Not an Easy Button

April 16, 2025 

A few quick notes from the intersection of AI, marketing, branding, and small business.

Don’t think of AI as an Easy Button. In his daily blog from a few days ago, author Seth Godin warns us about what he calls “the AI effort gap.” It takes seven years to earn a PhD, Godin notes, so why should we think that spending one minute on a single AI prompt would deliver the best, most polished deliverable? The efficiency gains of AI are massive, but putting in some work—even a lot of work—will produce much much better results.

A more level playing field for small brands? AI is being described as the “great equalizer,” giving small businesses access to creative tools and marketing capabilities that were once only available to larger enterprises. With affordable AI-driven design, advertising, and analytics, small brands can focus on creativity and agility to stand out in competitive markets, as long as someone leads the AI charge. DesginRush makes the case in an article about Freepik.

What forces have energized AI innovation in the U.S.? Nicholas Thompson, CEO of The Atlantic Magazine and former editor in chief at Wired, used his LinkedIn feed to promote a new Atlantic article on this topic (subscription required). The short version: All this AI innovation has come from 1) federal funding of science and tech, 2) our great research universities, and 3) immigrants. The Trump administration is actively demonizing and degrading all three. Can we keep up the same pace of innovation despite it?

Prompt Ideas from Adam Biddlecombe. Love this visual chart that describes 20 prompts for problem solving.