The AI Optimist

I’ve raised hybrid wolves and they’re a lot like AI. Both come from something that used to be wild. There’s that first moment at the fence, when people see them. The breath stops. The body tenses. Something ancient recognizes what stands on the other side of the fence: wildness that doesn’t negotiate, power existing on its own terms. We build strong fences. It makes people feel safe enough to admi...

What is the Naruto monkey selfie case and why does it matter for AI? A monkey takes a selfie. Years later, a federal judge must decide who owns it. In the courtroom, the judge asks with a straight face whether Naruto would be required by law to provide written notice to other macaque monkeys before joining a lawsuit. The courtroom laughs. Here’s what’s not funny: the initial ruling. No human autho...

Ever notice yourself reaching for AI before trying to think through something on your own? One sentence in an email, that’s all between me and the holiday weekend. Playing a live distractathon between things I must do and mind candy….I went for the candy. Not because I didn’t know what to say . Because I’d get distracted when I started. So I ask ChatGPT to finish it. Then the next one. Then the en...

There’s a founder who built AI designed to surprise him. Not to predict. Not to optimize. But to generate ideas he never trained it to create—by introducing controlled chaos into its neural networks. Earlier this year, I interviewed Stephen Thaler for Episode 95 of The AI Optimist. What he told me shifted how I understand AI’s potential—and revealed why the current LLM-dominated conversation might...

If you’re a musician, writer, photographer, painter, designer, filmmaker— this matters to you . Right now. Getty Images just lost a landmark AI copyright case in the UK . Not a small creator. Not someone without resources. Getty Images, legendary for hunting down anyone who uses their photos without permission. The company with armies of lawyers, sophisticated tracking systems, and a reputation fo...

The Electricity Behind the AI Bubble: What Happens When the Music Stops I’ve seen this movie before . Not the AI part. The 1999 pattern. Money flowing and dreaming like it would never stop. Then it did. Right now, I’m watching three signals that tell me the AI bubble isn’t coming. It’s already here. Already cracking. And unlike the last time around, this one comes with a bill that’s landing on ele...

Seeing that tall black and brown piano in the background before our interview, I sense tradition of human creativity meeting AI. This is about us. When Maya Ackerman’s family immigrated to Canada , her piano stayed behind in Israel. That instrument had been more than wood and keys . It’s where emotions melt into music into a feeling, processing change with simple sounds arising from deep wells of...

When Hollywood’s Catalog Isn’t Enough and Might Need AI Licensing Lionsgate thought they had this figured out. The studio that owns John Wick, Twilight, and The Hunger Games partnered with Runway AI in 2025 to build custom video models. The vision ? Type “anime version of John Wick” and watch AI generate it from their catalog. That was around June 2025. Last week, the experiment quietly closed. Th...

Time for creators to be recognized and paid by AI, finally! Those days of AI stealing content for free and without permission just crashed in a quiet, proposed settlement - call it AI licensing rates 2025 . Creators are being given choice and control over how their work is used by AI, and may even get paid with licensing! After years of big tech telling creators their work has no value, something...

The AI Bubble Finally Burst - And It's the Best Thing That Ever Happened Introduction: When the Hot Air Finally Escaped Picture this: TechCrunch Disrupt 2024, and the first sign I saw was "Stop Hiring Humans." Who exactly is going to adopt AI with that message? If you've been following the AI hype train, you've probably noticed something shifting lately. The algorithms are suddenly filled with Sam...

As AI Hype dissolves into mainstream cringe, it’s easy to forget that the gems are found below the surface jargon and PR blather. Like Maya Ackerman, founder and CEO of WaveAI since 2017, helping people write lyrics and make music without breaking the rules. Or stealing other’s music! Creating emotional connections, inspiring discovery, AI designed to release that creative feeling, focusing on hum...

When Heart Meets Code: Rediscovering Creativity in the Age of AI Explain AI to me like I’m a 5-year-old, she said. I was doing the research, looking at different AI hot takes from all kinds of sources with differing degrees of credibility. From data engineers endlessly defending their right to grab data like all the others, because in their bubble it’s all okay. And many artists swear that the onl...

We were somewhere around Redwood City on the edge of the metaverse when the drugs began to take hold. Not the good kind of drugs. The algorithmic kind. The kind making you believe your smartphone loves you more than anyone ever did. And AI is the future, everyone else is the past. It starts with a YouTube comment, one of those beautiful smacks of “I’ve done the research” digital trolling setting t...

We’re playing AI Copyright bingo and the only winners so far, are Big Tech….at least according to President Trump. Anything you post or create is now fair game for AI in the US—and pretty much any AI worldwide. President Trump just made it official: "China's not doing it ... and you have to be able to play by the same set of rules." The US announcement: AI companies no longer have to pay for the b...

For two years, I've documented the AI content wars from every angle - court cases, licensing deals, developers' reasons for taking content without permission or payment, and the gut-punching threat that greets every creator who does the work for little reward. Judging creators to be standoffish, privileged, and pains in the ass reveals the true element lacking in AI: respect for people who create,...

Once upon a time, in a land not so far away, there lived an Emperor who loved new technology more than anything else in the world. One day, two groups of ambitious alchemists arrived at his court with perfect proposals. Now, alchemists, for those who might not know, are the folks who claim they can turn ordinary metals into gold through secret methods. In medieval times, they promised kings magica...

The TikTok Blueprint: When Silicon Valley Startup Advice Becomes Government Policy Taking advantage of AI before it takes advantage of you – especially when governments are writing the playbook. First, they came for our content. Now they're rewriting the law books. "Make me a copy of TikTok. Steal all the users. Steal all the music. Put my preferences in it." Then, if it takes off, "hire a bunch o...

(2 episodes this week only) The Experience That Sparked AI Consciousness In a world that thinks ChatGPT invented AI, let's break down an AI called DABUS that began 30 years ago. It's invented, created a painting, and even had an experience of death. Wait, AI doesn't die. Except in the Copyright Offices worldwide, where DABUS keeps getting rejected for this painting: Dr. Stephen Thaler who created...

While everyone's distracted by OpenAI hiring Jony Ive to design the future of AI hardware, the real story happened 2 weeks ago, at 5pm on a Friday. The US Copyright Office drops the most significant AI policy document since ChatGPT launched, and nobody noticed. That's exactly how Big Tech likes it. And Eric Burgess, CEO of Credtent , has been preparing for this moment. After 30 years in content an...

I'll never forget the morning of Friday, May 9th - maybe the most “brazen” power move I've seen in the AI vs. creators battle yet. A bombshell copyright report drops, standing up for copyright rights, and 24 hours later? The authors get fired. Coincidence? Not a chance. This isn't some boring government report - this is the legal bedrock for whether artists, writers, and musicians get paid when AI...

The growing demand for high-quality AI training data is creating a new revenue stream for videographers and content creators. While legal battles dominate headlines , direct licensing deals between creators and AI companies are quietly forming. AI Video Licensing Market: Content Creators Supply Meets AI Dev Demand Last week, I was helping Omadeus pitch at StartupGrind near Silicon Valley. I could...

All that hot air out of Hollywood about fighting AI and then bringing it together is simply the way AI is working out. And you need to follow the trails that are out there. Not the trends, but what's happening. If you're a creator trying to use your skills in this new world of AI without getting replaced, or a developer trying to find richer sources of data, you're all looking for something that w...

A $2000 ring for $2. Something's happening right now, and it's so bizarre. Did you see that viral video? Chinese factory owner. Luxury bags. Gucci. Prada. "Now, as the USA and its little European brothers are trying to refuse Chinese goods, don't you think luxury brands are not trying to move their way out of China? Yes, they did, but they failed because the OEM factory is out of China and they do...

When you stare at ChatGPT's empty prompt box and do nothing, nothing happens. Your neurons – your thinking, your ideas, your communication style – are what brings AI to life. Without your input, that powerful AI sits there, dormant. I call this the "blank page problem" — that paralyzing moment when you know AI could help, but you don't know how to ask for what you need. When both you and AI unders...

Maybe AI magic is science not yet understood. Maybe AI is hype. Maybe you wish it would all go away. All are true, and opinions. There’s no way to prove them. And as human beings, when things change without “proof”, we kvetch. It's not just technology changing—it's people's beliefs about it. Some embrace AI with religious fervor, others resist it like confused bystanders. I'm dancing with this ten...