According to Goldman Sachs, AI could impact 300 million jobs globally. McKinsey estimates that generative AI could add as much as $4.4 trillion annually to the global economy. Every week seems to bring another announcement about a faster model, a smarter chatbot, or a new AI tool promising to revolutionize the way we work.

The conversation usually centers on one question:

Will AI replace us?

It’s a fair question. But I’m beginning to think it’s the wrong one.

A more important question might be:

Will AI make it harder for people to recognize our value?

That’s a very different problem.

For decades, expertise was a natural competitive advantage. The more experience you accumulated, the more valuable you became. Professionals spent years developing specialized knowledge, building reputations, and establishing credibility within their industries.

Today, AI is changing the visibility of expertise.

A business owner can generate marketing copy in seconds. A new consultant can produce polished presentations. Someone with limited experience can create content that looks remarkably similar to work that once required years of training.

None of this eliminates expertise.

But it does make expertise harder to distinguish.

The challenge isn’t that experts are becoming less valuable. The challenge is that non-experts can now appear more capable than ever before.

That creates what I think of as a relevance gap.

If everyone has access to the same tools, what makes someone stand out?

If everyone can publish content, who gets noticed?

If everyone can sound intelligent, who gets trusted?

The answer isn’t necessarily the person with the most knowledge. Increasingly, it’s the person who is most visible, most differentiated, and most relevant.

This isn’t entirely new.

We’ve seen similar shifts before.

The internet didn’t eliminate expertise, but it changed how expertise was discovered.

Social media didn’t eliminate authority, but it changed how authority was established.

Video didn’t eliminate writing, but it changed how audiences consumed information.

AI is creating another shift.

The professionals who seem to be benefiting most aren’t the people replacing expertise with AI. They’re the people using AI to amplify expertise.

They’re publishing more consistently.

They’re communicating more clearly.

They’re reaching larger audiences.

They’re making their experience easier to find, easier to understand, and easier to value.

In other words, they’re becoming more relevant.

That word has been on my mind a lot lately.

Relevance.

Not popularity.

Not influence.

Not follower counts.

Relevance.

The ability to remain visible, valuable, and meaningful in a rapidly changing marketplace.

It’s one of the reasons I’ve become increasingly interested in helping professionals evaluate where they stand today—not from a technical standpoint, but from a visibility and positioning standpoint.

How discoverable are they?

How differentiated are they?

How prepared are they for a world where everyone has access to increasingly powerful AI tools?

Those questions matter because the future may not belong to the people with the best prompts or the newest technology.

It will belong to the people who make their expertise impossible to ignore.

I’ve been exploring these ideas through a new project called the Impossible to Ignore™ Assessment, designed to help professionals evaluate their visibility, authority, and relevance in an AI-driven marketplace.

If you’re curious about where you stand, you can take the assessment here:

www.impossibletoignore.me

Lou Bortone is the founder of AI Today, creator of Refuse to Be Irrelevant™, and author of the bestselling book Refuse to Be Irrelevant (https://amzn.to/4dLjUJS). A pioneer in online video marketing and AI strategy, he writes about the intersection of technology, visibility, authority, and what it takes to remain relevant in the age of artificial intelligence.

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CBS canceled The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and I’ll be honest: this one hits me harder than I expected.

Because there was a time when CBS was the dream.

For a kid who grew up in the TV business, CBS was the gold standard. Back when I was working in television in Los Angeles, all I wanted was to work at CBS. Not just anywhere. CBS. The Tiffany Network. The home of Ed Sullivan, MASH*, 60 Minutes, All in the Family, Walter Cronkite, Edward R. Murrow, David Letterman, and some of the most important television ever made.

CBS had weight. It had history. It had class.

CBS Television City in Los Angeles wasn’t just another studio lot to me. It was a landmark. I had friends and colleagues there, and every time I walked onto that lot, it felt like I was standing inside television history.

Same thing in New York. I visited friends and colleagues at Black Rock, the CBS headquarters in Manhattan, and it felt like walking into the cathedral of American broadcasting. Maybe that sounds dramatic, but when you grow up loving television and then actually work in it, places like that mean something.

And I was fortunate enough to be in the audience at the Ed Sullivan Theater for both Letterman and Colbert. Two different eras. Two different hosts. Same room. Same magic. That theater didn’t feel like just another TV studio. It felt like a living piece of American culture.

I wanted to be part of that history.

CBS used to stand for something. Now it feels like a shell of itself.

CBS News, once the home of Walter Cronkite, has drifted away from the standard that made it legendary. 60 Minutes appears to be under pressure when stories get uncomfortable. Political comedy feels less protected. And now the number one show in late night is gone, canceled in its prime by executives who appear more interested in keeping powerful people happy than protecting free expression.

Yes, I’ve heard the financial argument.

Late-night TV isn’t what it used to be. Ad revenue is down. Viewers have moved to streaming, YouTube, TikTok, podcasts, and every other glowing rectangle competing for our attention. The old broadcast model has been held together for years with NFL rights, nostalgia, and duct tape.

Fine. The math is ugly. No argument there.

I’m not pretending the money doesn’t matter. It does. But the timing smells funny. Late night has been a mess for years, and somehow the axe falls on Colbert right after he pokes the Trump-Paramount bear and while the Skydance deal is still sitting on the table? Come on.

You don’t need a to be a conspiracy theorist to find the timing more than a little suspicious.

CBS wants us to believe this was all business.

I don’t.

I believe CBS caved to political pressure. I believe they sent a chilling message about political comedy, satire, and dissent. And I believe viewers have every right to respond with their wallets, remotes, and voices.

So we can sit around and bemoan the fall of free speech on the airwaves, or we can take a stand.

I’ve been building a lot of new websites and apps with Lovable lately, so I created a simple site where people can make their voices heard and boycott CBS.

You can cancel Paramount+. (I did!) You can contact advertisers. You can pressure your local CBS affiliate. You can share the message. You can do one thing, all the things, or none of the things. Your call.

The site is here: https://protest-powered-press.lovable.app

Please do whatever feels right for you. As for me, I’m not taking this lying down.

CBS used to stand for something.

Now viewers can too.

No Colbert. No CBS.

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Lou Bortone is a former Hollywood television executive, video marketing strategist, author, and AI consultant. He spent more than two decades in television and entertainment, built a career around helping people show up on screen, and once considered CBS the gold standard of American broadcasting. He was lucky enough to sit in the Ed Sullivan Theater audience for both Letterman and Colbert, which is why the cancellation of The Late Show feels less like a programming decision and more like a personal punch in the gut.

Note: This piece was inspired by the Google Startups: Future of AI Report. The analysis, tool recommendations, and opinions are my own.

I’ve been in media for 25 years. Television, cable, digital, social. Every shift had a learning curve, and there was always time to catch up.

Not anymore.

Here are six seismic shifts you need to know to stay relevant:

1. The Window Is Closing Faster Than You Think

The idea-to-scale cycle used to take years. Now it takes months - sometimes just days. The people winning right now aren’t the most technically sophisticated. They’re the ones who stopped waiting for permission and started building.

AI is not the garnish on your business strategy. It’s the kitchen. And if you’re still treating it like a fun experiment, you’re already a lap behind.

The good news: the tools are so accessible now that “I don’t know where to start” is no longer a valid excuse. Platforms like Lovable let you build a functional web app without writing a single line of code. Gamma turns a rough outline into a polished website or presentation in minutes. You can go from idea to published in an afternoon. That used to take a team and a budget.

2. The Interface Is Disappearing

We’re heading toward a world where you won’t type your ideas into anything. You’ll think them, speak them, or signal them -- and they’ll execute.

Voice is already mainstream. Brain-computer interfaces are in early commercial development. Neural input isn’t science fiction anymore. It’s a product roadmap.

What that means for you right now, before any of that arrives: the friction between your idea and your audience is already lower than it’s ever been. Tools like Claude or ChatGPT let you draft, iterate, and publish faster than ever. Descript lets you record a rough video, clean it up, and repurpose it into clips, blog posts, and social content without leaving the platform.

The competitive advantage is shifting entirely to clarity of thought and strength of perspective. The tools are ready. The question is whether you are.

3. Video Isn’t Coming. It Won. Already.

I’ve built my business on video marketing for over two decades. I’ve been telling audiences that video is the future since before most people had a smartphone.

I don’t have to say it anymore. The numbers say it for me.

As the cost of producing video drops toward zero, static content becomes irrelevant. Not diminished. Irrelevant. We’re moving into the A/V everything era -- personalized video replacing documents, avatars replacing talking heads, real-time rendered content replacing the one-size-fits-all website.

Here’s what that looks like in practice:

HeyGen lets you clone your voice and likeness to create avatar videos in multiple languages without ever touching a camera.

Check out this little HeyGen gem:

(That’s from an image and a script in HeyGen - not me on camera!)

Descript lets you edit video like a Word doc -- cut filler words, clean up audio, add captions, export clips for social.

Riverside records broadcast-quality remote interviews and automatically generates short-form clips.

Think about what you’re still sending as a PDF. As a slide deck. As a wall of text in an email. Now ask yourself: would a 60-second video do that job better? Almost certainly yes.

The experts and speakers who figure this out first will own the next chapter. The ones who don’t will wonder why nobody’s paying attention.

4. The Last Skill Standing Is Storytelling

Production is becoming a commodity. Within the next two to three years, creating a film-quality video will be as accessible as writing a blog post. The animation industry is already flipping to AI-driven production. The rest of media is right behind it.

When the technical barrier disappears, what’s left?

The story. Your story. Your perspective, your experience, your ability to make someone lean forward instead of scroll past.

AI can copy a style. It can mimic a format. It cannot manufacture your 25 years of living, failing, building, and figuring it out. It cannot fake your specific take on the world.

Use AI to handle the production load:

Claude or ChatGPT to draft. Canva or Claude Design to generate visuals. ElevenLabs to clone your voice for audio content. Lovable to turn your framework or methodology into an interactive tool or app your audience can actually use.

Then put your story, your examples, your hard-won perspective on top of all of it. That layer is yours. Nobody else has it.

Your biography is your differentiator. Use it.

5. Content Is Becoming a Conversation

The broadcast era -- one voice, many passive listeners -- is winding down. What’s replacing it is something more interesting.

Imagine content that responds to your audience’s questions in real time. A resource hub that gets smarter the more people use it. A digital version of you that prospects can interact with before they ever book a call.

That last one exists right now. Tools like Delphi and Synthesia let you build an AI-powered version of yourself trained on your content, your voice, and your expertise. Instead of answering the same questions on repeat, your digital twin handles the first conversation while you focus on the high-value work.

For most experts and speakers, the practical starting point is simpler: build something interactive. A quiz. A personalized recommendation tool. A custom GPT trained on your framework. Lovable makes the app. Your content fills it. Your audience gets something they can use, not just consume.

That’s the shift from broadcasting to conversation. And it’s happening now.

6. Your New Job Title Is Creative Director

Nobody’s asking you to become a developer. The people thriving right now aren’t the ones who learned to code. They’re the ones who learned to direct.

Think of AI as your production team. Research, copywriting, design, video editing, social media -- all available at 2 a.m., all running simultaneously, none of them asking for equity.

Here’s a real workflow:

You record a 20-minute training. Descript cleans it up and generates a transcript. Claude turns the transcript into a blog post, an email, and five LinkedIn posts. Canva turns the key points into graphics. HeyGen cuts an avatar teaser clip. Gamma builds a companion resource page. Lovable turns your core framework into an interactive tool. The whole stack runs on one piece of original content you already created.

That’s not a fantasy workflow. That’s just another Tuesday for people who’ve put the pieces together.

Three things I tell every client:

Solve a real problem. The novelty apps are cute. The ones that actually help people do something faster, better, or cheaper -- those are the ones that stick.

Stay in motion. Keep experimenting. The people who understand what’s possible are the ones who never stopped playing with the tools.

Find your repeatable pattern and lock it in. When something works, don’t move on. Systematize it. That’s where the leverage lives.

So Where Does That Leave You?

We’re in a loud, chaotic, exciting, slightly overwhelming moment. I’ve seen a lot of those in 25 years of media. The ones who came out ahead weren’t the ones with the best crystal ball. They were the ones who decided to stay visible while everyone else was trying to figure out what was happening.

Video. AI. Story. Presence. These aren’t new themes for me. They’re the same themes, on a faster track, with better tools.

The question isn’t whether the landscape is changing. It’s whether you’re going to be recognized in the new one.

If you want to get your hands on these tools and actually see them in action, join me for AI Your Way in May -- a month-long AI-a-thon with free livestreams, trainings, demos, and more.

Get in at www.wickedsmahtai.com

Try for Free

Lou Bortone has spent 25 years in TV and entertainment -- E!, NBC, Fox Family -- and has been telling people that video is the future for so long he’s sick of being right. He’s a Video Marketing Strategist, Certified AI Consultant, published author, and host of the AI Today podcast. He works with experts, authors, and speakers who refuse to be irrelevant. LouBortone.com

Be honest — what has actually changed since you started “using AI”?

Not what you’ve tried.
Not what you’ve read about.
What has actually gotten easier, faster, or better in your business because of it?

Because if you strip away the curiosity, the tools, the prompts, the occasional “that’s kind of cool” moment…

you’re probably still doing most things the exact same way.

Same effort.
Same time.
Same friction.

And that’s the part no one wants to say out loud.

You don’t have an access problem.
You don’t have an information problem.

You have a usage problem.

Right now, most of the conversation is focused on tools.

New apps.
New features.
New prompts.
New “systems.”

And if you listen long enough, you start to feel like you’re behind.

Like there’s something you’re supposed to learn… before you can catch up.

That’s not actually the problem.

It was never about the tools.

It’s about what the tools let you do.

Because when you strip away all the noise, what most people want isn’t:

• better prompts

• more tools

• or another workflow

They want:

• to move faster

• to create more without burning out

• to stop getting stuck

• to make better decisions

• to stay visible without constantly pushing

And that’s where AI gets interesting.

Not as a skill.

But as a force multiplier.

Used well, it doesn’t replace what you do.

It removes the friction around it.

The friction of:

• starting from scratch

• overthinking simple things

• rewriting the same ideas over and over

• getting stuck in your own head

That’s where most people are losing time right now.

Quietly.

And that’s why you’re seeing this subtle shift.

Some people are starting to move faster.

Not because they’re smarter.

Not because they know more.

But because they’ve started to apply AI in the right places.

And once that happens…

things compound.

Ideas turn into output faster.
Output turns into visibility faster.
Visibility turns into opportunity faster.

That gap?

It doesn’t stay small.

So the real question isn’t:

“What can AI do?”

It’s:

“Where is my business slower, heavier, or more complicated than it needs to be?”

And:

“What would happen if I removed that friction?”

That’s the shift.

One of the most interesting parts of this is building a digital twin.

Not in the sci-fi sense.

In a practical one.

An AI that starts to understand how you think.

How you write.

How you structure ideas.

So instead of starting from zero every time…

you’re starting from momentum.

That’s when:

• content gets easier

• decisions get faster

• ideas turn into something usable quickly

Not perfect.

But usable.

And usable beats perfect every time.

This is what most people are missing.

They’re experimenting with AI…

but they’re not integrating it.

They’re testing tools…

but not changing how they work.

And that’s why it still feels like “one more thing.”

It doesn’t have to.

That’s exactly what I’m exploring this month with:

AI Your Way in May — a live, month-long experience in making AI actually useful.

Not a course.

Not something you have to keep up with.

Just a place to see:

• what this looks like in real time

• where it fits

• and how to start using it without overcomplicating everything

You can follow along for free at www.AiInMay.com

Check it out here!

But if you’re the kind of person who doesn’t want to miss the important parts…

There’s a Full Experience option with all the replays, demos, and resources — organized and easy to come back to.

Either way…

this isn’t about catching up.

It’s about changing how you operate.

It’s time to stop dabbling and finally make this sh*t work!

Lou Bortone helps established entrepreneurs stop getting left behind by trends they don’t need—and start using what actually works. A pioneer in video marketing and now AI, he’s the author of Refuse to Be Irrelevant: The New AI & Video System for Being Seen, Trusted, and Paid in the Age of AI, and creator of AI Your Way in May, a live experience designed to make AI finally feel useful in real business.

Claude Has Three Faces. Most Marketers Only Know One.

Most people are using one AI tool, hoping it does everything, and wondering why their results are mediocre. Meanwhile, the Claude product line has quietly multiplied into something that looks like a mob org chart. Claude Chat. Claude Code. Claude Co-Work. Nobody told you what any of that means or which one to actually open.

I’m fixing that on April 8th.

What’s going down

I’m hosting a free live demo comparing Claude and ChatGPT2 — the two tools I use every day for content creation, scripting, and client work. No theory. No buzzwords. Just me, two open browser tabs, and real workflows you can steal.

Two sessions. Pick one: 12:00 p.m. ET or 7:00 p.m. ET

No replay. You show up live or you miss it. That’s the deal.

Save Your Spot!

Claude vs. ChatGPT2 — in the real world

I’m not interested in the tech press version of this conversation. I want to show you what actually happens when you use these tools for the stuff you do every day — writing hooks, brainstorming content, planning campaigns, building scripts.

We’ll cover:

• Which tool wins for which kinds of work (the answer isn’t always Claude)

• How to stop defaulting to one AI and start choosing the right one for the task

• Real workflows built for marketers and small business owners, not developers

Untangling the Claude mess

This part alone is worth showing up for. Anthropic has released enough Claude-branded products to confuse even people who use AI for a living. Here’s the short version:

• Claude Chat — the conversational interface, your everyday writing and thinking partner

• Claude Code — built for coding tasks and technical workflows (probably not your first stop)

• Claude Co-Work — a more collaborative, task-focused way to work with Claude

I’ll cut through the product sprawl and give you a simple playbook. Which Claude to reach for, when to switch to ChatGPT2, and how to stop overthinking it.

Why this matters right now

I’ve spent 25 years in TV and entertainment marketing. I’ve watched a lot of “game changers” come and go. AI is different. It’s not a nice-to-have anymore. For marketers and solo operators, it’s the infrastructure behind your content operation.

If you’re still treating it like an experiment, you’re already behind. I mean, like dog years behind, only worse. This session gets you current, fast.

Show up or miss out

Wednesday, April 8 12:00 p.m. ET or 7:00 p.m. ET Free. Live only. No replay.

https://loubortone.com/webinar-reg-page

Hope to see you there.

Register Here

Lou Bortone is a Video Marketing Strategist and Certified AI Consultant with 25 years in television and entertainment marketing at E!, NBC, and Fox Family. He helps established business owners use video and AI to grow their authority without burning out or chasing every shiny new tool. Find him at LouBortone.com or catch his weekly takes on the AI Today podcast.

It was 1999. The dot-com boom was in full swing, and I was watching friends and colleagues jump into startups and get rich. Not a little rich. Life-changing, never-worry-again rich. And I understood exactly what was happening. I was a marketing executive. I lived in this world. I saw the wave building.

So I made my move.

I left a high-paying marketing job and corner office at Fox Family Worldwide in Los Angeles and relocated to Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

Portsmouth was being called the ‘E-coast’ at the time. The idea was that this little Seacoast city was about to be the East Coast answer to Silicon Valley. Startups everywhere. Venture money flowing. Electric energy.

I had 2% of a dot-com startup. I was the highest-paid person on staff. And if that company went public, which everyone assumed it would, I was walking away a millionaire.

Six months earlier and I’m telling a completely different story right now.

Then the Bubble Burst.

Not slowly. Not gracefully. It collapsed.

Companies that had been valued at hundreds of millions of dollars were worthless inside of eighteen months. The ‘E-coast’ turned out to be a very expensive marketing slogan. The startup folded. The equity evaporated. So instead of living large in Los Angeles, I found myself back at square one in New Hampshire with 2-year old twins and a big-ass house and mortgage.

The gut punch wasn’t losing the money I had. It was losing the money I should have had.

Colleagues who made the exact same bet, same market, same type of company, same reasoning, just six months earlier walked away wealthy. Their timing was right. Mine wasn’t. Not because I was wrong about the opportunity. Because I waited too long to act on it.

I had seen it coming. I understood it. I believed in it.

I just hesitated.

He who hesitates is lost. I was Exhibit A.

I’ve Carried That for 25 Years.

It’s not always comfortable to sit with. But it has made me very good at one thing: recognizing a shift when it’s happening, and moving before most people have decided whether to move.

Which is why what’s happening with AI right now is keeping me up at night.

Not because I’m worried about my own business. I’m not. I’ve been working at the intersection of video, marketing, and technology for a long time, and I’ve never been more clear on where things are going.

I’m up at night because I’m watching smart, successful, established business owners do exactly what I did in 1999.

They see it. They get it. They know this is a real shift.

They’re just waiting for a better moment to move.

There isn’t one.

This Is That Moment. Right Now.

Here’s what most people forget about the dot-com era: it was never really about the technology.

It was about positioning. About who showed up early enough to own a category, build an audience, and establish authority before everyone else figured out what was happening.

By 1996, not having a website wasn’t just a missed opportunity. It was a slow death sentence. Businesses that thought they could wait it out found out the hard way that the market had moved on without them. The ones that moved first owned their markets for the next decade.

It’s 1996 again. AI is that same moment. Right now. Not in two years. Not when it gets easier. Now.

The established business owners, consultants, experts, and service providers who figure out how to use AI to amplify what they already do well are going to own their markets for the next decade. Not because they learned a bunch of tools. Because they moved early enough to build a position before the window closed.

The ones who are waiting for a better moment are going to find out there wasn’t one.

I know what that costs. I have a very specific, very expensive memory of exactly what it costs.

Here’s What’s Different This Time.

The dot-com boom required capital, developers, and infrastructure. Most small business owners couldn’t fully participate even if they wanted to.

AI requires none of that.

The barrier to entry has never been lower for any major technological shift in business history. You don’t need a tech background. You don’t need a team. You don’t need a significant budget.

What you need is the right system, the right tools for your specific business, and someone who actually knows what works.

That’s the opportunity. And the window for early movers is still open.

But it is not going to stay open.

So Here’s What I Built.

I’ve spent 25 years learning what works in video and marketing at the highest level. Television. Entertainment. Building audiences for brands that millions of people watched every day.

For the last several years I’ve done the same thing with AI, figuring out what actually moves the needle for established business owners and what’s just noise.

Nobody else in this space has that specific combination. Video strategy, brand building, and deep AI fluency, not as separate services, but as one integrated approach. That’s not a niche. That’s an unfair advantage. And it belongs to my clients.

I created the AI Visibility Advantage for established business owners who are done watching this happen from the sidelines.

Here’s exactly what it is and what you get:

→

A strategy session to map your AI visibility plan.

Not a generic overview. We identify exactly where AI will give your specific business the biggest visibility wins. No guessing. No overwhelm. You walk away knowing precisely what to do and in what order.

→

A Custom ChatGPT or Gemini Gem built specifically for your business.

Not a template. Not a prompt library. Lou builds a Custom ChatGPT trained on your voice, your business, and your ideal clients. You get the link. You use it like an assistant. It creates content that actually sounds like you. Most AI consultants don’t do this. We do. (And you can substitute a Gemini Gem or a Claude Project if ChatGPT isn’t your jam).

→

A 60-day AI roadmap.

Step by step. No guessing. No overwhelm. You know exactly what to do each week to stay visible without burning yourself out or disappearing into a rabbit hole of tools.

→

The right 2-3 tools for your business. Not all the tools.

I identify exactly what makes sense for where you are and what you do. No bloated tech stack. No tools you’ll never use. Just what works for your specific situation.

→

A 30-day follow-up check-in.

After a month we reconnect, troubleshoots anything that isn’t working, and makes sure the system is actually running for you. Not set-it-and-forget-it. Real follow-through.

Here’s what that means in plain terms:

You stop losing ground to competitors with half your experience and twice your online presence. You show up where your ideal clients are looking without spending hours on content every week. You stay top-of-mind so when someone is ready to hire, your name is the one that surfaces. You compete on your terms, using your expertise, amplified by AI.

You do all of this in one week. Not six months of trial and error.

AI Visibility Advantage

One week. Done for you. AI-ready.

[ GET YOUR AI VISIBILITY ADVANTAGE - $497 ]

Get the AI Advantage

I left Los Angeles in 2000 for Portsmouth, New Hampshire because I believed in an opportunity.

I was right about the opportunity. I was wrong about the timing.

Twenty-five years later I built an entire career out of not making that mistake again. Seeing the shift early. Moving before it’s obvious. Helping other people do the same.

This is the shift. You’re in it right now.

Don’t wait until the window closes to wish you’d moved sooner.

P.S. Every day you wait, someone in your market is showing up where you aren’t. The good news: this takes one week to fix. One week.

If this resonated, forward it to one person who needs to read it. That’s how good ideas travel.

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If Sebastian Maniscalco and Francis Ford Coppola had a kid who went into marketing, you’d get Lou Bortone.

Boston-born, Hollywood-trained, and currently headquartered in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Lou has spent 25 years at the intersection of video, marketing, and technology. He was a marketing executive at E!, NBC, and Fox Family Worldwide when those channels actually mattered. He survived the dot-com bust, the social media explosion, and every other shift that took out businesses that weren’t paying attention.

Now he is a Certified AI Consultant and Video Marketing Strategist helping established business owners stop being invisible in a market that is moving faster than most people realize. He hosts the AI Today podcast, runs the boutique video agency glimmr, and is the author of Video Marketing Rules and AI Quick Wins.

His take on AI is the same as his take on everything else: cut the hype, figure out what actually works, and help serious people use it before the window closes. Nobody else in this space has his combination of video expertise, brand strategy, and real AI fluency. His clients make the most of that.

He is a father of twins, a rescuer of pugs, and a man who has seen The Godfather more than 200 times and considers that entirely reasonable.

Artificial intelligence isn’t some future headline waiting to drop. It’s been quietly running your searches, maps, and Netflix queue for years. The real issue now isn’t adopting AI. It’s using it on purpose without getting hypnotized by the hype… or burned by the nonsense.

AI: Less Sci-Fi, More Supercharged Autocomplete

Here’s how I explain AI to non-techie folks:

It’s software that learns from massive piles of data, spots patterns, and uses those patterns to predict, suggest, and create stuff.

Think of it as:
👉 a very fast research assistant
👉 mixed with a ridiculously powerful autocomplete

You’re already using it every day:

• Search: Google answering questions before you even click

• Photos: Your phone recognizing faces and locations

• Recommendations: Netflix, Amazon, YouTube feeding you “just one more”

• Voice assistants: Siri and Alexa doing your bidding

• Email filters: Junk disappearing before it hits your inbox

• Navigation: GPS rerouting you like a backseat driver who actually knows what they’re doing

If you’ve got a smartphone, you’re in the AI club. You just didn’t get a membership card.

What AI Is — And What It Definitely Isn’t

Let’s get one thing straight.

AI is powerful.
AI is impressive.
AI is also… not that bright.

It’s not human.
It’s not conscious.
It has zero common sense.

And yeah, it can sound wildly confident while being completely wrong.

I once asked it for “the best way to rob a bank.”
It refused. Good.
But it didn’t exactly alert the authorities either.

So here’s the rule I live by:

Treat AI like a first draft, not the final word

Especially for anything involving:

• health

• legal

• money

• safety

Use it to get started. Then use your brain to finish.

How I Spot AI-Generated Content

You’re going to need this skill. Fast.

Here’s what I look for:

• Too perfect visuals: Dreamy lighting, fantasy locations, magazine-level polish for free

• Generic writing: Clean but soulless. Like oatmeal with no salt

• Repetition: Same idea, slightly rearranged, over and over

• No sources: Just vibes, no receipts

• Weird glitches: Extra fingers, odd details (getting better, but still happens)

• Content floods: Massive volume, same tone, all at once

I’ve used AI images in my own slides. Even my pugs have gone full Hollywood thanks to AI.

The point isn’t to fool people. It’s to show how accessible this stuff is now.

Good Uses vs. Bad Uses: The Fork in the Road

AI itself is neutral. It’s the user that makes it noble… or sketchy.

Good Uses

• Writing emails, scripts, and drafts

• Research and idea generation

• Planning trips or schedules

• Learning new topics in plain English

• Making complex info easier to understand

• Creating personal projects like memoirs or family books

Bad Uses

• Scams and phishing that look way too real

• Deepfakes pretending to be someone you trust

• Fake news dressed up as legit

• AI “slop” content flooding the internet

Bottom line:
If money, urgency, or secrecy shows up… slow down and verify.

My Four Golden Rules for Using AI

1. Protect your privacy
   Don’t feed sensitive info into these tools

2. Double-check facts
   Especially anything important

3. Use common sense
   If it feels off, it probably is

4. Trust your instincts
   You’re the boss. The AI is the intern

Red Flags for AI Scams

• Urgent emotional requests

• “Don’t tell anyone” vibes

• Requests for money, passwords, or personal info

When in doubt, verify through a real human channel.

Everyday Ways I Actually Use AI

No fluff. Just practical stuff that saves time.

• Drafting emails I don’t feel like writing

• Translating confusing documents into plain English

• Planning trips and packing lists

• Turning spoken stories into written content

• Prepping questions for doctors or financial advisors

• Learning new skills without digging through 47 YouTube videos

This is where AI earns its keep.

The Real Skill: Talking to AI So It Helps You

This is where most people screw it up.

It’s not about being technical. It’s about being clear.

Your secret weapon?
The prompt.

A good prompt includes:

• Role: “Act as a business coach”

• Task: What you want

• Context: Who it’s for and why

• Format: Length, style, structure

Example

Weak:
“Explain Medicare”

Better:
“Act as a Medicare expert and explain Part D to a 66-year-old in under 200 words in simple language”

You don’t need to be a “prompt engineer.”
You just need to give better directions than “uhhh… do the thing.”

Three AI Tools I Actually Recommend

Forget chasing shiny objects. Start with these.

1. ChatGPT: The Swiss Army Knife

This is my go-to.

Best for:
Writing, brainstorming, explaining, planning

What I use it for:

• Emails

• scripts

• content ideas

• quick problem-solving

2. NotebookLM: The Document Whisperer

This one’s a sleeper hit.

Best for:
Working with your own content

Why I like it:

• Uses only what you upload

• Shows where info comes from

• Turns long reports into something readable

I’ve fed it massive reports and gotten clean summaries, questions, even visuals without lifting a finger.

3. Perplexity: Research With Receipts

Think of this as AI with footnotes.

Best for:

• Research

• fact-checking

• finding real sources

It tells you where it got the info. That alone puts it ahead of most tools.

Which Tool Should You Use?

• ChatGPT: Writing, ideas, everyday tasks

• NotebookLM: Your documents and deep dives

• Perplexity: Research you can trust

How I Recommend You Start

Don’t try to conquer AI in a weekend.

Pick one tool. One task.

• Ask ChatGPT to write a real email

• Upload a PDF to NotebookLM and summarize it

• Ask Perplexity a question and check the sources

That’s it.

You’re not chasing perfection.
You’re building confidence.

Cutting Through the AI Tsunami

There’s going to be a tidal wave of garbage content. We’re already knee-deep in it.

You can’t ignore AI. It’s baked into everything now.

So here’s how I look at it:

• AI is a tool

• Awareness keeps you safe

• Curiosity beats fear

And most important…

You’re still the director

The AI works for you. Not the other way around.

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If Don Vito Corleone and Sebastian Maniscalco created an AI Renaissance man, you’d get Lou Bortone. Known as The Video Godfather, Lou helps experts get seen, trusted, and paid with a mix of video, AI, and unapologetic sarcasm.

He’s a frequent speaker and author of Video Marketing Rules, AI Quick Wins, and the upcoming Wiseguy Wisdom: Leadership Lessons of The Godfather. Lou hosts the “AI Today” podcast, leads yearly marketing retreats in Tuscany, and once fled Hollywood TV without selling his soul.

He embarrasses his adult twins, rescues pugs, and drops Italian curses with Tarantino-level commitment.

Headphones. Commutes. Long walks with a dog that refuses to move.

But something changed.

The fastest growing part of podcasting no longer lives in your ears.
It lives on your screen.

And that shift is quietly rewriting the rules of a $4.46 billion industry.

The “audio industry” that people are watching

By 2026, more than 619 million people worldwide will consume podcasts.

In the United States:

• 55% of Americans listen to podcasts monthly

• The podcast ad market has reached $4.46 billion

On paper, podcasting still looks like an audio business.

In reality, audience behavior tells a different story.

The platforms dominating podcast consumption today are increasingly visual.

The biggest podcast platform isn’t a podcast app

If podcasting were still primarily audio, Spotify or Apple would dominate the category.

Instead, the real leader is a video platform.

Share of weekly podcast consumers in the U.S.:

• YouTube — 42%

• Spotify — 15%

• Apple Podcasts — 7%

YouTube isn’t just participating in podcasting.

It’s winning.

Creators who treat podcasts as audio products are missing nearly half the available audience.

Smartphones turned podcasts into something you watch

The device driving this shift sits in everyone’s pocket.

67% of weekly podcast listeners use smartphones as their primary device.

Once podcasts moved to high-resolution screens, expectations changed.

Listening became watching.

New listener preferences now break down like this:

• 53% prefer to actively watch a video podcast

• 24% prefer audio only

• 23% run video in the background while doing something else

Even when people “listen,” many still want the video playing.

Facial expressions. Reactions. Body language.

The visual layer has become part of the experience.

Audio platforms are racing to catch up

This shift has forced traditional podcast platforms to adapt.

Spotify is the clearest example.

Today the platform hosts:

• 330,000+ video podcast episodes

• 270 million users who have watched video podcasts

Supporting this change requires more than hosting audio files.

Video podcasts demand:

• large storage capacity

• efficient streaming

• advanced compression technology

The infrastructure of podcasting is evolving from audio distribution to full video streaming.

This isn’t just a U.S. trend

Podcast growth is accelerating worldwide.

Some of the highest adoption rates are coming from emerging markets:

• South Africa — 66% podcast penetration

• Indonesia — 59% podcast penetration

Globally, comedy leads all podcast genres, capturing 30% of listening hours.

Comedy also happens to be one of the formats that translates best to video, where reactions and chemistry become part of the entertainment.

Video unlocks entirely new revenue streams

Podcast advertising still revolves around familiar formats.

But video expands what’s possible.

Current ad revenue mix:

• Host-read ads — 55%

• Announcer-read ads — 40%

Once cameras enter the equation, the monetization model expands:

• video ad networks

• visual product demonstrations

• branded integrations

• premium memberships and paid communities

The most visible example remains The Joe Rogan Experience, which monetizes both the traditional RSS feed and its video distribution.

Audio revenue and video revenue.
Two engines instead of one.

The production bar is rising

There are now over 7 million podcast titles competing for attention.

The original barrier to entry was simple:

one microphone
one quiet room

Today, the top shows look more like television productions.

Leading podcasts now invest in:

• professional lighting

• multiple camera angles

• deliberate set design

• strong visual branding

The question for creators has changed.

Are you producing an audio show that happens to be on YouTube?

Or a visual show that also distributes as audio?

The takeaway for creators and marketers

Podcasting hasn’t stopped being audio.

But it’s no longer just audio.

The real competition now happens on screen.

For brands:

• Plan podcast campaigns that include video inventory.

• Favor host-read integrations that work visually.

• Track both RSS downloads and video views.

For creators:

• Design shows visually first.

• Release the audio version as a secondary format.

• Invest gradually in lighting, framing, and set design.

The bottom line

The industry still calls them podcasts.

But the format has outgrown the name.

Anyone who wants reach, revenue, and relevance in the next phase of podcasting needs to treat it for what it has become:

a hybrid medium where the real battle for attention happens on camera.

I’ve spent 20+ years in video production, and this shift isn’t surprising. When audiences get the choice between hearing something and seeing it, they almost always choose the screen.

Podcasting isn’t dying. It’s evolving into video.

I recently sat down with Karin on the AI Today podcast to move past the surface-level talk of algorithms and discuss the true foundation of a successful technological transition: Trust.

The Trust-Speed Paradox In the corporate world, trust is often viewed as a “soft” metric, but in the age of AI, Karin argues it is the ultimate “hard” metric for success. When a company operates with a high level of trust, things happen faster, saving both time and money. High-trust teams don’t fear AI; they see it as a tool to free up their time for the high-level, creative endeavors they actually love.

Infusing Values into the Machine One of the most provocative parts of our discussion was the need for what Karin calls the “Return of the Feminine”. As we train massive AI models, we have a collective responsibility to infuse them with heart-centered values and diverse perspectives. If we only train AI on the competitive, “dog-eat-dog” data of the past, we risk simply automating the very systems that are currently failing us.

Moving from Chaos to Renaissance While the next few years may feel chaotic as old systems transition, Karin’s message is one of profound hope. By staying grounded—using neuroscience-backed tools for self-regulation and focusing on gratitude—we can navigate this transition and reach a new explosion of art, innovation, and human connection.

As Karin put it during our chat: “AI can get you 70-80% of the way there, but that last 20%—the human intent—is essential”.

Watch the full episode with Karin Volo here:

In this cross-generational deep dive, Lou Botone sits down with the mother-son powerhouse duo Sue and Matt Guiher from the Thriving Entrepreneur. They discuss the transition from the “hallucination-heavy” days of early ChatGPT to the precise, instruction-led environment of NotebookLM.

What You’ll Learn:

• Source-Grounded Power: Why NotebookLM’s refusal to search outside your uploaded data is its greatest feature for business accuracy.

• The Toolkit Model: How Matt Guiher “cracked the code” by building instructional document sets that automate course creation, sales, and speaker prep.

• Education in 2026: Sue’s upcoming doctorate research on how large language models (LLMs) are affecting critical thinking and student learning.

• The “Smartest Dumb Assistant”: Navigating the frustrations of AI when it veers off-track and how to use “guardrails” to keep it productive.

Most people look at AI and see either a magic wand or a looming threat. Dr. Ana Melikian sees a 100-foot wave. You can’t stop it, but you can choose how you ride it.

In our latest episode, Ana shared her secret for high-performance prompting: the ACE Framework.

1. Act As: Don’t just ask a question. Tell the AI who it needs to be (e.g., “Act as an expert business coach”).

2. Context: Give it the “why” and the “who” behind the request.

3. Engage: This is where the magic happens. Don’t take the first answer. Push back. Refine. Engage in a dialogue.

The Golden Rule: Human in the Loop

We also touched on a vital concept from Ethan Mollick’s Co-Intelligence: The Savant Intern. AI knows more than any human, but it has no common sense. If you accept its first draft without checking it, you aren’t being productive—you’re being lazy.

The Takeaway: Use AI to amplify your strengths, but never let it drive the bus. Stay on the loop, maintain your critical thinking, and above all, be transparent with your audience.

Think AI is too generic for your brand? Rob Schultz joins Lou Bortone to explain why the problem isn’t the AI—it’s your willingness to push it further.

What You’ll Learn:

• The “Jump Through Hoops” Philosophy: Why you should never settle for the first AI response.

• Contextual AI: How to use transcripts to teach ChatGPT your specific voice, tone, and point of view.

• Visual Storytelling: A look at the tools bridging the gap between text and high-end video production.

• The “Take 48” Mindset: Why elite content creation requires pushing AI through multiple iterations.

• Tool Spotlight: Deep dives into Blotato and Poppy for visual content and source-based prompting.

Reach down.
Engagement soft.
Smart, capable people quietly wondering, “Is it just me?”

Turns out, it wasn’t personal. It’s strictly business.

The internet didn’t ignore us.

It hired cheaper replacements.

Here’s what most experienced professionals still haven’t fully absorbed:

Over 70% of marketers now use AI to create content.
More than half publish with it every week.
Many are posting daily with machine-generated material.

That’s your competition now.

Not just other consultants.
Not just other coaches.

Machines that never sleep.
Never hesitate.
Never burn out.

They are flooding every platform with “good enough” expertise.

Twenty-five years ago, credibility was earned.

You had to do the work.
Make mistakes.
Learn patterns.
Build trust.

You built something real.

Now someone can binge YouTube for a weekend, download five prompts, and rebrand themselves as an “expert” by Tuesday.

And the platforms love it.

Speed beats depth.
Volume beats wisdom.
Noise beats nuance.

“You didn’t fall behind. You got under-amplified.”

What Algorithms Actually See

Algorithms do not recognize judgment.

They see output.

They do not recognize scar tissue.

They recognize thumbnails.

They do not reward restraint.

They reward repetition.

So people with half your experience dominate feeds.

While people with twice the value fade quietly into the background.

If this sounds familiar, you’re exactly who I work with inside Digital Consigliere.
👉 https://loubortone.com/consigliere140397

The Lie That Starts to Creep In

After enough time in this environment, something dangerous happens.

You start questioning yourself.

“Maybe I’m behind.”
“Maybe I missed something.”
“Maybe this isn’t my game anymore.”

That’s the lie.

You didn’t fall behind.

You got under-amplified.

The Compounding Problem of Silence

Here’s the part no one likes to talk about:

Visibility compounds.

So does invisibility.

Every month you stay quiet:

Others test faster.
Publish more.
Learn quicker.
Build stronger distribution.

Not because they’re smarter.

Because they’re systematic.

While you’re being thoughtful, they’re building infrastructure.

And infrastructure wins long-term.

Your Advantage Didn’t Disappear

AI can generate words.

It cannot generate:

Judgment.
Context.
Pattern recognition.
Ethical instinct.
Long-term memory.
Experience.

That is still yours.

But unused advantages decay.

Like muscles.

Like markets.

Like trust.

The Only Strategy That Works Now

What works today is not hustle.

It’s leverage.

One idea becomes many assets.
One recording becomes many touchpoints.
One opinion becomes a content ecosystem.

And AI becomes an assistant, not a replacement.

This is the system I build with clients.

Quietly.
Privately.
Relentlessly.

👉 https://loubortone.com/consigliere140397

The Real Divide

The divide is no longer:

AI vs Human
Young vs Old
Fast vs Slow

It’s this:

System vs No System

Those with systems compound.

Those without drift.

Final Word

You weren’t ignored.

You were undercut.

By cheaper, faster, noisier versions of expertise.

That doesn’t mean you’ve lost.

It means the rules changed.

And now you get to decide:

Stay excellent in private.

Or become visible on purpose.

Work With Me

If you want help turning your experience into a visibility system that compounds instead of decays, I work privately with a small group of clients inside Digital Consigliere.

You can learn more here:

👉 https://loubortone.com/consigliere140397

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If Don Vito Corleone and Sebastian Maniscalco created an AI Renaissance man, you’d get Lou Bortone. Known as The Video Godfather, Lou helps experts get seen, trusted, and paid with a mix of video, AI, and unapologetic sarcasm.

He’s a frequent speaker and author of Video Marketing Rules, AI Quick Wins, and the upcoming Wiseguy Wisdom: Leadership Lessons of The Godfather. Lou hosts the “AI Today” podcast, leads yearly marketing retreats in Tuscany, and once fled Hollywood TV without selling his soul.

He embarrasses his adult twins, rescues pugs, and drops Italian curses with Tarantino-level commitment.

Are you overwhelmed by the “tool-of-the-week” fatigue? Jen Lehner joins Lou Bortone to pull back the curtain on how to actually integrate AI into your business workflow rather than just playing with it.

What You’ll Learn:

• The Meta-Prompting Secret: How to make ChatGPT interview you to build a perfect business knowledge base.

• Google Workspace Studio: How to use the “Zapier-killer” built directly into your Gmail.

• Custom “Gems”: The difference between automation and AI, and how to use Gems as specialized employees.

• The App-Building Revolution: Watch as Jen builds a functional YouTube dashboard in seconds using Google AI Studio.

I recently spoke with Nika Stewart about a problem every business owner faces: too many tools, not enough focus.

Nika’s counter-intuitive advice? Stop trying every new app.

Instead, “marry” one tool. She calls her ChatGPT “Goldie.” Because she’s used Goldie for a year, the AI knows her brand voice better than most human assistants could.

The most powerful takeaway: “You think you’re not techy? You’re just overwhelmed.”

When you focus on mastering one framework—whether it’s for social hooks or turning a book into a course—the technology fades into the background and your creativity takes the lead.

The B-Roll Wake-Up Call

For years, Tanya Smith was known as the queen of live streaming. But in 2025, she realized that live video wasn’t enough to scale. She needed a way to be prolific across every platform without hiring a 10-person production crew.

The answer? OpenAI’s Sora. Tanya uses Sora to create the cinematic B-roll her producers always used to yell at her for forgetting. Instead of a day-long shoot, she now generates professional video clips in seconds using her “VIDEO” framework.

3 Ways Tanya is Scaling via AI:

1. Building Micro-Apps: Tanya doesn’t just use GPTs; she turns them into standalone tools via EasySite.ai. This allows her to sell subscription access to her specific workflows and prompts.

2. Data-Driven Batching: She connects her social scheduler (Vista Social) to Claude to analyze 30 days of analytics. The AI then generates a fresh batch of content specifically designed to replicate her past wins.

3. Closing the Pay Gap: Tanya is launching a non-profit in 2026 focused on AI literacy for kids. She believes the “pay gap” of the future will be defined by who knows how to use these tools.

Bob shared a philosophy that every entrepreneur needs to hear: AI is an amplification tool, not a replacement tool. If you use it to replace your heart, you’ll lose your clients. If you use it to scale your unique human insights, you win.

Here are the 3 big takeaways from our conversation:

• The “Invisible” Assistant: Bob has used SaneBox for 8 years. It’s an AI that quietly learns your email habits, keeping your inbox clean without you ever having to “prompt” it. It’s the ultimate example of AI that just works.

• Stop Using the Free Version: The biggest mistake people make is settling for free ChatGPT. The $20/month tier unlocks “Projects,” which allow you to create separate “brains” for every client or brand you manage. It’s like having a dedicated assistant for every account.

• The Pendulum Swing Toward Real: As AI video (Sora) and voice clones become indistinguishable from reality, the world is going to crave raw, live connection more than ever. Bob’s advice? Don’t hide behind the tools—be on camera more.

I recently sat down with Rich Brooks of Flyte New Media to discuss the dramatic shift in SEO.

The reality? Informational searches are being “cannibalized” by Google’s AI Overviews. If your business relies on “explainer” traffic, your click-through rates are likely dropping.

Rich’s advice for 2026:

1. Pivoting Keywords: Focus on high-intent business searches rather than broad informational ones.

2. AI as a Teammate: Use custom GPTs to act as specialized assistants for your specific brand voice.

3. Local Sovereignty: Consider running LLMs on your own hardware to protect your P&L and internal data.

The goal isn’t just to be “faster” with AI—it’s to provide better outcomes for your clients while maintaining the human relationships that AI can’t replicate.

Episode Summary

In this episode of AI Today, Lou Bortone and digital marketing veteran Rich Brooks explore the “Jetson-era” shift in SEO. Rich highlights a concerning trend: informational searches that used to drive blog traffic are now being answered instantly by Google’s AI, resulting in fewer clicks for creators. They discuss how to survive this “Zero-Click” landscape by leaning into specialized AI assistants and focusing on high-intent service keywords.

Key Takeaways

• Pivot from Info to Intent: If your content only explains “how” to do something, AI will steal the click. Focus on “I need a provider” keywords to drive actual business.

• The Post-Production Engine: Don’t just prompt AI; build an assistant that understands your entire production flow—from writing show notes to suggesting episode closings.

• Consistency via AI: Large teams can use AI as a “pre-editor” to ensure every blog post follows specific brand parameters like voice, tone, and the Oxford comma.

• Local AI for Privacy: To avoid training public models on your sensitive business data (like P&L statements), look into running LLMs locally on your hardware in 2026.