Artificial intelligence has come a long way from its early days of clunky…
Summary: It’s cause for celebration when someone returns to your site. Are you making your visitors feel that way, or are you scolding them? (No, that’s not Sally Field.) When she accepted her second Best Actress Oscar in 1985 for “Places in the Heart,” Sally field famously said, “I can’t deny the fact that you…
Summary: AI is changing how we consume content, making it easier to skip clickbait and get straight to the answers. As AI tools become widespread, “forced engagement” will fade, leaving only content that’s either genuinely useful or truly immersive. Everyone in media is obsessed with “engagement.” Here’s the truth: AI is going to kill it,…
Summary: Both ChatGPT and Grok do an amazing job at providing feedback on the text of a novel, but ChatGPT seems to fail with manuscripts above about 20,000 words. I’m working on a novel, and ChatGPT has been my companion / editor / fact checker the whole way. (Yes, of course I check AI’s facts.)…
Summary: Here’s a simple, practical example of how businesses can use AI right now: turning existing content into engaging audio podcasts using tools like Google’s NotebookLM. How are you using AI in your business today? If your answer is “not much,” or “I’m not sure where to start,” you’re not alone. A lot of business…
Summary: What ChatGPT and other AI services are doing is immoral and illegal, but nobody is going to stop them because they have the perfect defense. “If we don’t do it, China will.” Copyright vests in the creator from the moment of creation. You don’t need to register it, publish it, add a copyright symbol,…
Summary: Identity resolution is tricky. Sometimes you want to resolve to a device, sometimes to an identifier (like an email address or phone number), and sometimes to the actual person. The right choice depends on your goals. Here are some examples to show why it matters. Do your customers think you’re incompetent? They might. You…
Summary: If you know a lot about different types of trees, you’re going to get more enjoyment out of a walk in the woods. If you know more about types of people, you’ll get to know them better, and you’ll be a better manager. But beware systems where people self-identify. Among your employees you have…
Summary: Trump’s dramatic tariff changes will certainly have an effect, but the global economy is a very complicated system. Macro-economic predictions do not have a good track record — often because the players adjust their behavior in response to market forces. Donald Trump has just announced a new round of tariffs. To say that the…
Summary: Most print fulfillment systems were designed before the concept of digital access was even a glint in Al Gore’s eye, and trying to make them work in the modern world can seem like running ChatGPT on a typewriter. But it can be done. Reconciling the capabilities of legacy fulfillment systems with the needs of…
Summary: I asked ChatGPT to write an e-newsletter on recent developments in B2B publishing. Here’s what I got. I did not change the text, but I did provide some additional formatting, and included some of the sources at the bottom of the article. B2B Publishing: Navigating New Frontiers AI Integration Reshapes B2B Publishing Landscape Artificial…
Summary: AI is much more advanced and scarier than you think it is. Here’s a small example from a conversation I had with it last night. I’ve seen a lot of creative people trying to convince themselves and others that AI isn’t a real threat because, you know, it hallucinates, and it misuses em dashes…
Summary: Create a spot in your work environment where you can avoid distractions and do head-down, serious work. It’s hard to do concentrated, single-minded work while your computer, your phone, and your iPad are all bleeping at you. Offices need to be designed for quiet space, and that includes your home office. If you work…