Weekly Update #4 - 25/01/2026
I’ve been thinking a lot about AI this week, trying to find it’s place in content creation. I make no secret of the fact I use it a lot, and it has increased my productivity hugely.
It’s also proved incredibly powerful as a learning device, teaching me new concepts and helping me dive deeper into topics than I previously would have. Hallucinations are real, but can be prevented by using trusted sources in something like NotebookLM.
It is also difficult to distinguish between AI and human content online but part of me wonders why that matters? If you judge content on it’s merits does it matter how it was created? Human’s are capable of writing crap just as much as AI.
If you find it useful, does it matter if it was ChatGPT? I do my best to ensure content here is accurate, but AI makes fewer mistakes than I do. Well prompted AI can create quality content. Not everything is AI Slop.
But I think people do want to know how content is being created, and so I’ve published an Artificial Intelligence Statement. This can be found in the footer of this site and it details what AI models I use and how I use them.
I would like to see more sites do this, and adopt a clear a responsible disclosure around AI. Let consumers be the judge; some will prefer sites that only use human generated content and some simply won’t care.
Ironically, this blog is less likely to get traction and views because people are now turning to AI before they turn to traditional search engines. AI could be the death of sites like these, but that poses a challenge in itself. If no-one produces content, what does AI learn from?
Obviously the logical thing to do would be prevent AI crawlers scraping this site and aim to keep this content from being accessible through large language models, but I haven’t done that. It would feel hypocritical. I get a lot from AI, why shouldn’t I give something back?
I think my conclusion is that if content creators aren't using AI they're going to get left behind, but AI should be treated like the tool that it is, and using it effectively is a skill. If someone want to create a blog entirely of AI posts they’ve never even read, that is their right. Consumers have the right not to read it.
So, one use of AI I’ve adopted this week is the video overview feature in NotebookLM. I give a post, and ask it to create an explainer video covering the concepts covered. Because it uses only the content I give it, I have control over the end product. If video explainers are your thing, head over to YouTube.
