The Disappearing Human Touch

💭 Monday Thought

Hey friends, happy Monday.

What’s on my mind?

AI isn’t just scaling, it’s settling in.

We wrapped up our summer with a family road trip across California—Santa Barbara, Sequoia, Paso Robles, and three days in LA.

Nature was grounding. But LA was revealing.

Walking tours were rather empty. Tour guides replaced by apps. Souvenir shops full of AI-generated art. And friends in entertainment were candid:

Meanwhile, OpenAI quietly crossed 700 million weekly active users. A billion dollars a month in revenue. Let that sink in.

These aren’t experiments anymore…
They’re habits.

AI is no longer knocking at the door…
It’s rearranging the furniture.

Let’s get into it 👇

⚡️ Quick Hits

OpenAI Hits $12B Run Rate, 700M Weekly Users
OpenAI is reportedly generating $1B/month in revenue and serving 700 million weekly active users.
Reuters →

David Ellison (Skydance + Paramount) Says AI Is Hollywood’s Future
The new power player in entertainment is betting on AI to enhance creativity, not replace it.
Business Insider →

Video Game Strike Ends, AI Protections in Place
SAG-AFTRA’s year-long video game strike resolved with protections around AI likeness and voice usage.
Wikipedia →

🛰 Signals

AI Is Officially Mainstream
700M weekly users is not a beta test. It’s everyday behavior. This is not a tech story—it’s a human story now.

Entertainment Is in Transition, Not Crisis
While some fear AI will gut creativity, leaders like Ellison are painting a different picture: AI as collaborator, not executioner.

Presence Is Becoming Scarce
As more human interactions get quietly automated, face-to-face connection might become the next premium experience.

Cultural Guardrails Are Being Built in Real Time
The SAG-AFTRA strike resolution shows that workers are demanding new norms before it’s too late. AI’s legal, ethical, and creative boundaries are still very much under construction.

✍️ Prompt of the Week

“Take us on a 30-minute walking tour of LA’s Walk Of Fame narrated by an eccentric local who’s skeptical of AI. Taylor the experience based on what you know about our family. Add surprise stops, local trivia, and one emotional moment.”

🪨 The Pebble

This week: skip the app. Ask for a recommendation. Let someone show you around.
Presence won’t scale—but maybe that’s what makes it matter.

Sidenote: Thank you Kevin, Jessica and Justin! 🙏

🧠 Final Thought

AI isn’t just a tool anymore. It’s a lens.
Let’s be intentional about what we stop seeing when we start automating.

See you next Monday,
— Alejandro Jaegerman

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