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Analog is the new black
Comment from Albrecht Pagenstert, head of brand for BMW North America: “Authenticity is the new disruption. At a time when everyone’s using AI to simulate something that looks and feels real, being genuine actually stands out.”
Albrecht was describing the brief behind their new ad that makes fun of the glut of “AI slop,” a buzzword for low quality, high volume AI-generated content. Polaroid similarly tapped into this insight in a recent billboard campaign with headlines like “AI can’t generate sand between your toes.”
This stretches far beyond advertising. WIRED shared research late last year that over 54% of longer English-language posts on LinkedIn were likely AI-generated. Google, YouTube, TikTok and Pinterest are starting to grapple with AI slop using different degrees of labeling, detection, and filtering. Google is now using the term “human-first” to describe what it prioritizes in AI overviews.
Ann Handley has been writing and talking about the benefits of another type of AI: "Analog Intelligence." Ann is no luddite, but she describes Analog as an essential complement to Artificial Intelligence:
“I’m convinced that in the Age of Artificial, Analog is a power move.”
Ann also warns about the dangers of what she calls “Thoughtstipation," which is a watch-out in all forms of communication and creativity:
“Thoughtstipation happens when we skip the messy, human part of creativity—the part where we meander, doodle, ramble, reflect, and debate the use of an Oxford comma just because we love thinking about sentences.
“AI is useful. OF COURSE it is.
“But if you invite it in too early, before you’ve even heard your own voice and explored for yourself, you risk overriding your natural thinking process. Over time, that leads to chronic blockage. You literally can't think without AI in the wings; you've offloaded your own brain and its power.”
Albrecht was describing the brief behind their new ad that makes fun of the glut of “AI slop,” a buzzword for low quality, high volume AI-generated content. Polaroid similarly tapped into this insight in a recent billboard campaign with headlines like “AI can’t generate sand between your toes.”
This stretches far beyond advertising. WIRED shared research late last year that over 54% of longer English-language posts on LinkedIn were likely AI-generated. Google, YouTube, TikTok and Pinterest are starting to grapple with AI slop using different degrees of labeling, detection, and filtering. Google is now using the term “human-first” to describe what it prioritizes in AI overviews.
Ann Handley has been writing and talking about the benefits of another type of AI: "Analog Intelligence." Ann is no luddite, but she describes Analog as an essential complement to Artificial Intelligence:
“I’m convinced that in the Age of Artificial, Analog is a power move.”
Ann also warns about the dangers of what she calls “Thoughtstipation," which is a watch-out in all forms of communication and creativity:
“Thoughtstipation happens when we skip the messy, human part of creativity—the part where we meander, doodle, ramble, reflect, and debate the use of an Oxford comma just because we love thinking about sentences.
“AI is useful. OF COURSE it is.
“But if you invite it in too early, before you’ve even heard your own voice and explored for yourself, you risk overriding your natural thinking process. Over time, that leads to chronic blockage. You literally can't think without AI in the wings; you've offloaded your own brain and its power.”
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WTactualF!???!
…posts encouraging him to “get Threads” were being dropped into his Instagram feed featuring embedded posts of uniformed girls as young as 13 with their faces visible and, in most cases, their names.
The children’s images were used by Meta after their parents had posted them on Instagram to mark their return to school. The parents were unaware that Meta’s settings permitted it to do this. One mother said her account was set to private, but the posts were automatically cross-posting to Threads where they were visible. Another said she posted the picture to a public Instagram account. The posts of their children were highlighted to the stranger as “suggested threads”.
The recipient told the Guardian the posts felt “deliberately provocative and ultimately exploitative of the children and families involved”.
The children’s images were used by Meta after their parents had posted them on Instagram to mark their return to school. The parents were unaware that Meta’s settings permitted it to do this. One mother said her account was set to private, but the posts were automatically cross-posting to Threads where they were visible. Another said she posted the picture to a public Instagram account. The posts of their children were highlighted to the stranger as “suggested threads”.
The recipient told the Guardian the posts felt “deliberately provocative and ultimately exploitative of the children and families involved”.
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Wise words from Brian Allen
“When the American empire finally collapses, historians won’t be stunned by the greed of the elite; They’ll be stunned by the loyalty of the poor.
The working class didn’t just vote against their own interests. They worshipped the billionaires robbing them.
They slashed their own benefits, gutted their own healthcare, and cheered while the rich wrote off private jets as tax deductions.
Not because it helped them.
But because they were told it would hurt someone else.
And that, right there, is how you rig a democracy without ever breaking a single law.”
The working class didn’t just vote against their own interests. They worshipped the billionaires robbing them.
They slashed their own benefits, gutted their own healthcare, and cheered while the rich wrote off private jets as tax deductions.
Not because it helped them.
But because they were told it would hurt someone else.
And that, right there, is how you rig a democracy without ever breaking a single law.”
express, not stress