What AI is really changing (it's us)
Keeping up with the AI content treadmill + Miu Miu's genius + Glossier's new perfume, Fleur
I wonder: what will AI rewire in us in the long run? What will AI eventually do to our creative process, our craft, our relationship with work? To our sense of “enough”?
Hi, brand friends :-)
As I was putting together my usual links roundup this week, I noticed a pattern emerging.
Most of my saved articles were about AI - from Adobe launching AI video generation (content partnership with Jessica Walsh) to Thomson Reuters battling over AI copyright to Elon Musk casually offering to buy OpenAI for $97.4 billion.
Maybe it's because AI is increasingly on my mind lately, or maybe—maybe—it's because there's an underlying anxiety we're all feeling but can't quite name.
So instead of just a regular roundup, I wanted to share some thoughts about what's been swirling in my head around this topic. (It’s a bit dire, so if you're looking for something lighter, I've got some happy inspiration at the bottom of this newsletter.)
It's impossible to escape AI these days. If you work in any creative field, it's everywhere - seeping into water cooler chatter, dominating strategy meetings, flooding your news feeds.
Just this week, we saw Reddit hint at expanded AI-powered search and startups like Perplexity targeting college campuses and activating ‘campus ambassadors’ to challenge Google's dominance.
I also just read Rex Woodbury's article on 'How AI Changes Customer Acquisition' where he writes:
This is clearly the future of influencer marketing: an influencer films herself talking about a product; she sells her likeness to a brand; the brand runs dozens of tests on different ad copy to see what performs best, then pours money behind the best-performing ads. Beyond influencer, this is the future of marketing in general. No more expensive production budgets or time-intensive editing.
I mean… wow. Efficient, yes. But also… scary? Because we know how this ends - tools get more sophisticated, processes get more streamlined, output increases. But somehow we never end up with more breathing room.
We’ve heard this story before: Email was supposed to make communication easier. Social media was meant to connect us. Smartphones were going to free up our time. Instead, each innovation created new expectations, new pressures, new normals. We didn't get more free time - we just filled it with more work.
The promises of AI are endless: more efficiency, more content, more productivity. Always more.
So now here we are, caught in a content arms race of our own making. Brands need daily posts, weekly newsletters, hourly stories, constant engagement. We've created an endless appetite for content, and AI arrives just in time to help us feed the beast. But should we?
Look, I'm not anti-AI. As someone juggling a toddler, a job, a home, and this newsletter (while desperately trying to hit at least 8K daily steps - LORD HELP ME), I understand the appeal of tools that make life more manageable.
AI can help parents like me craft grocery lists, cut through the noise of endless Amazon listings when I'm searching for kid winter boots, and heck, Google's AI summaries save me from having to detective my way through Reddit threads. These are real, practical benefits that can help us navigate daily life.
But that's exactly why I can't stop thinking about how we got here - to a place where we need AI just to keep up with the demands we've created for ourselves. Have we built a world that's only manageable with artificial assistance?
The problem isn't the technology itself—I think it has a lot to do with how we let it reshape our expectations.
The hamster wheel keeps spinning faster, and something feels off. There's a creeping unease beneath the surface.
As AI tools multiply and improve, the line between human and machine-generated content blurs. We're building faster tools to create more content that fewer people have time to meaningfully consume. Meanwhile, trust in what's real continues to erode.
The vibe is definitely… anxious, frantic. (Emily Sundberg’s 2025 predictions included a lot of anxious thoughts on AI-related layoffs.) The pressure to adopt, adapt, and accelerate only grows. But growth at the cost of what?
We're caught in a strange moment where we can see the problems with this endless cycle of content creation and consumption… but we can't seem to step off the treadmill.
I guess that's the real thing I'm grappling with when it comes to AI. I feel complicit in this acceleration, but what's the alternative? The opportunity cost of not keeping up feels… high.
As I read about more and more AI developments, it nags at me like a persistent hum in the back of my brain. Like a low-frequency warning signal.
I wonder: what will AI rewire in us in the long run? What will AI eventually do to our creative process, our craft, our relationship with work? To our sense of “enough”?
But who has time for that conversation?
There are posts to schedule, newsletters to write, and AI tools to learn.
Alright—let’s pivot to lighter things:
Brand Moves I Loved Reading About This Week
Okay, Miu Miu absolutely crushed Chinese New Year. Look at this INCREDIBLE brand activation they did in China. First of all—that Chinese knot with Miu Miu interlaced into it??? Whoever saw that opportunity deserves a bonus.
Miu Miu's creative direction team did not hold back They took over Guangzhou's Flower Market with their branded boats (genius) and turned Beijing's Shichahai Ice Rink into this dreamy lantern-lit wonderland (I audibly gasped). And THEN they dropped a collab track with Lexie Liu, because of course they looped music into it. *slow claps in Mandarin*
PSA for anyone in beauty, fashion, or skincare: if you're not already watching Anna Sawai, you should be. Dior just tapped her as their new ambassador (solid move), and I think she could be the next rising star. Fresh face, class act. Also fun fact: we were tiny ballet classmates back in the day. Wild to see my former plié buddy absolutely crushing it!
Something weirdly cathartic about watching Glossier's current era - after waiting seven years between You and their next fragrance, they dropped two scents last year and are already launching another one (called Fleur, complete with a Paris pop-up) next month. For a brand that built its whole image on being methodical and disciplined, this sudden sprint suggests what many are speculating: an exit strategy in motion. Whatever happens, it's been a defining decade - Glossier walked so many DTC beauty brands could run.
Image via Puck’s Instagram Meanwhile over at YouTube... plot twist! Despite all that money they poured into Shorts, people are actually watching more long-form content. We're talking 73% of watch time going to videos over 30 minutes. And get this - Gen Z is leading the charge, with their long-form viewing up 21% year-over-year.
What does this tell us? Maybe we're all a bit tired of snackable content? Or maybe (and this is my maybe foolish hope) we're craving more substance in a world of endless scrolling.
Either way, interesting signals about where audience attention is actually going vs where platforms think it's going...
That’s it for this week, as always, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
Arriane
PS. Let me leave with you this thought for the weekend:
I love this take on ai - it is different than the normal fear mongering content, more thoughtful and insightful.
I loved how your article explained something a lot of us are feeling, but didn't have the words yet. It feels like our emotions are manufactured in an advertisement and distilled into our digital identities.