I just got back from the Craft + Commerce conference last week in Boise, ID.
This is by far my favorite conference, and I go every year. You should totally come next time 😉
This year, there was a lot of discussion about the role and threat of AI to the creator economy. And while you may not think of yourself as a “professional” creator, there are a lot of parallels that are applicable to anyone interested in personal knowledge management (PKM).
And if we learn to use them the right way, they can augment the creative process and give us creative superpowers.
So in this post, I want to share a couple of my big takeaways from the conference and why it’s important for PKM nerds like us.
The Importance of Creativity
Yes, you are creative.
Every time I bring up the topic of creativity and its role in PKM, I get pushback from people who don’t think they are creative.
I get it. I used to be that guy.
But I wholeheartedly believe that creativity is critical to the sensemaking process.
You don’t really know what you think about something until you force yourself to sit down and write about it.
That’s why Create is the last step of my idea development framework:
If you want to get more out of your notes and ideas, you need to create something from the component pieces.
And if you want to dive deeper into the framework, check out this YouTube video where I walk through the whole thing in detail:
It doesn’t matter if there’s a public output (i.e., blog post, newsletter, etc.). You just need to create something in order to make sense of the information you consume.
And if you create anything, you’ll love Craft + Commerce.
Takeaway #1: The Fear of AI is Nothing New
AI is a disruptive technology, maybe even the most disruptive technology the world has ever seen.
But it’s not the first.
In the 1440s, the scribes professed that Gutenberg’s printing press was an existential threat because it enabled the mass market spread of potential misinformation. In the 1970s, people debated whether handheld calculators would ruin students’ ability to do math.
History, it seems, has a tendency to repeat itself.
In the book Deep Work, Cal Newport mentions that there are 3 types of people who will thrive in the digital economy:
- The ones with capital
- The ones who are the best at what they do
- The ones who know how to operate the machines
AI (as it currently exists) is a prediction machine. And it is our responsibility to learn how to use it.
Takeaway #2: People are Craving Real Human Connection
Large language models (LLMS) like ChatGPT function by absorbing as much information as possible and using it to predict the next link in the chain.
The result is that what AI creates tends to be average.
The term I heard for this at Craft + Commerce was “AI slop.” I think it’s pretty accurate.
What will happen as people consume more AI content is that the things that are average will be less appealing:
- Average content won’t be consumed
- Average products won’t sell
- Average sales copy won’t lead to conversions
But quality will continue to stand out. The things that rise above the “AI slop” will be created by humans.
People will be able to tell. And the people who care will engage because they crave real, human connection.
(That’s a big reason I’m leaning into my PKM community the rest of this year. If you want to join other serious sensemakers, you can check out The Library here.)
Takeaway #3: Storytelling is More Important Than Ever
This is related to the previous point, as one of the signs that something is human is a powerful story that connects to the content you consume.
Pat Flynn shared about how he grew his social presence to 1,000,000 subscribers not once but TWICE. And he showed a lot of Behind-the-Scenes YouTube analytics that illustrated the importance of creating a story arc.
Bottom line: people don’t need more information, but they love a good story.
One of the ways you can do that is simply to tell your story. People want something they can relate to, so don’t be afraid to be authentic.
Share your opinions. Share your struggles. Be real.
Just be careful (as Sam Vander Wielen said) to share from your scars, not your open wounds.
Takeaway #4: There are Ways to Use AI That Benefit Everyone
Personally, I’m pretty excited about some of the AI tools that are available to creators these days. But you have to be careful about how you use them.
I personally don’t believe in using AI for writing original content. As mentioned above, there are telltale signs of “AI slop” that I want to avoid.
Bottom line: I take the relationship I have with my readers seriously. I don’t want to waste your time.
But it’s also impossible for me to write a newsletter, a blog post, a podcast, a YouTube video, and social posts every week on my own.
So I have been experimenting with AI tools that allow me to repurpose content that I’ve already created for other platforms:
- I’m trying Spiral to convert my text-based content into social posts
- I’m playing with Descript for turning my long-form YouTube videos into Shorts and Reels
The output from tools like these is never quite where I want it, but it does eliminate a lot of the friction I feel when getting started. If they can even get me 80% of the way there before I make edits and publish, it’s a huge win.
You Should Totally Go to Craft + Commerce Next Year!
The speakers are great, but the best thing about the conference is easily the people.
I love connecting with other creators as well as people who care about quality content. I loved meeting Bookworm listener Blake and chatting about books at the coffee shop just as much as I did talking to Anne-Laure Le Cunff (author of Tiny Experiments) after her keynote presentation.
Nathan Barry and team really do a phenomenal job with this conference.
My Craft + Commerce Sketchnotes
Every time I go to a conference like this, I end up taking sketchnotes of the talks I attend.
I started taking sketchnotes several years ago because I found it helped me retain more than typical note-taking methods. While I still don’t think my sketchnotes are all that great (especially when compared to professionals like Emily Mills, whom I met at the conference), I’m happy to share them with Internet friends (i.e., newsletter subscribers), and people seem to like them 🤷🏼♂️
Here’s an example of my sketchnotes from Anne-Laure Le Cunff’s talk:
If you want to download my full sketchnotes from the conference, click here.
