It’s Been One Year. Thank You for Being Here!

Can you believe I've been doing this for a whole year? I'm sure you can! It's an entirely believable concept, actually.

In late August 2022, my wife and I watched this Last Week Tonight segment about AI images, which ends with John Oliver marrying a cabbage. It’s…a long story:

But to me, one major takeaway was:

“Wait! I can describe a thing, and AI will just…draw it? What sorcery is this?!”

So after extensive and laborious research (Googling), I found a free text-to-image tool called Craiyon. Craiyon’s output was crude, cartoonish, and only vaguely reflected my prompts…but I was absolutely blown away.

Me. Blown away. Artist’s rendering by Craiyon

It honestly felt like magic!

I suddenly went from not knowing how to draw to using a tool that conjured up whatever I asked for. I was like Neo after having kung fu skills beamed directly into his brain:

Technically, AI learned kung fu. I still couldn’t fu a single kung. But I could ask AI to create images on my behalf, and that alone was incredible.

Then I discovered the newly launched Stable Diffusion and realized just how fast generative AI was improving.

So on September 13, I created a Substack account and wrote my very first post:

Why Try AI was born.

This was two months before text-to-image took a major visual leap with Midjourney 4.

Three months before ChatGPT made massive waves.

And well before the entire world went absolutely nuts about AI and we all got fed up with the constant hype and the “99% of you suck at ChatGPT!” tech bro posts.

But I was genuinely excited about what generative AI could do for the average person like myself.

Because I was a newcomer to this space, it was inevitable that my newsletter ended up focusing on helping others like me.

My initial tagline was: “Exploring what AI can do for the average Joe and Jane.”

This post might get cut off in some email clients. Click here to read it online.

⏪Looking back

When I started, I had no clear goals for this newsletter.

I just wanted to share my newfound excitement with AI enthusiasts like me.

I told myself I’d be pretty happy to reach a few hundred people in a year or so.

But right now, close to 4,000 of you are subscribers, and it’s still difficult to believe.

Stop lying, you deceitful upward-trending graph!

Thank you, truly, to everyone who reads my emails.

It’s beyond anything I’d expected.

And I sure hope you stick around, because…

⏩Looking ahead

Why Try AI is for regular people who enjoy learning about generative AI and how to use it.

I consciously stay away from industry news, professional tools, AI’s broader societal impact, and the like. There are many, many newsletters that already tackle those topics better than I ever could (see below for some of them).

I have no plans to shift focus: You can still expect twice-a-week posts with tips for using generative AI, beginner-friendly AI tools, and so on.

But I want to grow Why Try AI into the go-to Substack for people like us.

To do that, I’m planning a few additions:

🤝1. More interactivity

I’d love to connect with more of my readers and build a sense of community where we can share cool stuff and learn from each other.

So I’m considering:

• Regular Substack chat threads on different AI topics. (Everyone can participate in an active thread. As a paid subscriber, you can even start your own.)

• Using Substack Notes to share personal, not always AI-related stuff, like this story of my daughter Nia gaslighting me. (Everyone can respond directly to any Note.)

• Letting you give me more feedback via polls, surveys, and so on.

If you can think of other ways to make Why Try AI a more engaging space, I’m all ears.

🏆2. More goodies for paid subscribers

Let’s briefly talk stats (fun!)

• About 3,800 of you are subscribers.

• About 1,200+ of you (on average) open and read any given email.

• About a dozen of you participate in a typical Sunday poll.

• Several of you might “like” a post or leave a comment.

And somehow, exactly 11 of you crazy people have actually upgraded to a paid subscription. That’s despite the fact that I haven’t given you any good reason to, other than “Please give money, I send good emails for you, yes?”

AI-generated hipster-me looks like such a douche.

Now, I am still hesitant to paywall any of my regular posts or my archive.

But I also want to give paid subscribers a little extra love.

So here’s what I’ll start offering to those with a paid subscription:

1. Ability to start your own chat threads where you can ask for advice, ideas, etc.

2. Ad hoc, exclusive tips & tricks that might not make it into my regular posts.

3. Individual, symbolic tokens of appreciation in the form of an AI-generated image, poem, music track, etc. You decide the format and the topic. (Existing paid subscribers, reach out to get yours at whytryai@substack.com.)

4. Access to a curated, organized, and constantly updated list of AI tools (I’m working on tagging and cleaning up my bookmarks to make this happen soon.)

5. …and hopefully even more cool stuff.

For the price of one coffee a month, you get all of the above, as well as the warm, fuzzy feeling of supporting a regular dude whose emails you read every week.

Is that something for you?

If so, smash the button below like it’s a tuba (I don’t know how tubas work)!

🔬3. More primary research

Up to now, I’ve mostly been curating existing articles and papers.

But I’d like to step up my game and dive into at least some of the following:

• Interviews with / insights from AI experts, creators, etc.

• Facts and stats related to generative AI collected via own surveys

• Collaborative projects / guest posts from AI practitioners

If you have some ideas or find any of the above especially interesting, give me a shout!

📝How can I make Why Try AI better for you?

Speaking of more interactivity. Why not start right now?

If you have literally a minute to spare, please fill out this super short survey.

It’s completely anonymous. It doesn’t collect any demographic data or contact info.

It has just three questions:

• What makes you keep reading Why Try AI?

• What topics are you interested in (check all that apply)?

• What would make Why Try AI more useful to you?

This is a very real chance for you to shape the future direction of the newsletter and make it more valuable to people like you.

👏 Shout-outs and thank-yous

Finally, I wanted to give a shout-out to the many great people who keep me motivated, inspired, or even an unholy hybrid of the two.

💬Cool cat commenters

Hearing from readers is a huge motivator. What might be a simple comment to you is often a big deal to me: It lets me know there’s a real person on the other side of that screen who’s reading and giving a damn.

That’s not nothing. I’d even say it’s something!

So thanks to all of these epic folks who took a moment to jump into the comments. I was pleasantly surprised to find that many of you have your own Substack—rock on!

The list is sorted alphabetically to satisfy my mild OCD. Mild OCD. Mild OCD. 1-2-3.

• alicIA 🌈🤖
  (Writes
  Le PRiSME💎
  )

• Chase Hasbrouck
  (Writes
  Trusted AI
  )

• Dasha Gurova
  (Writes
  Frame by Frame
  )

• Floyd Kelly

• Fred Hapgood

• funforgiven

• Geoffe
  (Writes
  Creekmasons Content Collective
  )

• Gordon Mickel
  (Writes
  Byte-sized Brainwaves
  )

• Itai Leibowitz
  (Writes
  Dear AI
  )

• jack45

• Joanne Troutner
  (who is also a paid subscriber. Thank you, Joanne!)

• John Ford

• Katie Conrad
  (Writes
  Pandora's Bot
  )

• Mark Laurence
  (who is another paid subscriber. Thank you, Mark!)

• MISSUSHADDOCK

• Nicole Hennig
  (Writes
  Mobile Apps News
  )

• Phil Tanny
  (Writes:
  Hippy Toons
  ) - I enjoy our interactions on Notes as well

• Rationaltail

• Scott Anderson

• stillhooman

✍️Awesome fellow Substackers

Substack is so much more than a one-way emailing tool. It’s truly a generous and supportive community of writers, researchers, journalists, celebrities, comedians, sentient chatbots (citation needed), and relative nobodies like yours truly.

Here are just a few cool Substackers that are worth your time…in alphabetical order, because see above. 1-2-3.

• Alberto Romero
  (Writes
  The Algorithmic Bridge
  )
  Alberto actually knows his shit when it comes to the inner workings of AI, which is more than I can say for myself. Follow him for often critical and always highly engaging, beautifully written essays.
  

• Alex Dobrenko`
  (Writes
  Both Are True
  )
  Like me, Alex belongs to the niche category of people-born-in-Ukraine-but-living-elsewhere-since-a-young-age-and-writing-on-Substack. Unlike me, Alex is allergic to AI. But he’s irreverently hilarious about it. Read him for funny and relatable personal takes on parenting, life, parenting life, and everything in between.
  

• Andrew Smith (Writes

  Goatfury Writes
  )

  Andrew’s perhaps the only person on Substack I interact with on a daily basis. He’s highly engaged, highly engaging, and knows many things about many things. (For instance, he’d know a better alternative for “many things.”) He’s also, I’m convinced, secretly a cyborg who somehow manages to write well-researched, fascinating long-form essays every single day. Read them now, I dare you!
  

• Arvind Narayanan
  &
  Sayash Kapoor
  (Write
  AI Snake Oil
  )

  Arvind and Sayash write about AI through a fact-based, deeply critical lens, often dispelling myths or pointing out inconsistencies in over-hyped trending stories. It’s no surprise they made the Time “100 Most Influential People in AI” list.

• Charlie Guo
  (Writes
  Artificial Ignorance
  )

  Charlie is like a mirror-me. I write for the average person; Charlie writes for founders and developers. I can’t code; Charlie codes his own productivity tools and teaches others. I never started a company; Charlie wrote a book about it. For practical, no-BS look at AI for builders, Charlie’s your guy.

• Daniel Jeffries
  (Writes
  Future History
  )

  Daniel has such an amazing first name. Wow, just perfect. You know what else he has? A superb Substack where he occasionally posts long, engaging essays tinged with optimism and lending a sense of perspective. “We Are the One Percent” is a great place to start, for instance.

• Ethan Mollick
  (Writes
  One Useful Thing
  )

  You’ve seen me mention Ethan’s insights and tips in several of my posts before. He’s a Wharton professor who sees AI not as a threat but as a positive paradigm shift in education. Follow him for detailed, helpful, and practical posts about using AI in ways that extract value while working around the shortcomings.

• Jon Stokes
  (Writes
  jonstokes.com
  )

  Jon’s focus tends to be AI (and other tech) in a broader context, and he’s extremely knowledgeable on this front. He doesn’t post too frequently, but when he does, his in-depth posts are always worth a read.

• Luca Rossi
  (Writes
  Refactoring
  )

  Luca’s Substack is aimed at managers and engineers. My experience with engineering is limited to LEGO, and the only thing I can (barely) manage is my own to-do list. Why the hell do I even read Luca’s stuff? Because it’s that good! His posts are well-written, visually engaging, and provide tremendous value to his target audience. I find lots of inspiration simply by peeking at his public posts.

• Mariam
  (Writes
  AI Brews
  )

  Mariam is your answer to AI information overload. Every week, she keeps tabs on everything that happens in AI and condenses it all into a highly skimmable, curated summary of the main events, research, and tools. If you want to keep your finger on the pulse without drowning, Mariam is the one!

• Michael Spencer
  (Writes
  AI Supremacy
  , among many others)

  Michael is a self-proclaimed “amateur futurist” and a Substack Swiss Army knife with about a dozen publications to his name. Not only is Michael highly prolific, he’s an all-around great guy who cares deeply about the success of fellow Substackers and shares daily posts of support and encouragement.

• Packy McCormick
  (Writes
  Not Boring by Packy McCormick
  )

  “Business Strategy and Trends, but Not Boring” is the tagline for Packy’s Substack, and that checks out. I got hooked by this ultra-long piece about Google’s positioning dilemma, but Packy also writes a “Weekly Dose of Optimism” column about all the cool things we’re inventing and building.

• Rudy Fischmann
  (Writes
  Rudy’s That Cancer Life Substack
  )

  Rudy extracts meaningful lessons in his posts about life with brain cancer. I find his attitude and outlook in the face of the Big C to be inspiring and refreshing. He’s also a regular commenter on

  AI Jest Daily
  , where we snicker at how much AI sucks at humor but still keep reading its jokes. So I guess AI has the last laugh?

• Russell Nohelty
  (Writes
  The Author Stack
  )

  I only recently discovered Russel. He’s a USA Today bestselling author but I can’t claim to have read his fiction just yet. What I have read are some of his extensive and immensely useful posts with tips for fellow Substack writers. If you’re considering your own Substack, there’s no better place to start than here.

• Timothy B Lee
  (Writes
  Understanding AI
  )

  Timothy is a reporter who wrote for some tiny publications you probably haven’t heard of, like The Washington Post and Vox. Timothy’s background shines through in his Substack posts where he tackles AI through articles grounded in extensive research. For instance, this primer on how LLMs work is phenomenal.

• Tita Costa
  (Writes
  AI Images by Tita Costa
  )

  Tita is a traditional artist experimenting with AI. While I’m here writing about what Midjourney might help you create, Tita is actually creating with AI tools and sharing her thematic explorations on a weekly basis. If you want to enjoy beautiful imagery from a passionate creator, you should pay her a visit.

There’s a non-zero chance I’ve unintentionally overlooked a bunch of great people.

If I forgot you, please reach out to my secretary to fix this oversight.

His name is Daniel, and he’s me.

🗣Over to you…

Once again: Thank you all for continuing to read, comment, and share the newsletter!

You’re the reason I keep this silly Substack thing going.

If there’s anything at all you want to tell me, find me in the comments.