There seems to be plenty of people using AI to create windfalls by cranking out content in seconds that historically has required weeks or months or longer for people to do. What it’s doing is putting ghostwriters out of business, and increasing demand for editors.

I watched a video about a 20 yo kid who has been using ChatGPT to crank out books in a particular niche for about 18 months. He has created a particular brand and creates books under that brand, and has published several hundred now. He says he’s already made over $1M, and can sell his biz for at least that much. Of course, he teaches a class on how to do it. The ultimate outcome here is the same as with SEO: markets are going to be flooded with generic material and it will be impossible to find anything specific to your needs.

I’m working on an app that generates personalized Guided Meditations (GMs). It does NOT use AI because AI isn’t needed, but that doesn’t stop people from telling me it’s a fool’s errand because there are already thousands of GM apps on the market, the vast majority of which are free. There’s a simple reason for this: every course on app development typically includes an exercise to build a virtual MP3 player. So people build it, then think, “Ahh, I can use this to load up meditations and then offer it up as a meditation app!” Another exercise lets you build a recorder app that creates … yes, you guessed it … MP3 files.

Last count there were over 6000 of these “meditation apps” aka “virtual iPods” loaded up with prerecorded personal meditations, and over half were from people in India. So what you have is a market flooded with generic GMs by people who aren’t very well-trained at creating them, about topics that are of interest to those individuals, and no way to search them for specific attributes. They started out simply as a programming exercise, but the collective effect is an entire market niche flooded with content and no way to search for anything specific. This is not an “AI problem” but a scalibility problem. Maybe we can use AI to fix it, but I think that’s a waste of resources with very little return.

The problem with flooding the market with stuff like this, be it web pages, books, meditation apps, videos, or whatever, is that there’s nothing in place to help you sift through these huge haystacks for a few needles that represent the intersection of qualities YOU ARE MOST INTERESTED IN. This is the same problem that’s affecting Google because of SEO. It will inevitably lead to the same problems in any market that has been flooded with content — there’s no way to find stuff quickly and efficiently that fits your needs other than building a “better search engine”, right?

What we’re doing is building huge digital garbage dumps and telling people looking for specific things, “Hey, dig away!” 

SEO has broken the internet, and AI will only make things worse. It’s a HUGE garbage dump or warehouse, and nobody has the time nor the interest to waste trying to find specific things buried there. 

But what if it was quicker to just create what you need in 5 minutes instead of searching for it in a huge warehouse?

Here’s the thing I see this situation inevitably leading to: people who love to read will soon be able to go to something like a vending machine where you give it a few details about yourself and what you like and dislike, push a button, and it generates a personalized eBook, meditation, video, or whatever you want, tailored just for you. It’s a one-off thing and yours to do what you want with it. Why not clothing? Or blog entries? 

People keep speaking of this in terms of ways to replace what people are already doing. But these approaches are limited by our current abilities and resources. That’s not very useful and it’s not where AI is going to really shine. Why use AI to create more of the same garbage that nobody can find? Google has lost its ability to find stuff, and has turned into a way of generating money simply from people searching for stuff that’s getting harder and harder to find, making their search sessions longer and hence generating more profits for Google. At some point, people will realize it’s a huge waste of time!

What people are missing about the value of AI is that it’s going to allow the large-scale creation of PERSONALIZED CONTENT. 

This is the beginning of mass customization and personalization of virtually everything! 

The digital world will be first, and before long it will lead to using 3D printing to create personalized physical stuff as well.

For example, I have arthritis in my thumbs, and it makes it hard to pick up normal drinking glasses. I prefer those with a handle, but I like one that’s big enough to fit my four fingers in so I don’t need to use my thumb for leverage. Lots of mugs have small handles on them that are hard to get even two fingers into. Some are larger, and some handle shapes work better than others. 

However, consumers are stuck buying things that the manufacturers have decided to make based on a lot of criteria that have nothing to do with you or me. But we might want a specific configuration. So why not be able to order glasses and mugs with a specific design, including a handle that fits what fits us best? Or no handle at all?

See how this starts to shift the whole world of mass marketing to personalized made-on-demand goods and services? AI will help with some of it, and isn’t needed for a lot either. But given our current ways of doing things in the world, it’s impossible — so nobody is doing it. No jobs will be “lost” with this new approach to personalized stuff. In fact, lots of new jobs will be created.

In the broader scheme of things, think of the publishing biz as a way to create personalized “fantasy novels” or even movies that cater to an individual's quirks. Who’s doing this now? NOBODY! Entirely new jobs will be created! 

This is basically why Blockbuster went bust — because their business model was to set up big warehouses in different places around town and people would go in and browse for what they wanted. Netflix came along and let you browse on the web from home or the office, and they delivered your order to your door — a more personalized offering. Now you can browse and click a button and start watching what you want instantly. Netflix still exists, but they don’t ship out disks in the mail any more.

From another angle, consider something where you take a test on some topic and then you’re given a lesson (or series of them) designed to not just reinforce what you already know, but with additional material that you’re weak in or is the “next step” in your training. If you have consistent trouble with particular topics, it will give you more exercises in those areas and provide additional help where it’s needed. It would work more like a personal tutor than a teacher presenting material based on a one-size-fits-all classroom setting. 

This is creating a totally new realm that is far too inefficient and expensive for any individual to do. No jobs will be lost because nobody is doing it now, nor can anybody do it on any sort of scale. 

The jobs that will be lost are the ones that are doing repetative jobs making or doing the same things over and over again — jobs that do not lend themselves to personalized or customized products. Sure, there are lots of jobs like that, but so what? Automation is already eliminating a lot of them, not AI. And there will always be a market for "jellybeans”.

Consider a future where most of what you can buy online is personalized to your specific needs. Not like ordering a pair of shoes or clothing from a preset list of sizing options, but where you enter your physical measurements and other details and get something that fits like a glove made just for you. Now extend this to most other things you consume or use regularly, especially those that “don’t quite fit”.