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08 September 2026 | Issue #134

In this issue:

• Focus on the Audience Who Wants to Hire You
• IBM Should Have Won the AI Race
• Project Management for Freelancers
• Design quote of the week

Some People Want Vinyl, Some Want Spotify

I don’t know about you, but I see a lot of people lamenting businesses’ use of AI to create their marketing content. So much of it is hot garbage, but there’s no reason for marketers and creators to get upset about this. And if you look at it from a different angle, there’s actually an upside to that slop.

Why They Do It

It’s a common meme that people want work that is cheap, fast, and good. Usually, they can choose two of three. There have to be tradeoffs. It’s virtually impossible to achieve all three.

But there are people who think they can use AI to achieve all three. They believe they’re spending $20 a month and they’re getting that elusive unicorn that performs magic every time they hit “Return” on a prompt box.

The problem is they think what they’re “creating” is Good.

They don’t understand that the output is only “good enough.”

Out of the box, AI tends toward the familiar. It has seen the same patterns, structures, phrases, and visual conventions over and over, so without someone directing it with taste and judgment, the result tends to look and sound like everything else.

So these people are creating content they think is good, partly due to the IKEA Effect, and what they’re really getting is Fast/Cheap output that lacks quality.

They’re settling for Fast/Cheap without realizing it.

Don’t Get Mad

I see people getting mad at others who settle for “good enough.” But those people were never going to hire you.

Some people buy Vinyl. Some people subscribe to Spotify.

With Spotify, for a small monthly fee, anyone can have access to almost any song recorded. The quality isn’t amazing, but the ability to choose from millions of songs on the iPhone is a major selling point for some people.

For others, sound quality is the most important thing. They’ll spend the extra money, and go through the effort of buying an album, playing it on a record player, and flipping it over every 25 minutes.

These are the people you have to target.

They understand quality. They appreciate it. They’re willing to pay for it.

They want to hear the crackles and imperfections. It feels human and authentic. It’s not just ones and zeros arranged in a way to sound like the intro to ‘Sweet Child o’ Mine.’ It’s real.

The people who use AI to create aren’t going to pay your retainer or your hourly rate. So, this means you have to bring the quality.

You’re competing with $20/month and no lag time.

Why it’s Good for You

If you are someone who creates for others, you have a huge opportunity to stand out. As everything shifts into a sea of sameness thanks to ChatGPT, you have to rely on your unique taste to stand out from the crowd.

People are now boldly proclaiming they have no taste whenever they share AI slop.

This tells you whom to ignore. For now.

Those people were never happy about paying you in the past. Now they think they can bypass your expertise and fees. But if you continue to shine, they will slowly wake up to the realization that there is a difference between “good enough” and “great.”

So don't compete on cheap and fast. You'll lose.

Compete on the things AI doesn't automatically give someone for $20: judgment, taste, and originality. Understanding the audience. Knowing when something isn't working, even when you can't explain why. Knowing which idea is worth pursuing and which one should die.

Some of them will eventually learn to see the difference. And when “good enough” stops being good enough, they’ll start looking for the people who knew the difference all along.

WHY DIDN'T IBM WIN AI?

Why didn't IBM win the AI race? It had a huge, public head start thanks to Watson. And then ... it missed the next evolution of AI (the transformer).

Brittain Ladd breaks down how and why IBM failed to take its initial leadership position in AI to become what Anthropic and OpenAI are today.

AETO

What is Your Effective Hourly Rate?

For a long time, I didn't keep track of my hours when I was working on project-based work. Now I do.

Aeto allows you to track your hours on flat-fee projects, and it keeps an ongoing tally of your hourly rate. This allows you to see when you're working above or below the level at which you want to earn.

And it allows you to better quote future projects.

Visit Aeto.app. If you want to be a beta tester, let me know!

DESIGN QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“Content precedes design. Design in the absence of content is not design, it’s decoration.” - Jeffrey Zeldman

My AI disclaimer: The main article was written by me and edited by ChatGPT.

ChatGPT created the image.

Thanks for reading!

–Jim

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