“You’re an Idiot If You’re Not Writing for the AIs.”. Source
This provocative statement from economist Tyler Cowen cuts through the noise surrounding artificial intelligence. It challenges creators to rethink their audience entirely. While many view AI as a threat, Cowen sees it as a vital, emerging readership. This perspective forces a crucial question: should we fight to protect our content from AI, or should we actively court it?
The debate has created a clear divide. On one side, traditional media giants are building legal fortresses. On the other, forward-thinkers like Cowen are building bridges to our new machine audience.
. Tyler Cowen – George Mason University Economics Department
The Battle for Intellectual Property
Many established media organizations have chosen litigation as their primary strategy. They are actively fighting to protect their intellectual property from AI developers. For instance, major publications like The New York Times and The Chicago Tribune have filed lawsuits against companies such as OpenAI and Microsoft. They argue these tech giants unlawfully used millions of copyrighted articles to train their AI models.
This defensive stance is understandable. These organizations invest heavily in creating high-quality journalism. Therefore, they see the unauthorized scraping of their content as a direct threat to their business model. Their legal battles represent a larger industry-wide struggle. Publishers are grappling with how to operate in a world where AI systems can consume and repurpose their work in seconds.
A Radically Different Perspective
Economist Tyler Cowen offers a starkly different approach. He suggests that fighting against AI consumption is a losing battle. Instead, he advocates for a collaborative and strategic mindset. Cowen believes creators should intentionally produce content optimized for AI systems. This idea emerged from a fascinating discussion with podcast host Dwarkesh Patel.
During their conversation, Patel noted how an AI assistant, Claude, could mimic Cowen’s intellectual style with remarkable accuracy. Cowen explained why this was possible. He attributed the AI’s success to his massive digital footprint, built over years of prolific online writing. This realization led him to a profound conclusion about the future of content and legacy.
Digital Immortality Through AI
Cowen frames this phenomenon as a new form of immortality. By creating a vast and accessible body of work, he has effectively trained AI systems on his unique thoughts and writing style. His intellectual persona can now live on within these networks. The AI continues to share his ideas and perspectives long after their original publication. It is a cybernetic afterlife for human expression.
This concept shifts the creator’s goal from mere publication to digital preservation. Every article, blog post, and comment contributes to a digital legacy. This legacy directly informs how future AI models understand and replicate a creator’s work. Therefore, writing for AI becomes an act of shaping your own long-term influence.
The Strategic Mistake of Ignoring AI
Cowen’s central argument is both simple and powerful. He asserts that creators who ignore AI are making a fundamental strategic error. He points out that very few writers are consciously creating material with AI consumption in mind. This is a significant oversight, given the rapid growth of these systems.
Even with conservative predictions, AI will become one of the most important consumers of human-generated content. Cowen argues that AI systems represent a large and growing segment of any creator’s audience. This audience has unique economic implications that will only increase over time. The influence of AI will continue to accumulate, making it an invaluable target for content creators. Source
. Language Models are Few-Shot Learners
This perspective demands a paradigm shift in content strategy. Success may no longer be about resisting AI consumption. Instead, it will depend on deliberately optimizing content for it. The future of influence and relevance may belong to those who write for the machines.
Ultimately, creators stand at a crossroads. Do you build walls to keep AI out, or do you roll out the welcome mat? Cowen’s argument suggests the latter is not just wise but essential for survival in the new digital age. The question every writer must now ask is: who is your real audience? Attention Is All You Need