Tara and I just had our biggest video yet on YouTube. It got almost 10,000 views. Here it is if you want to watch it:

Why did it resonate? I have a few ideas. First, it captures a general truth about relationships between men and women. And it was watched (and shared) by both.

Second, I’m getting better at understanding the YT algorithm. It’s about 35 seconds long — a good length for a short, and it’s got one clear comedic premise and a button at the end.

Finally, (and I think this is the most important part)… it feels like you’re getting a funny peek into two real people and their relationship.

And when it comes to the future of content, that truthful, human connection between people on screen is what will stand out in a world of AI-generated video.

AI will eat video next.

Google just dropped their AI video generator, Veo 3… and now characters can officially talk. And it’s leading to a bunch of interesting (and weird) video content. Here are a few examples on X worth watching:

Now, I’m a huge advocate of using AI to unleash your creativity. Especially when it empowers small creators to make stuff that was previously impossible to make because of money, time, etc.

That said, these are going to get really old, fast. And what humans will be left looking for is the human touch.

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Great art reveals the human behind it.

In art, you are looking for the HUMAN on the other side. Huge, block buster movies with budgets of $100+ million and epic CGI sequences often fail because of a simple idea: movies must entertain, yes, but they must also MOVE us emotionally.

And to do that, we have to see characters who look, talk, and act like real human beings in truthful relationships with other people.

It’s not enough for an image to look real. It has to capture some truth about the human experience for it to resonate. The videos above are cool. But without a comment about what it means to be human, they are simply technological show pieces.

So I urge — in whatever medium you’re creating — pull out the human in it.

Humans will always crave contact with other humans.

As artificial intelligence continues to eat everything, humans will be left looking for other humans to connect to.

YouTube just became the biggest video streaming platform out there because it lets you connect with other REAL people.

TikTok is massive because it’s unfiltered. You don’t show your best self on TikTok, you show your messy, imperfect self. And people love watching that.

Ultimately, humans crave meaningful, shared experiences with other humans. So give that to them.

Whatever you create, put yourself in it so it’s clear for the viewer / consumer / audience that there’s a person behind the thing they’re consuming. Build that human connection, and they will keep coming back.

Start now. And thanks for reading.