TL;DR Briefing

This writer's client replaced him with “AI” — then “AI” summaries came for his YouTube money

Your TL;DR Briefing on things worth tracking — and talking about over your next power lunch. *Wink.* This time the thing is the age of “AI-sterity” coming for creative gigs.

JD Shadel

JD Shadel

— 4 min read
This writer's client replaced him with “AI” — then “AI” summaries came for his YouTube money
Satirical British print from 1812 depicting Ludd, the fictional leader of the Luddites. The character is drawn for humorous — and dismissive — effect wearing a dress and a bonnet.

The thing is:

Early this month, a YouTuber and freelance writer, Alex Wei of Arizona, posted a viral video sharing how a client replaced him with a generative “AI” chatbot. Then they offered to keep him on at a reduced rate to edit the synthetic drivel. “How can I compete with that as a human being who needs much more money and much more time?” he asked in the first video, what became a telling meme for our times and a sad crystallization of 2025’s creative economy.

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