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Over the last decade I’ve been asked many times whether I think blogging will die, or will it be replaced by something else.

Every time I was asked this question I replied that I believe the only way it could change is if how we consume content changes.

As long as we humans like to read, listen and watch, and we use our eyes and ears to do so, I couldn’t imagine anything changing. Unless technology reaches the point where we can download content directly to our brains like in the Matrix movies… which I don’t see happening anytime soon!

While my basic thesis remains the same – we continue to use our eyes and ears to read and listen to content – for the first time in a long time there is something on the horizon that is going to cause a fundamental shift.

However, in this case, the shift is not so much about how we consume content, but instead how content is created.

Joann Penn Goes Deep Into AI

Over a decade ago Joanna Penn began an internet business, sharing content online to help other authors publish successful books.

She was also one of my early Blog Mastermind graduate success stories. You can listen to her background story in this podcast here.

More recently to my surprise, Joanna has gone deep into the world of artificial intelligence (AI). In particular, she’s been keeping a close on eye what aspects of AI might impact her industry – book publishing – and producing content to help her audience prepare.

One of her recent articles – 9 Ways That Artificial Intelligence (AI) Will Disrupt Authors And The Publishing Industry – grabbed my attention because of how significant some of the disruptions are.

These disruptions don’t just impact publishers of books. Anyone who makes a living based on content, and that includes blogs, podcasts, video, and social media, will be significantly impacted by the AI tools that are already in use and coming soon.

To give you an idea, here are the nine points Joanna covered in her article:

  1. Non-fiction books, blog posts, and news articles will be written by AI
  2. Copyright law will be challenged as books are used to train AIs which then produce work in the voice of established authors
  3. Voice synth technology will replace human narrators for mass-market audiobook narration
  4. Voice search will disrupt text-based SEO and if you don’t have voice content, you will be invisible.
  5. Translation will be performed by AI — for books as well as other content
  6. Content will explode exponentially, and AI discoverability and marketing tools will help navigate the tsunami
  7. AI-augmented creativity will develop and more people will want to be writers
  8. Print publishing will shift into a green, sustainable model with AI-assisted micro-print-on-demand
  9. Expansion of mobile reading + micropayments enabled by 5G mobile and blockchain technology + four billion new people online = explosion of reading

Let’s Talk AI

I invited Joanna back on to my podcast to discuss her nine points in more detail and go deep into what’s coming and what’s already here when it comes to AI that impacts us content creators.

Joanna, as you will hear in the interview, is upbeat and positive about the future. She believes all these tools will empower content creators to do so much more.

The risk is that you ignore these coming changes because you will be quickly left behind and basically invisible — you won’t have an audience, which means you won’t have a business.

During the podcast, I frequently challenged Joanna by taking the viewpoint that many of these AI-powered changes will make it very difficult for us individual content producers to compete.

Joanna agreed, but she offered a way forward no matter what I threw at her. In fact, she believes that these AI changes will make more people want to become content producers because it will be easier. Many of the more mundane tasks will be taken off our hands by AI.

What Will Content Discovery Look Like In The Future?

The big question, and one we can’t answer yet, is what will an AI-powered Internet look like when it comes to content discovery.

Joanna and I have both greatly benefit from Google sending us new readers because our content shows up in search results.

In a world full of AI-generated content, the sheer volume will demand more tailored solutions when it comes to search and discovery. AI will be a part of this, helping us find better answers and more tailored content based on our unique profile. How this will work exactly is yet to be seen.

What matters as a business owner is we stay up to date with how these changes occur. Marketing is about creating awareness for what you sell, and if you don’t understand the tools that lead to someone discovering your business, you’re not going to have a business.

The AI-powered future, when it comes to content, sounds like an incredibly overwhelming one — far more overwhelming than the already overwhelming Internet we have today.

Despite this, Joanna believes there will still be ways to stand out and maintain a loyal following, and grow a thriving business. A big part of this will have to do with how copyright and licensing laws change in response to the changes AI ushers in.

Needless to say, this was a fun and exciting podcast to be a part of. I strongly recommend you listen in, your future business may depend on it.

Enjoy the episode,
Yaro

Topics Covered In This Podcast

  • Reasons to still go into traditional publishing
  • When it’s good to go self-publishing
  • The idea of the centaur publishing – meshing 2 sources together to create something new via artificial intelligence
  • Why you should start to learn and embrace artificial intelligence instead of feeling threatened by it
  • How artificial intelligence is already being used for generating content online and how we can continue to stand out in a new AI-driven world
  • How copyright law affects work generated by artificial intelligence – the controversies and blurred lines
  • How China is already using Artificial Intelligence to deliver news 24 hours a day, 7 days a week via voice synth and deep fake technology

Relevant Links

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