Behind-the-scenes breakdowns of how real AI creators make their work.

Tag

william-writing

A collection of 25 posts.

Ben Affleck speaking at a podium about AI filmmaking technology for Netflix production

william-writing

Ben Affleck's $587 Million AI Learns From a Film's Own Footage

Netflix paid $587 million in cash for Ben Affleck's AI company. What it bought is a post-production tool that builds a model out of a film's own dailies, and Netflix is keeping it in-house.

Orchestra conductor silhouetted before musicians, baton raised, directing ensemble performance

william-writing

The Conductor Doesn't Play the Violin

A letter to a friend who asked whether an hour a week is enough to learn AI. Eventually an hour a week is all you need. You just can't learn it in an hour a week.

Glowing server racks in a dark data center representing the hidden energy costs of AI video generation

william-writing

What Those AI Videos on Your Feed Actually Cost

Curious Refuge published the bill for one 30-second Seedance 2.5 shot: $31.62. For scale, my whole image pipeline spent $15.26 making 997 images last month. The distance between generating pictures in ChatGPT and generating the video you're scrolling past is enormous, and almost nobody talks about

Two pixel art mascot characters sitting on a macOS dock bar, displayed as small desktop companion apps

william-writing

Desktop Pets for Mac That Report What Actually Broke

Two brand mascots that live on my Dock and became the notification layer for everything I send from my phone. What they do, and the bugs that taught me the most.

Developer at laptop reviewing automated marketing funnel dashboard with code editor and analytics open side by side

build in public

Behind the Build: Automating My Own Self-Promotion in a Day (and the Silent Bug That Almost Sank It)

Almost nobody enjoys self-promotion, so I tried to automate mine — a whole funnel, built in one session. A few days later I found out it had been throwing every lead away. Here's the build, and why you can't fully trust the machine that does the part you hate.

Automated publishing workflow diagram showing Ghost CMS dashboard with scheduled posts and code scripts running in background

Ghost CMS Automation: The Publish Button I Never Press

A cron script publishes this site — no browser, no human. Building it surfaced timezone bugs, a members-only content leak, and a two-phase commit bolted onto a CMS.

Three illustrated AI robot agents with dog name tags on colorful abstract digital background

Named AI agents: why I gave my automations three dogs' names

Naming automation agents Sherman, Wilson, and Sebastian wasn't branding — it forced scoped roles, clean handoffs, and a system William could actually debug and trust.

AI orchestrator managing a multi-step automated content pipeline with connected workflow nodes and agents

AI orchestrator: the layer that watches your whole pipeline

The orchestrator doesn't write or publish — it watches everything else and fills the gaps. Here's how the memory loop, arc tracker, and gap analysis actually work.

Writer reviewing AI-generated draft on laptop screen with research notes and content workflow diagrams nearby

ai-writing-pipeline

AI research-to-draft pipeline: why a prompt rule isn't enough

Two models, a frozen audit trail, and a style guide built from real edit-diffs — here's what it actually takes to keep a human voice intact across an AI content pipeline.

Google I/O 2026 stage presentation introducing Gemini Spark AI agent features to a live audience

Google I/O 2026: What I'd want answered before turning on Gemini Spark

Google's Gemini Spark runs 24/7 in your Gmail and Calendar — even when your devices are off. Here's what needs answering before you hand over that access.

Laptop screen showing an AI-powered pitch generator workflow dashboard with automation nodes and content pipeline

ai content pipeline

AI pitch generator: how the front of my content loop actually works

My AI system used to auto-draft content I never asked for. The fix was a single architectural shift: pitch first, wait for approval, then build. Here's how it works.

Person at computer screen showing AI workflow dashboard with content automation tools and agent management interface

build in public

I Built an AI System to Run My Content Operation. Here's the Whole Thing.

A one-person setup — orchestrator, pitch generator, optimizer, scheduler — that pitches ideas, researches with Gemini, drafts with Claude, and ships across the site, newsletter, and four social accounts. Built on my own dime to learn AI by making something.

Person sleeping peacefully while AI-generated images with consistent character designs float above in dream bubbles

How I Finally Solved AI Image Consistency (While I Sleep)

After a year of inconsistent AI-generated images, I built an automated system that reviews and retouches them until they pass inspection.

Developer working on AI content pipeline code with multiple monitors showing workflow diagrams and automation tools

How I Built My AI Content Pipeline With Obsidian and Claude

A transparent breakdown of how The Daring Creatives content pipeline actually works — Obsidian, Ghost, Claude Code, and Claude Cowork — and why I built it this way.

Developer using multiple AI tools on computer screen showing chat interface, code editor, and workflow automation

Chat, Cowork, Code, and Dispatch — How I Actually Use the Whole Suite

Four shapes of the same collaborator — chat, Cowork, Code, and dispatch — and how I actually use each one at The Daring Creatives.

Marketing manager working at computer with declining job market charts and automation tools in background

The Marketing Manager Job Is Quietly Dying

A senior marketing manager role hit my inbox this week paying $22/hr. That's not a market dip — that's a role being quietly retired. Here's what I think replaces it.

The Loneliness of Building Before Anyone Is Watching

The Loneliness of Building Before Anyone Is Watching

An honest look at what it feels like to build something before anyone's paying attention — the self-doubt, the friends who quietly disappear, and why that first person who raises their hand changes everything.

Anthropic Just Dropped Their Biggest Report Yet. Here's What It Actually Means for Creatives.

What Anthropic's March 2026 Economic Index Report Actually Says About AI and Creative Work

Anthropic's March 2026 Economic Index and labor market research contain some of the most concrete data we've seen on what AI is actually doing to creative work.

My Week with Claude Cowork

My Week with Claude Cowork

In one weekend, I went from manually managing everything to running a system of AI agents handling growth, content, and operations. Here’s how I built it—and where it falls apart.

Toxic @Threads: Someone posted their first image, the internet killed them for it.

Toxic @Threads: Someone posted their first image, the internet killed them for it.

Nobody argued with what I said. They argued with what they assumed I meant.

A Website Recipe for Creatives Who Hate Promotion

A Website Recipe for Creatives Who Hate Promotion

I hate self-promotion. But in 2026, owning your room is the only way to beat the algorithms. Here’s the AI recipe I used to stand up this site without code—built for creatives who just want to do the work, not broadcast it.

OpenAI is Walking Off a Cliff: And Why Creatives Are Jumping Ship

OpenAI is Walking Off a Cliff: And Why Creatives Are Jumping Ship

After years of being a ChatGPT loyalist, I'm watching OpenAI walk off a cliff of generic updates and corporate ad placements. This post breaks down exactly why I migrated my entire creative workflow over to the Google Gemini stack.

Start Here: When AI Makes You Faster vs. Slower

Start Here: When AI Makes You Faster vs. Slower

AI helps the most when you don’t force it to handle the parts that need a ton of explanation.

The Slop About Slop

The Slop About Slop

Scroll long enough, and you start to feel like you’re watching a single mind rehearse its lines in a thousand different bodies.