Medium's CEO argues that writing's future is secure because its core function is the process of structured thinking, not just content output. The act of articulating ideas reveals flaws and deepens understanding for the writer—a cognitive benefit that delegating to AI would eliminate.

Since AI has commoditized tactical "how-to" information, human experts must evolve their content strategy. Focus on creating content that shapes clients' strategic thinking, clarifies their beliefs by separating myth from truth, and prepares them for future trends they haven't seen coming.

The scarcest resource in AI is a positive vision for the future. Non-technical individuals can have an outsized impact by writing aspirational fiction. Stories like the movie 'Her' inspire developers and can steer the trajectory of the entire field, making imagination a critical skill.

Spiral's redesign was driven by the principle that "good writing is downstream of good thinking." Instead of just generating content, the tool focuses on helping users explore and clarify their own ideas through an interactive, question-based process, making the AI a partner in thought.

Author Shannon Hale argues the worst writing advice is "only write what you know." She believes this is flawed because it prevents the author from discovering new ideas during the creative process. Writing should be an act of exploration, not a pedantic exercise of sharing pre-existing knowledge.

The overwhelming majority of AI narratives are dystopian, creating a vacuum of positive visions for the future. Crafting concrete, positive fiction is a uniquely powerful way to influence societal goals and guide AI development, as demonstrated by pioneers who used fan fiction to inspire researchers.

Transform a creative department from a production house into a strategic partner by changing how you brief them. Instead of giving prescriptive directives, present the business problem that needs to be solved. This empowers creative minds to contribute to strategy and deliver more impactful solutions, not just executions.

The tech industry often builds technologies first imagined in dystopian science fiction, inadvertently realizing their negative consequences. To build a better future, we need more utopian fiction that provides positive, ambitious blueprints for innovation, guiding progress toward desirable outcomes.

The creative industry is harming itself more through internal cynicism and inaction than from external threats like AI. Creatives spend too much time writing thought pieces about a perceived decline instead of actively making groundbreaking work.