Hey good folks and happy Thursday! The August heat is hitting in Austin, and ACs everywhere are struggling. I hope wherever you are, you are staying nice and cool!

All right, let’s dive in.

My team is scaling AI content production quickly, and feeling really good about the results. Costs are down, volume is up, and performance is…well, performing.

And still, I don’t yet see a day when content production will be closed-loop with AI alone. Human-in-the-loop is what makes AI-generated content publishable. And we have several places that humans are, indeed, in the loop––and even driving entirely.

1. Briefing: Our briefs become our prompts. They are critical to nail.

2. Skill building, chaining, and maintenance: AI doesn’t know what to do on its own. You have to teach it, and continue iterating.

3. Asset review: This used to be my “strategy review” step, and it means a human is reviewing the content to make sure it reads well, aligns to the goals for the piece, and is, in general, accurate.

4. Line editing: So much happens here, including catching things that the skills aren’t getting right. This is a crucial piece of our skill maintenance.

5. Publishing: AI can push final content into a CMS, but a human has the final say on if that asset is ready to go live.

Here is how we’re building:

What does your AI-enabled production system look like?

A NOTE ON THIS ADVICE

You do you!

One content marketer’s best practices aren’t always right for another one, though I do try to distill out the main concepts and core practices I believe everyone can benefit from. That said, you must use good judgment when deciding whether to take advice given from folks on the internet. I am an expert, and this advice comes from my direct experience, but I am not smarter than you, and I have nothing to gain or lose because of what you do.

THINGS KEEPING ME CONTENT

• What I’m buying: I haven’t bought it yet, but fish-themed everything (from clothes to wallpaper to rugs, etc.) has filled up my Instagram feed (and even my Substack feed!) and I’m worried I’m going to give in. STAY STRONG.

• What I’m eating: I went to hang out with my brother, sister-in-law, and nephew last night, and we had spaghetti squash and Lambrusco. The perfect summer dinner!

• What I’m reading: Still working through Bell Hooks’ All About Love. I went down a rabbit hole about it with a co-worker the other day, and now I’m sooo excited to read her other books!

Thank you so much for reading. Let me know what you think by replying to this email.

Very excited to be here with y’all. 

Tracey