Is morally OK to think that AI generate people are shit?
How to make eSIM and buy vs. build PaaS ads with Sora - from B2C to B2B to B2WTF.
Sora
I have a Sora account. The take that people like it because it lets them make videos of themselves and their friends seems right. It’s also scary good at cheese-o-marketing and ads, even for the thrilling world of PaaS (see my post in LinkedIn or Bluesky, then come back here for more examples).
You can also get it to make videos that’d be perfect for generic ads. You can imagine this one being of any number of things like flights, hotels, eSIM cards for travelers:1
Here I am as a short-order cook in some 30s noir film:2
With enough time, toil, patience, and video editing, you could do a lot with this video making tool. You’ll need a good script if you want it to be more than eSIM ads, though.
(One good use of AI generated videos is to get good stills. Instead of generating a still image one by one and tuning it, you can generate a whole video and just skip through frame-by-frame to find one that is good. Couple that with the Clean Up tool to remove the Sora watermark [it works flawlessly!], and you’ve got yourself some good stills to flip through.)
One of my AI principles is, “If it’s bullshit work, have the bullshit-artist do it.” That definitely applies to cooking videos with Sora:3
Should I feel bad for thinking the people in these videos are vapid goof-balls? Well, not me, I guess: I’m an awesome, sophistimicated goof-ball. I try not to think about that when it comes to human-sludge. But these aren’t real people, eh? They’re just robot-pixel-exhaust. So, just like we’d regard a lot of AI generated text as shit without thinking twice, it must be morally OK to think they’re vapid goof-balls, right?
I don’t know. Seems wrong for some reason. What do you think?
Relative to your interests
Are you’re experiencing a form of burnout called ‘rust out’? - The never ending quest to keep doing what you’re good at and get better at it…rather than making another PowerPoint about what you worked on last week. // “One of the biggest contributors to rust out is spending your energy in places that don’t align with your unique talents and skills. In my own experience, and in working with my clients, a simple way to uncover your unique talents is to notice your energy. I believe every work activity falls into one of three categories: energy suckers, energy stallers, and energy surgers.”
McKinsey wonders how to sell AI with no measurable benefits - ”for every $1 spent on model development, firms should expect to have to spend $3 on change management, which means user training and performance monitoring.” // How it started AI-“enabling the entire customer service stack of a typical business could lead to a 60 to 80 percent price increase, McKinsey says.” How it’s going: “while quoting an HR executive at a Fortune 100 company griping: ‘All of these copilots are supposed to make work more efficient with fewer people, but my business leaders are also saying they can’t reduce head count yet.’”
Mike Judge asks good questions about AI shovelware - “If these tools are so great, where is the explosion of AI created stuff in the world?” // Followed by a yes-and style rebuttal.
Why thought leadership still fails - “According to IDC research, 72% of tech marketers say creating original, differentiated thought leadership is a top challenge. Even more cite difficulty connecting that content to real business outcomes. 37% of CMOs say creating a unified, omnichannel customer experience will have the greatest influence on their marketing strategy over the next 12 to 18 months.” And: “It’s not about doing more. It’s about making what you already do work harder to drive the engagement you need.” Related:
Make the user awesome - “I would summarize her thesis as such: Your best marketing and communication should talk about how you make your users awesome, not how you’re awesome.”
GenAI Predictions - A vision for a kinder post-AI meltdown. Also, speculation about where AI code generation will stick and not stick.
Hacker Laws - “Laws can be opinions on inevitabilities in the world of software engineering, or wry observations on unavoidable realities.” // A round-up of all those “laws” and bromides tech world people use.
Performing Gender, Left and Right - All I really need to know about socio-political culture I learned from 80s high school movies.
Study Reveals America’s Most Searched Slang Words 2025 / OHIO; mayonnaise
21 Facts About Throwing Good Parties - For when you want to be that accountant or in the first Ghostbusters.
Wastebook
“Slopjects.” Slopjects
“perhaps I am expecting too much when there is a poop emoji on the cover.” A Whole Book.
If all you need is a screwdriver, every tool you don’t have is a screwdriver. 🪛
“As a writer I value the concept of boredom because it’s very useful in having ideas and letting your brain explore. Now I have to actively choose when to be bored.” Chose boredom.
“‘Well,’ Birkin says, in heavily accented French, ‘did you learn anything about me from seeing ing bag?’ Then a grin: ‘Even if we Birkin reveal everything, we don’t show much.’” Found by Russell.
“I realized that I really didn’t want to read another experimental European novel with a tormented narrator reflecting on language, daddy issues, the trauma of WWII, ‘the real,’ presence and absence in the archives, and lists of the dead.” // Same.
The rhetoric of camera angles is nuts: laughable that they’re so manipulative and tricky, but also insightful because they’re so true and effective.
“No boring buffets here!”
“I assume they kept the socks as evidence too.” Theft of Services via Sock
Logoff
I’m looking forward to AI for the Rest of Us next week. There’s so many things I’m interested in talking about on the topic of playing D&D with AI. I’ll have to pick one and just go with that. Maybe.
Cloud Foundry Day EU was great. It was the largest turn-out in a long time with a lot of users and customers. I’ll post the recording of my talk when it’s posted. I went over four stories of large organizations that use AI: a bank, Charles Schwab, Rabobank, and DATEV. When you put the numbers up on the slide, it’s impressive.
Every conversation I had started the same: our Cloud Foundry platform is running just fine and has been for years, developers love it. Someone architect in a Kloud Center of Excellence keeps telling us that we need to re-platform to Kubernetes. Can you help? I don’t know, pal. Start with the OG Kubernetes thought-leaders, I guess?
The prompt:
”British young people having a good time in central Amsterdam in quick cut TikTok style.” This is a lot cleaner and cozy than the “good time” most British people seem to be having in central Amsterdam. Perfect for ads!
The prompt: “After a long night of serving food, he is sitting in the back alley with a beer and a stubby cigar, looking tired but OK.”
The prompt: “How to make a breakfast taco YouTube short video - have a face shot if someone explaining that their dad made this for them every morning. Some corny 50’s lounge music softly in the background.”