“With regard to Generative Artificial Intelligence and other digital tools used in the making of the film, the tools neither help nor harm the chances of achieving a nomination. The Academy and each branch will judge the achievement, taking into account the degree to which a human was at the heart of the creative authorship when choosing which movie to award.”

For the last three years, the hype around AI has been centered on “automation.” Press releases, investor decks, and conference keynotes all chanting the same utopian mantra: “Automate everything.” Reality check: AI didn’t build a smart home, a self-driving car, or a fully automated Hollywood. It enhanced, augmented, and occasionally optimized—but let’s drop the fantasy that it replaced anything wholesale. Especially humans.

AI video agents—those synthetic-yet-strangely-lifelike digital faces that pop up to help you online—are no longer stiff, stilted CGI mascots. They’re fluid. Friendly. Fluent in 60+ languages. And frankly, they're starting to sound more human than half the customer support reps I’ve had to deal with.

2025 shaped up to be a year of seismic change, promising innovation, disruption, and new opportunities in equal measure. Many of my predictions were realized, mainly around the Rise of GEO, AI Mergers Boomed (Manus, for example), YouTube’s viewing dominance and end of the streaming wars. AGI did NOT happen, so this year, mine is not completely about AI, but mixed into everything media, technology and politics.

President Donald Trump signed a sweeping executive order aimed at preempting state artificial intelligence (AI) laws and creating a national AI framework. The administration framed it as a way to avoid a patchwork of 50 different regulatory systems that, it argues, could slow innovation and weaken U.S. competitiveness—especially against global rivals like China. But the move ignited sharp debate over federal overreach, state sovereignty, and real-world protections for people and families.

The latest McKinsey & Company “State of Marketing Europe 2026” — based on a survey of 500 senior marketing leaders across France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK — signals a clear, structural shift. Branding is back at the top.

Corporate America has found its perfect scapegoat. "AI is transforming the workforce," they say, while quietly eliminating jobs without backfilling, retraining, or replacing. It’s not innovation—it’s downsizing in disguise.

The latest panic centers on AI actress "Tilly"—a photorealistic, emotionally responsive, deep-learning-driven performer some fear could threaten the careers of real actors. But is she really a threat? Or is Hollywood just spinning its wheels in another hype cycle? Let’s look at the facts.

Imagine this: Netflix, the streaming giant, acquires Warner Bros. That sounds like hyperbole. But in an age of consolidation, vertical integration, and arms‑race content spending, maybe it’s not just inevitable - maybe it’s smart. Before you jump to “media monopoly bad,” hear me out.

There’s a lot of noise in the AI world, but let’s cut through it: not all AI is created equal, and not all of it is revolutionary. In fact, most of it isn’t.

Let’s start with the numbers. The global AI market in 2025 is expected to hit somewhere between $244 billion and $757 billion (Statista, Forbes), depending on which crystal ball you're staring into. Generative AI—the darling of boardrooms and brainstorming sessions—is pegged at $38 to $63 billion. That’s just 5–10% of the pie. So despite all the headlines and hand-wringing, GenAI is still the sideshow, not the main event.

Green AI: Why New Mexico Might Just Save the Future

Let’s set the record straight: AI isn’t the planet-scorching Skynet some headlines make it out to be. Yes, AI needs energy. A lot of it. But so does crypto, Netflix, and your always-on Ring doorbell.

The question isn’t whether AI uses energy. The real question is how we power it. And here’s where New Mexico enters the chat.

Let’s cut through the keyword-stuffed fog: SEO is in freefall, and the data backs it up. Web traffic is down. Google click-throughs are tanking. Users aren’t clicking search links anymore—they’re getting what they need directly from AI.

A recent Quartz piece lays out the stark data: entry‑level job postings are down 35% since 2023, and many new grads can’t find full‑time work aligned with their degrees.  Even more alarming: nearly half say they don’t feel ready even to apply.  Meanwhile, AI is creeping into what used to be safe entry jobs — paralegal work, tax prep, other routine tasks — shrinking the very foundation of the ladder.

If you haven’t jumped on the AI learning train yet, you’re already losing pay. Across industries, job postings requiring AI skills offer a 28 % salary bump—that’s roughly $18,000 more per year. And if a role expects two or more AI skills? The premium spikes to 43 %.

When people talk about threats to Hollywood - loss of jobs to AI, deepfakes, streaming wars - they’re mostly pointing at symptoms. But the disease is deeper: concentrated corporate/conservative ownership and the growing overlap between media, politics, and ideology.

In Johnny Mnemonic, Keanu Reeves plays a poor bastard with a data storage implant in his head, risking brain melt because he’s smuggling too many megabytes. That was 1995 portraying 2021, written by William Gibson in 1981. The future was wired, glitchy, and punk AF. Fast-forward to now, and guess what? You’re Johnny. I’m Johnny. We’re all Johnny.

Welcome to the uncanny era of encore performances—from artists who never left the stage, or better yet, never made it there in the first place.

Let’s get something straight: creativity isn't on sale at the prompt store. The idea that AI has suddenly turned the masses into creators is not just naïve - it’s insulting. Anyone can create. Always could. But the act of creating - with guts, taste, vulnerability, and vision? That’s still rare. And it always will be.

AI is stuck in a shouting match between two tribes. On one side, the hype squad. They’re convinced we’re a single algorithm away from a world-shaking transformation. They pound the table, prophesying an incoming tidal wave that will wash away industries, careers, and maybe entire ways of living. Adapt or die, they shout.

Creating a human-centered AI operation that prioritizes ethical considerations involves designing and implementing AI technologies in a way that focuses on the well-being, rights, and interests of humans. This approach ensures that AI operations not only achieve their intended efficiency and productivity goals but also safeguard and enhance human values and ethics. Here are key elements to consider and steps to follow in building such an operation: