Why Is The AI Bubble Trying So Hard To Harsh Your Mellow?

Sunday, 12:48pm
Reno, NV

Howdy.

Artificial Intelligence is a great tool.

It’s not a thinking, living creature with emotions, or any sense of its own existence. It has no actual brain. Or nervous system. Or real empathy, or a soul, or an actual personality, or ANY of the adorable traits humans exhibit when alive.

Well, okay, there are sociopaths amongst us who lack empathy, and regard other people as nothing more than objects to be manipulated for their own personal gain. But that’s a misfire in the brain. It’s a bug, not an intended function.

Still, AI is freaking amazing, isn’t it.

As a tool, it’s helping programmers, rocket scientists, medical researchers, business owners, and all sorts of other folks. In myriad ways.

For entrepreneurs and copywriters and consultants, it’s an awesome tool in the kit.

---

Speaking of amazing tools for your toolbox, did you know that you can get some of my best biz boosting tips for FREE? Yep, it’s true. Just sign up for my report and emails right here.

---

But it is just a tool. Nothing more.

Sure, you can use ChatGPT as your therapist. Or as your doctor. Or, I hear, as your new girlfriend.

But you still need real humans, with real experience and training and skillsets, in the mix…

… or lots of strange, unhealthy shit will commence in your life and biz.

And I’m no longer alone in telling you this stuff.

The very people who were, a year ago, inventing new programs and shoveling out advice based on the assumption that AI really was the super cool robot version of Superman…

… are now mostly warning folks of the relentless dangers behind the “magic”.

And because a lot of dumbfuck CEOs have staked the future of their companies on AI doing all the heavy lifting of bringing home the bacon…

… we’re in an AI Bubble.

Which just means the AI tech is blowing through investor money faster than it can be printed.

With lots of exciting results that sound and look good, but aren’t even coming close to fulfilling all the promises people expected.

Like, oh, profit. Stability. Rooms full of robots doing every job humans used to do, and doing those jobs extremely well and without problem.

Reminds me of the Tech Bubble of the late 1990s.

I forget the year, but at one point nearly every Superbowl commercial was about some high-flying tech biz being the Big Next Thing.

And by the following Superbowl, they were all gone.

Cuz the bubble burst. Investors realized they weren’t getting any returns on their seed money, the stock market wasn’t seeing much in the way of profitable behavior, and the companies couldn’t show any proof of massive customer bases showering them with money.

The tech was exciting, for sure.

But eventually, Capitalism yawned, and gave the thumbs down.

(Much of that tech, humbled, worked its way back into the mix, but it took a few years.)

In the world we all live in, we love to go through the same bullshit over and over again. In cycles, maybe a generation apart. You can almost set your watch by the rapid emergence of fresh wars, recessions, fashions, social upheaval…

… and technology bubbles.

My basic rule: Anytime humans are involved in something…

… shit will hit the fan sooner or later. 

Civilization works (when it does) not because of really smart humans doing really smart things…

… but rather in spite of any humans involved.

We screw stuff up, folks..

---

Humans screw up a lot, in fact. But the one thing you have to learn from all the failure is great marketing. You can shortcut that process dramatically by getting your hands on The Simple Writing System.

---

AI is created by fallible humans, who almost always become entranced by their new inventions. And then proceed to over-promise and under-deliver.

Look, I love AI. I use it, frequently, as a tool. It’s helped me be more productive, it’s saved me time doing research projects, and it’s even fine for the low level grunt writing sometimes required in a campaign.

But AI ain’t my biz partner. Never will be.

It’s a tool. 

The demise of the copywriting career, due to AI’s ability to write better important ads, faster…

… never happened.

Any writer who knows how to consult with a biz, while also knowing exactly what sort of written marketing materials are needed for success…

… will never be out of work.

I’ve always suggested writers become “AI Wranglers” — by understanding the possibilities and the limits (and the complete bullshit) of the tool…

… so you can be the human making sure AI-created marketing isn’t riddled with errors and hallucinations (and, let’s be honest — lies and misinformation up the yin-yang).

And, already happening: Be the clean-up expert.

Kinda like how crime scenes get mopped up and repaired and repainted and the disgusting gore removed to another location.

Cuz AI is like a marketing serial killer…

… butchering campaigns, emails, programming, and design with an insatiable lust for chaos.

And the biz community is only slowly getting hip to the dangers.

You’ve heard of the “dead Internet theory“, no?

It’s where all social media abruptly becomes just robots sending posts and comments to each other…

… and humans are just wandering around thinking everyone’s gone bonkers all of a sudden.

And yeah, we’re almost there.

AI is writing the scripts to many streaming movies you watch. Many books you see in the bestseller lists. Many of the email campaigns that haunt your inbox. The spam filling up your voice message system. And especially the social media you consume.

It’s like living in some dystopian sci-fi novel.

You can’t hardly trust any digital communication you receive, and it’s really testing the limits of society.

Right now, though, AI hasn’t “won”. You can still tell most of what it produces, cuz it sucks. As AI gets more skilled at fooling humans, that may change…

… but so far, I don’t see AI becoming our overlords on the horizon.

The “sucky” parts of it seem inherent in the Large Language Model fundamentals of the AI system. Turns out that rehashing what’s already been done by humans isn’t a very reliable path to excellence. (Especially the kind of excellence that leads to massive sales.)

AI’s been lucky that the creativity of humans has been sloppy and derivative for hundreds of years.

So yeah, it’s sometimes hard to tell whether some garbage movie, or email, or book, or video or whatever has been created by a AI or a burned-out, compromised human…

… but that’s on the burned-0ut humans.

What sucks, sucks.

And AI is producing a whole lot of suck…

… because that’s what it’s been feeding on to get where it’s at.

It can’t think.

It doesn’t care about you, or anyone else, or anything else.

It’s a smarter tool.

And humans haven’t quite figured out yet how to harness the possibility of that tool.

So there’s a lot of fumbling around by C-Suite creatures trying to fit this tool into every crevice in their businesses.

For copywriters and entrepreneurs, it’s all much more simple.

Use all your tools, and learn the limits and possibilities. Hone your ability to think critically about the problems and solutions that all biz suffer from…

… and become an expert in cleaning up the messes created by botched AI dependence.

No, you don’t need to learn how to program…

… but knowing how bad programming can be a culprit in declining sales online will go a long way.

And remember:

All High-End Copy And Sales-Producing Campaigns
Will Forever Be Brainstormed And Created By Humans. 

Smart, skilled and hip copywriters will never be obsolete.

Everyone else will discover this soon enough, as the AI Bubble bursts and blows chunks of stinking debris all over the joint.

And Rule #1 is always this: Find experts you can trust to give you the truth. Follow them, not the influencers with their heads up their ass…

… cuz the Big Chaos is just around the corner.

Okay, rant over.

Carry on.

And stay frosty,

John

P.S. If you haven’t read all my books and stuff yet, now’s the time. Your career is at stake.

You can find most of my products right here on the blog.

And be sure you’re all signed up for my email newsletter. You can sign up here on the blog, too.

Finally, be sure to check out my new podcast “Psych Insights For Modern Marketers, the 3G edition“, which is based on 3 generations (each 20 years apart) of successful marketer/copywriters going deep into the subjects affecting everyone’s bottom line. Go to www.pi4mm.com for more info, or just find the show on your favorite podcast provider. (We were in the top 10 on Apple Business Podcasts last month…)

Okay, now go do something positive for your career. Take a step toward success and happiness. Even a small step counts…

 

Why Having “Smarts” Is Superior To Just Being Smart

1:12pm
Reno, NV

Sometimes, people accuse me of being smart.

And I’m not.

I’ve hung around legit smart people, and I’m definitely a back-bencher: Intelligent enough not to murder myself operating kitchen appliances, but never gonna help send a rocket to Mars.

Still, I consider myself a savvy kinda dude.

Been around the block a few times. Saw some shit, had close calls with having my ticket punched, caused trouble in some exotic and interesting joints around the globe.

I grew up next to the tracks. (Literally. Southern Pacific freight trains rumbled by twice daily behind our back fence.) (I can sleep through anything now.) Been broke and desperate, and flush with more moolah than I knew what to do with. Spent many years with the loves of my life, and had my heart ripped out and stomped in the dirt.

Did some impressive things. Did a lot more really, really fucking stupid shit, and suffered exquisitely awful consequences.

---

Hey have you checked out my latest report, A Grizzled Pro’s Guide to Marketing Psychology, yet? What are you waiting for? It’s time to dive in deep, beyond booksmart, to see how people (yourself included) really tick. 

---

Floundered around most of my youth. Stumbled into multiple mentorships that woke me up, turned me around, and sent me off on adventures that few men have enjoyed.

Learned my lessons well. Applied them to everything I did. Honed my chops, got out of my funk, pursued goals I had no permission to attain. Attained them anyway, and prospered.

Most of all, I’ve had the privilege of helping others over the last 30 years or so, through speeches, masterminds, books and personal mentoring.

Things had turned out so well for me, that I’ve been able to pay the universe back by sharing everything (literally everything; I don’t hold back at all). Going on twenty years for this blog — where the articles are always free.(Check out the archives — it’s really a complete free tutorial in life and biz.)

I’ve been a busy little bastard, too. Created a pile of books and courses and stuff, listed along the right side here. Hosted the most exclusive mastermind in the biz for a decade. Have 3 books on the desk here waiting to be finished. All on how to beat the odds against you, and create your own sizzling wealth and happiness.

Now doing a weekly podcast with Kevin Rogers and Daniel Throssell (3 generations of successful copywriters, answering The Big Questions in modern marketing). Free. (Go to Psych Insights For Modern Marketers at pi4mm.com and catch the latest episodes. It’ll change your life, Bucko.)

And yet…

… I still wonder how much more I could have accomplished if I’d been, you know…

… smarter.

You know what the answer is?

Nothing.

Being even a wee bit smarter… or even more properly educated…

… wouldn’t have helped at all.

Cuz growing up working class, struggling to find my place in the world, blundering through the business world without a clue, sneaking into places I was never invited, and pestering mentors…

… that’s where I cobbled together the kind of “smarts” that results in moving through the world with purpose, confidence, and a vicious “eyes on the prize” attitude that never accepts failure.

I’ve been lucky, yes.

But more importantly, I was always focused on learning my lessons and applying them.

It’s a simple way to go through life. And one that the vast majority choose to ignore.

I saw a study once that insisted the best IQ for entrepreneurs was around 120. Give or take a few points.

You can’t get into MENSA until you’re above 130. Smug, elite bastards, MENSA.

At around 120, you’re bright enough to quickly grasp concepts. You can beef up your critical thinking skills to amazing levels, so it’s not difficult doing research, creating products and marketing campaigns, and navigating your way through the sociopaths and criminals and idiots (mostly the idiots) who haunt every single market niche on the planet.

At 120, you can learn, apply what you learn, and profit from making disciplined plans and implementing them.

But you know what else that study said?

Higher IQs actually impeded people trying to become successful.

I don’t know how much I actually believe that, but I do know that few of my friends and colleagues with embarrassing large IQs (I have many) have accomplished much of anything beyond academic goals. Most are essentially broke.

I can see where being told you have a high IQ, coupled with watching the majority of your fellow humans bumble about like somnambulant zombies…

… should have automatically led to a life of luxury, success and fame. Maybe even on a silver platter. .

But it doesn’t.

Because just being smart ain’t enough.

The universe laughs at your insistence that it should be.

I’ve thought about this a lot.

And here’s the thing: Being conspicuously “smart” just means you have the capacity for doing things with your brain that lesser mortals aren’t blessed with.

There is zero guarantee that bloated prefrontal cortex floating in your noggin will get you anywhere in life by just sitting on it.

Even folks who do accomplish shit, based on sheer brain wattage, don’t automatically lead better lives.

Did you know that medical doctors are among the most gullible professionals around, when it comes to financial scams?

The geniuses who operate on brains, can’t wrap their own around the idea that being awesome in one endeavor doesn’t mean you’ll ace every situation you encounter in life.

I’ve met so many experts in one field, who are utter doofuses in anything else they attempt. They’re just lost in our complex society, baffled by the rise of idiocy and failure to comprehend basic science amongst the general population.

Good lesson there, too. Might help you understand yourself and the folks around you better.

Anyway, I’ve been thinking about what endows someone with actual “smarts”.

And here’s my breakdown:

1. Raw IQ is pretty much worthless without being honed.

Like a naturally gifted athlete who never applies themself to a sport. That gift dissipates quickly. (I also met a large number of very accomplished musicians — mostly guitarists — who would have been stars… if they’d only bothered to get into a band, make it work, and step onto a stage. But no. They either felt too superior to sully themselves with other musicians unworthy of their company… or they simply lacked the drive to overcome their shyness or “playing well with others” deficiencies. This frustrated me no end. Especially while trying to put together bands in high school — we’d get a gig, my buddy Bob and I, and then slap together a band to play. Budding entrepreneurs, we were. And the best musicians we knew just flat out refused. Too scared, too smug, too bad they missed out on the fun.) (And it really was some of the most fun I’ve ever had.)

2. The “honing” part comes along with experience.

You go out into the world, encounter shit, blunder through obstacles, fail a bunch (but dust yourself off and get back at it), and meet all the different kinds of thieves, scoundrels, psycho’s, and normal people that populate the joint around you.

And you figure out what the lessons are in each of the situations you get yourself into. You learn the lesson. You apply it the next time, get good at your new tactics, and continue to grow in all ways. From experience. Getting dirty. Getting slammed down by life and recovering as fast as you can so you can try again.

The lessons you learn in real life are what shines up your raw intelligence (whatever your IQ is or isn’t).

And suddenly, the world starts to make sense.

3. Along the way, you develop skills you never had before.

You perfect the skills you need to thrive in your chosen career, and you attain the skills required to be an expert in any new field you pivot into.

The truly smart person looks over any situation you encounter… figures out how your current bag of skills will fare, and what new skills you need to master to be successful… and then seeks out the resources and mentors available to do exactly that.

It can be uncomfortable, the first time you force-feed new information and skills into your overburdened skull… but soon enough, it becomes a habit… cuz that’s how shit gets done at a high level in this universe.

4. You gotta murder your ego.

It’s Step One in any adventure you intend to undertake. You develop a life philosophy that meets the demands of reality — and most of the time, you’re gonna come up short in new adventures, cuz you don’t have the experience or right skill set. Which is absolutely fine, once you’ve realized that your new skill of figuring out what you don’t know and need to know becomes a big part of your existence.

Most people just allow others to implant a core set of beliefs, and never challenge any of it. Their worldview has been set in stone since high school, surrounded by a thick wall of stubborn refusal to change.

And that’s fine for civilians.

But it’s NOT fine for entrepreneurs.

You gotta be more nimble. You should have a bigger and more nuanced worldview, with the skills to adapt to anything thrown at you.

Problem arrives:

• You figure it out.
• You seek out resources you need.
• You throw yourself into the solution.

And that’s pretty much what defines a good life.

And you know what? Your goddamned ego won’t help with ANY of this.

What’s your ego done for you, ever? Except get you into trouble?

Egos are for losers.

The true professional operates solely in reality… where critical thinking and resourcefulness trumps every other skill.

5. Finally, having “smarts” means you live like a good animal.

Take care of your health — mental, emotional, physical, spiritual, and financial.

To get a fast education in doing that, maybe check out my book “The Entrepreneur’s Guide To Getting Your Shit Together”. You can get a copy, cheap, on the right side of this page. It’s not just about copywriting. In fact, that’s the least of the lessons taught. You’ll be equipped to lead a much better life, and much more lucrative career, after reading.

None of this is rocket science, by the way.

If it all seems daunting to you, I’ll share a little secret: It ain’t.

You just need to apply yourself. A little bit, even.

All the top entrepreneurs and writers I know have developed the discipline to learn, and change, and adapt to whatever challenges come their way.

The hardest thing to learn was simply allowing discipline to be their guiding tactic. You need to learn something, you go learn it. And really learn it, not just do your usual glance at the stuff and call it a day.

Entrepreneurs will thrive or die in the real world, depending on how they handle the unrelenting assaults of a hostile universe on their dreams and goals.

I was a slacker when I started out. Decided to take care of business before having any pleasure — cuz I really, really enjoyed hanging out at the bar with my pals. But that had to go to the end of the list, because I decided I wanted to be successful…

… and I was simply gonna do what was necessary to make it happen.

Along the way, I developed a wicked set of “smarts”. Despite my very obvious shortcomings in the raw intelligence thing.

If I did it, you can, too.

Hope this helped.

Stay frosty,

John

P.S.  Is it possible to get the equivalent of a university degree in marketing? You might argue that might latest podcast is even better, cuz it’s all real and tested with zero theory. And it’s free to listen to. Check out Psych Insights for Modern Marketers: 3G Edition right now.