AI flooded the internet with competent content so fast that by late 2024 more than half of all new English-language articles were primarily AI-written — making genuine human perspective the scarcest and most valuable commodity in the economy.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
AI flooded the internet with competent content so fast that by late 2024 more than half of all new English-language articles were primarily AI-written — making genuine human perspective the scarcest and most valuable commodity in the economy.
TL;DR
AI was supposed to kill writing — but it's actually made storytelling the most valuable skill in the economy [1] — Scott Galloway "AI flooded the internet with competent content, making human perspective and the ability to evoke emotion the scarcest thing in the economy…" 01:35 . Scott Galloway argues that AI commoditizes the mechanical production of words while making human perspective, taste, and the ability to evoke emotion scarcer and more expensive [2] — Scott Galloway "LinkedIn storyteller job postings doubled in one year to over 50,000. Corporate earnings call mentions of storytelling tripled since 2015. …" 07:20 . OpenAI's acquisition of tech podcast TBPN for hundreds of millions — despite just $5M in ad revenue — is Exhibit A [3] — Scott Galloway "TBPN had 74,000 YouTube subscribers and $5 million in annual ad revenue. OpenAI paid what the Financial Times reported as a low hundreds of…" 10:45 . The single most useful takeaway: start with writing, pick your medium, and hold yourself accountable to reaching the top 10% in that medium.
Scott Galloway argues that AI's ability to generate infinite competent content has paradoxically made human storytelling — perspective, taste, and emotional resonance — the most valuable and scarce skill in the economy. He explores what this means for jobs, salaries, media strategy, and individual career development.
The episode opens with three short cross-network promos from the Vox Media Podcast Network. Ina Garten pitches her Happy Hour show featuring chef Paul Carmichael; Megan Rapinoe previews a conversation with comedian Josh Johnson on Why Are You Like This; and a mysterious teaser for Explain It to Me asks how far a person would go to have a healthy baby, with a guest noting that embryo editing is illegal in the United States but gaining interest as the technology matures. These 90 seconds of promotional content set up the formal beginning of the episode, where Galloway immediately stakes out his central argument: that storytelling — not computer science, not Mandarin, not STEM — is the single skill he would teach his children.
Galloway wastes no time establishing his contrarian premise: the conventional wisdom that AI would eliminate writing jobs was wrong, and wrong in an instructive way. He argues that once AI could produce infinite volumes of competent, technically correct content, the scarcity shifted upstream — to the judgment, perspective, and taste that produce genuinely resonant work. This is the opening shot of his argument that storytelling, specifically the ability to make people feel something, is not just surviving the AI era but commanding an unprecedented premium [1] — Scott Galloway "AI flooded the internet with competent content, making human perspective and the ability to evoke emotion the scarcest thing in the economy…" 01:35 . He frames this as a personal conviction too, noting that when asked the single skill he'd teach his children, his answer has never been coding, Mandarin, or STEM — it's storytelling.
When AI became competent at reading medical scans, the consensus was swift and confident: radiologists were done. Galloway dismantles this prediction with striking data. Since those forecasts, the Mayo Clinic's radiology staff grew 55% according to the New York Times, and radiology became the second-highest paid medical specialty in America in 2025, with average incomes 48% higher than a decade ago [1] — Scott Galloway "Predictions that AI would eliminate radiologists were spectacularly wrong. Since those predictions, Mayo Clinic's radiology staff grew 55% …" 02:55 . The diagnosis of failure is sharp and generalizable: we confused the most visible part of the job with the most valuable part. A study of radiologists across three hospitals found that only 36% of their time was actually spent reading scans — the task AI can automate [2] — Scott Galloway "Radiologists spend only 36% of time reading scans: A study across 3 hospitals found radiologists spent only 36% of their time reading scans…" 03:55 . The remaining 64% was human judgment: deciding what matters, guiding treatment, asking the right questions. Galloway's punchline is that AI didn't replace radiologists; it replaced the part of their job that was never really the point.
The abstract principle takes on emotional weight when Galloway grounds it in his own family history. His mother was a typist at a time when 98% of that profession was being automated away by personal computers. Rather than clinging to the mechanical skill, she moved upstream: she became a personal assistant, mastering the hard, relational, judgment-heavy part of supporting her boss [1] — Scott Galloway "98% of typists disappeared during the 1980s as computers arrived. Scott Galloway's mother survived by moving upstream — from typing to mana…" 04:50 . Typing remained part of her job — just an increasingly small part. The lesson Galloway draws is direct: writing is undergoing the same structural shift today. The people who survive are the ones who stop competing on word production and start competing on judgment, narrative, and emotional resonance — the parts that were always the real job.
In one of the episode's more disarming moments, Galloway admits to occasionally writing after a drink or two and finding that the resulting work was more emotional, more gripping, and frankly better [1] — Scott Galloway "Galloway confesses to occasionally writing after a drink or two — and finding the work grips better because it removes filters and lets emo…" 05:40 . He stopped, he says, to avoid becoming reliant on alcohol for the written word — but the insight remains. That loosened, unfiltered state produced work that was genuinely his own rather than a performance of what writing is supposed to sound like. This is precisely the failure mode of AI, he argues: it is trained to look at patterns and predict the next most likely word, making it a structural regression to the mean. AI content is the average of everything ever written — competent, predictable, and incapable of surprise. People don't want to read the average. The outlier, the thing they haven't seen before, the piece that grabs the heart — that's what has value, and that's what only a human perspective with genuine taste can produce.
The argument shifts from anecdote to hard evidence. LinkedIn job postings mentioning 'storyteller' doubled between 2024 and 2025 to more than 50,000 in marketing and 20,000 in media. Corporate executives mentioned storytelling on earnings calls 469 times in 2025, up from just 147 in 2015 — a three-fold increase over a decade. Then come the salary figures that make the abstract concrete [1] — Scott Galloway "LinkedIn storyteller job postings doubled in one year to over 50,000. Corporate earnings call mentions of storytelling tripled since 2015. …" 07:20 : OpenAI has listed multiple communications roles above $400,000; Anthropic tripled its communications team to 80 people with some roles also at $400,000; and Netflix posted a director of communications role reaching up to $775,000, against a US average of $106,000. Galloway connects this back to his long-standing prediction that strategic communications would be the fastest-growing job category in the digital economy. The market, he argues, is simply catching up to what he has been saying for years.
Galloway surveys a wave of unconventional media moves by tech companies that would have seemed bizarre five years ago. Andreessen Horowitz launched a dedicated media team to help its portfolio founders win the narrative battle online. Microsoft launched a print magazine in 2025, calling it an antidote to the 'ephemeral nature of digital' — a line Galloway suspects was itself written by AI. Palantir, the defense contractor historically allergic to public attention, launched a merch line of hats, totes, and t-shirts that analysts described not as fan service but as a proactive communication strategy to build passionate supporters [1] — Scott Galloway "Andreessen Horowitz launched a media team to help founders win the narrative battle. Microsoft launched a print magazine in 2025 as an 'ant…" 09:40 . The through-line is the same: earned media is drying up, and companies that don't own their audience are at the mercy of an increasingly hostile and AI-saturated information environment. Galloway notes from his own experience at L2, where a weekly YouTube series grew from 1,200 views to 70,000 views — demonstrating the compound nature of owned audience-building.
The most vivid proof point of the episode arrives in the form of a seemingly absurd deal. TBPN was a two-year-old tech livestream with 74,000 YouTube subscribers and approximately $5 million in annual advertising revenue — a respectable but modest media operation by any conventional measure [1] — Scott Galloway "TBPN had 74,000 YouTube subscribers and $5 million in annual ad revenue. OpenAI paid what the Financial Times reported as a low hundreds of…" 10:45 . OpenAI paid what the Financial Times reported as a low hundreds of millions of dollars for it, then immediately shut down the advertising business. Galloway's interpretation is the key: OpenAI wasn't buying a media company. They were buying a voice, an audience of influential people in Silicon Valley, and the credibility that the most powerful figures in tech actively sought out as a platform. In TBPN's own words, 'the standard communication playbook just doesn't apply to us.' Galloway quotes his research lead Mia Silverio: 'OpenAI has a brand problem, and TBPN could be the solution.' He's skeptical it'll be enough, but concedes it's a rational bet when you have near-zero cost of capital.
The data on AI content saturation is striking: 74% of 900,000 newly created web pages in April 2025 contained detectable AI-generated content, and by late 2024 more than half of all new English-language articles published online were primarily AI-written — up from just 5% before ChatGPT [1] — Scott Galloway "74% of new web pages created in April 2025 contained detectable AI content. By late 2024, more than half of all new English-language articl…" 12:35 . Galloway profiles Fortune editor Nick Lichtenberg as a real-world case study: Lichtenberg uploads press releases and analyst notes into AI tools, generates articles, edits and publishes, and produced more stories in six months than any colleague managed in a year. AI-assisted content now accounts for nearly 20% of Fortune's web traffic. But even Lichtenberg acknowledges this produces 'adequate news for a much lower cost' rather than anything that resonates or leads the day. On the other side, New York Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger warns of an 'unprecedented torrent of crap.' Galloway's verdict: both are right — it's working and it's crap simultaneously, which is precisely the problem and precisely why genuine human perspective has become so valuable.
The mid-episode ad break features three consecutive sponsor reads. Odoo positions itself as the antidote to businesses running on five different apps and twelve browser tabs, offering a unified platform free trial at odoo.com/provg. Vanta makes the case that as AI adoption grows so do security risks, pitching its Agentic Trust Platform — with over 1,400 automated tests across 400+ integrations — as delivering a 526% ROI over three years, with $1,000 off at vanta.com/profg. Upwork rounds out the break by encouraging business owners to delegate by hiring top freelance talent, noting its Business Plus tier provides access to the top 1% on the platform, with free sign-up at upwork.com.
The flood of AI slop has triggered a measurable cultural reaction. Nearly a third of consumers now say they're less likely to choose a brand that uses AI-generated advertisements — a number that signals AI content has become synonymous in many minds with brain death, the death of craft, the death of a real point of view [1] — Scott Galloway "Nearly a third of consumers avoid AI-generated ads: Nearly a third of consumers say they are less likely to choose a brand that uses AI-gen…" 16:27 . Galloway offers design as a clean empirical proxy: even after Sora and other AI image-generation tools arrived, tech companies as a share of their total workforce employ more designers than ever before, because genuinely human-centered visual craft has become the differentiating signal in a sea of machine-made aesthetics. The economic logic is simple: in a world of infinite competent content, scarcity is a genuine human perspective delivered with skill, and scarcity gets priced accordingly.
The episode's final chapter is a practical guide. Galloway's son's casual refusal to use AI to find a coffee shop in Kensington — 'I don't want to be reliant on AI for simple things' — becomes the launching pad for a broader warning: leaning on AI for creative work is like testosterone replacement therapy that suppresses the body's own production. Your creative muscle atrophies. The remedy is deliberate practice. Start with writing — Galloway credits Jeff Bezos's memo-writing dictum as evidence that writing is the foundation of all clear thinking. Then pick a specific medium: Threads, Instagram, Substack, video, public speaking, long-form writing. Set a measurable metric. Challenge yourself to reach the top 10% in that medium[1]. On public speaking, Galloway is realistic: not everyone will be great, but everyone must be competent. The ultimate failure in business is having great ideas that stay under your breath — you'd rather be occasionally wrong and compelling than perpetually right and invisible. Storytelling, he concludes, is the ultimate Kevlar against AI and the enduring skill set of the coming decade.
Chapter 2 · 01:35
Galloway wastes no time establishing his contrarian premise: the conventional wisdom that AI would eliminate writing jobs was wrong, and wrong in an instructive way. He argues that once AI could produce infinite volumes of competent, technically correct content, the scarcity shifted upstream — to the judgment, perspective, and taste that produce genuinely resonant work. This is the opening shot of his argument that storytelling, specifically the ability to make people feel something, is not just surviving the AI era but commanding an unprecedented premium [1] — Scott Galloway "AI flooded the internet with competent content, making human perspective and the ability to evoke emotion the scarcest thing in the economy…" 01:35 . He frames this as a personal conviction too, noting that when asked the single skill he'd teach his children, his answer has never been coding, Mandarin, or STEM — it's storytelling.
AI flooded the internet with competent content, making human perspective and the ability to evoke emotion the scarcest thing in the economy. Companies are now paying hundreds of thousands — and in some cases hundreds of millions — to acquire that scarcity.
Chapter 3 · 02:55
When AI became competent at reading medical scans, the consensus was swift and confident: radiologists were done. Galloway dismantles this prediction with striking data. Since those forecasts, the Mayo Clinic's radiology staff grew 55% according to the New York Times, and radiology became the second-highest paid medical specialty in America in 2025, with average incomes 48% higher than a decade ago [1] — Scott Galloway "Predictions that AI would eliminate radiologists were spectacularly wrong. Since those predictions, Mayo Clinic's radiology staff grew 55% …" 02:55 . The diagnosis of failure is sharp and generalizable: we confused the most visible part of the job with the most valuable part. A study of radiologists across three hospitals found that only 36% of their time was actually spent reading scans — the task AI can automate [2] — Scott Galloway "Radiologists spend only 36% of time reading scans: A study across 3 hospitals found radiologists spent only 36% of their time reading scans…" 03:55 . The remaining 64% was human judgment: deciding what matters, guiding treatment, asking the right questions. Galloway's punchline is that AI didn't replace radiologists; it replaced the part of their job that was never really the point.
Predictions that AI would eliminate radiologists were spectacularly wrong. Since those predictions, Mayo Clinic's radiology staff grew 55% and the specialty became the second-highest paid in medicine. The reason: AI automated scan-reading, but only 36% of a radiologist's time was ever spent doing that.
Despite predictions that AI would eliminate radiologists, the Mayo Clinic's radiology staff grew 55% after AI arrived at reading scans.
In 2025, radiology was the second-highest paid medical specialty in America, with average incomes 48% higher than a decade ago.
A study across 3 hospitals found radiologists spent only 36% of their time reading scans — the part AI can do — with the rest being human judgment.
98% of typists disappeared during the 1980s as computers arrived. Scott Galloway's mother survived by moving upstream — from typing to managing her boss's entire professional life, becoming a personal assistant. Writing faces the same structural shift right now.
Chapter 4 · 04:55
The abstract principle takes on emotional weight when Galloway grounds it in his own family history. His mother was a typist at a time when 98% of that profession was being automated away by personal computers. Rather than clinging to the mechanical skill, she moved upstream: she became a personal assistant, mastering the hard, relational, judgment-heavy part of supporting her boss [1] — Scott Galloway "98% of typists disappeared during the 1980s as computers arrived. Scott Galloway's mother survived by moving upstream — from typing to mana…" 04:50 . Typing remained part of her job — just an increasingly small part. The lesson Galloway draws is direct: writing is undergoing the same structural shift today. The people who survive are the ones who stop competing on word production and start competing on judgment, narrative, and emotional resonance — the parts that were always the real job.
Galloway confesses to occasionally writing after a drink or two — and finding the work grips better because it removes filters and lets emotion through. AI is the opposite: it optimizes for pattern-matching and produces a regression to the mean. People don't read average.
Chapter 5 · 05:42
In one of the episode's more disarming moments, Galloway admits to occasionally writing after a drink or two and finding that the resulting work was more emotional, more gripping, and frankly better [1] — Scott Galloway "Galloway confesses to occasionally writing after a drink or two — and finding the work grips better because it removes filters and lets emo…" 05:40 . He stopped, he says, to avoid becoming reliant on alcohol for the written word — but the insight remains. That loosened, unfiltered state produced work that was genuinely his own rather than a performance of what writing is supposed to sound like. This is precisely the failure mode of AI, he argues: it is trained to look at patterns and predict the next most likely word, making it a structural regression to the mean. AI content is the average of everything ever written — competent, predictable, and incapable of surprise. People don't want to read the average. The outlier, the thing they haven't seen before, the piece that grabs the heart — that's what has value, and that's what only a human perspective with genuine taste can produce.
Chapter 6 · 07:20
The argument shifts from anecdote to hard evidence. LinkedIn job postings mentioning 'storyteller' doubled between 2024 and 2025 to more than 50,000 in marketing and 20,000 in media. Corporate executives mentioned storytelling on earnings calls 469 times in 2025, up from just 147 in 2015 — a three-fold increase over a decade. Then come the salary figures that make the abstract concrete [1] — Scott Galloway "LinkedIn storyteller job postings doubled in one year to over 50,000. Corporate earnings call mentions of storytelling tripled since 2015. …" 07:20 : OpenAI has listed multiple communications roles above $400,000; Anthropic tripled its communications team to 80 people with some roles also at $400,000; and Netflix posted a director of communications role reaching up to $775,000, against a US average of $106,000. Galloway connects this back to his long-standing prediction that strategic communications would be the fastest-growing job category in the digital economy. The market, he argues, is simply catching up to what he has been saying for years.
LinkedIn storyteller job postings doubled in one year to over 50,000. Corporate earnings call mentions of storytelling tripled since 2015. OpenAI and Anthropic are paying communications roles up to $400,000. Netflix posted a director of communications role paying up to $775,000. The average is $106,000.
LinkedIn job postings mentioning 'storyteller' doubled between 2024 and 2025 to more than 50,000 listings in marketing and 20,000 in media.
Executives mentioned storytelling on earnings calls 469 times in 2025, up from 359 in 2024 and just 147 times in 2015 — roughly a three-fold increase.
OpenAI has listed multiple communications roles paying above $400,000, while Anthropic tripled its comms team to ~80 people with some roles also paying up to $400,000.
Netflix posted a director of communications role with a salary range reaching up to $775,000, versus the US average of $106,000 for that role.
Andreessen Horowitz launched a media team to help founders win the narrative battle. Microsoft launched a print magazine in 2025 as an 'antidote to the ephemeral.' Palantir launched a merch line analysts called a 'proactive communication strategy.' Earned media is shrinking, owned media compounds — and tech companies know it.
Chapter 7 · 09:42
Galloway surveys a wave of unconventional media moves by tech companies that would have seemed bizarre five years ago. Andreessen Horowitz launched a dedicated media team to help its portfolio founders win the narrative battle online. Microsoft launched a print magazine in 2025, calling it an antidote to the 'ephemeral nature of digital' — a line Galloway suspects was itself written by AI. Palantir, the defense contractor historically allergic to public attention, launched a merch line of hats, totes, and t-shirts that analysts described not as fan service but as a proactive communication strategy to build passionate supporters [1] — Scott Galloway "Andreessen Horowitz launched a media team to help founders win the narrative battle. Microsoft launched a print magazine in 2025 as an 'ant…" 09:40 . The through-line is the same: earned media is drying up, and companies that don't own their audience are at the mercy of an increasingly hostile and AI-saturated information environment. Galloway notes from his own experience at L2, where a weekly YouTube series grew from 1,200 views to 70,000 views — demonstrating the compound nature of owned audience-building.
TBPN had 74,000 YouTube subscribers and $5 million in annual ad revenue. OpenAI paid what the Financial Times reported as a low hundreds of millions — then immediately shut down the advertising business. They weren't buying a media company. They were buying voice, credibility, and the audience the most powerful people in Silicon Valley wanted to reach.
Chapter 8 · 10:55
The most vivid proof point of the episode arrives in the form of a seemingly absurd deal. TBPN was a two-year-old tech livestream with 74,000 YouTube subscribers and approximately $5 million in annual advertising revenue — a respectable but modest media operation by any conventional measure [1] — Scott Galloway "TBPN had 74,000 YouTube subscribers and $5 million in annual ad revenue. OpenAI paid what the Financial Times reported as a low hundreds of…" 10:45 . OpenAI paid what the Financial Times reported as a low hundreds of millions of dollars for it, then immediately shut down the advertising business. Galloway's interpretation is the key: OpenAI wasn't buying a media company. They were buying a voice, an audience of influential people in Silicon Valley, and the credibility that the most powerful figures in tech actively sought out as a platform. In TBPN's own words, 'the standard communication playbook just doesn't apply to us.' Galloway quotes his research lead Mia Silverio: 'OpenAI has a brand problem, and TBPN could be the solution.' He's skeptical it'll be enough, but concedes it's a rational bet when you have near-zero cost of capital.
OpenAI acquired TBPN, a 2-year-old tech livestream with 74,000 YouTube subscribers and ~$5M in ad revenue, for a low hundreds of millions of dollars.
74% of new web pages created in April 2025 contained detectable AI content. By late 2024, more than half of all new English-language articles were primarily AI-written — up from just 5% before ChatGPT. The flood of AI slop triggered a cultural backlash: nearly a third of consumers now say they're less likely to choose brands using AI-generated ads.
An analysis of 900,000 newly created web pages in April 2025 found that 74% contained detectable AI-generated content.
Chapter 9 · 12:40
The data on AI content saturation is striking: 74% of 900,000 newly created web pages in April 2025 contained detectable AI-generated content, and by late 2024 more than half of all new English-language articles published online were primarily AI-written — up from just 5% before ChatGPT [1] — Scott Galloway "74% of new web pages created in April 2025 contained detectable AI content. By late 2024, more than half of all new English-language articl…" 12:35 . Galloway profiles Fortune editor Nick Lichtenberg as a real-world case study: Lichtenberg uploads press releases and analyst notes into AI tools, generates articles, edits and publishes, and produced more stories in six months than any colleague managed in a year. AI-assisted content now accounts for nearly 20% of Fortune's web traffic. But even Lichtenberg acknowledges this produces 'adequate news for a much lower cost' rather than anything that resonates or leads the day. On the other side, New York Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger warns of an 'unprecedented torrent of crap.' Galloway's verdict: both are right — it's working and it's crap simultaneously, which is precisely the problem and precisely why genuine human perspective has become so valuable.
By late 2024, more than half of all new English-language articles published online were primarily AI-written, up from just 5% before ChatGPT.
Fortune editor Nick Lichtenberg's AI-assisted stories accounted for nearly 20% of Fortune's web traffic in the second half of 2025.
Chapter 10 · 14:56
The mid-episode ad break features three consecutive sponsor reads. Odoo positions itself as the antidote to businesses running on five different apps and twelve browser tabs, offering a unified platform free trial at odoo.com/provg. Vanta makes the case that as AI adoption grows so do security risks, pitching its Agentic Trust Platform — with over 1,400 automated tests across 400+ integrations — as delivering a 526% ROI over three years, with $1,000 off at vanta.com/profg. Upwork rounds out the break by encouraging business owners to delegate by hiring top freelance talent, noting its Business Plus tier provides access to the top 1% on the platform, with free sign-up at upwork.com.
Vanta claims to deliver a 526% ROI over 3 years and pays for itself in just 3 months.
Chapter 11 · 16:27
The flood of AI slop has triggered a measurable cultural reaction. Nearly a third of consumers now say they're less likely to choose a brand that uses AI-generated advertisements — a number that signals AI content has become synonymous in many minds with brain death, the death of craft, the death of a real point of view [1] — Scott Galloway "Nearly a third of consumers avoid AI-generated ads: Nearly a third of consumers say they are less likely to choose a brand that uses AI-gen…" 16:27 . Galloway offers design as a clean empirical proxy: even after Sora and other AI image-generation tools arrived, tech companies as a share of their total workforce employ more designers than ever before, because genuinely human-centered visual craft has become the differentiating signal in a sea of machine-made aesthetics. The economic logic is simple: in a world of infinite competent content, scarcity is a genuine human perspective delivered with skill, and scarcity gets priced accordingly.
Nearly a third of consumers say they are less likely to choose a brand that uses AI-generated advertisements.
Chapter 12 · 17:28
The episode's final chapter is a practical guide. Galloway's son's casual refusal to use AI to find a coffee shop in Kensington — 'I don't want to be reliant on AI for simple things' — becomes the launching pad for a broader warning: leaning on AI for creative work is like testosterone replacement therapy that suppresses the body's own production. Your creative muscle atrophies. The remedy is deliberate practice. Start with writing — Galloway credits Jeff Bezos's memo-writing dictum as evidence that writing is the foundation of all clear thinking. Then pick a specific medium: Threads, Instagram, Substack, video, public speaking, long-form writing. Set a measurable metric. Challenge yourself to reach the top 10% in that medium[1]. On public speaking, Galloway is realistic: not everyone will be great, but everyone must be competent. The ultimate failure in business is having great ideas that stay under your breath — you'd rather be occasionally wrong and compelling than perpetually right and invisible. Storytelling, he concludes, is the ultimate Kevlar against AI and the enduring skill set of the coming decade.
Galloway's son, walking to Kensington, refused to use AI to find a coffee shop. His reason: 'I don't want to be reliant on AI for simple things.' Galloway draws an analogy to testosterone replacement therapy — leaning on AI for creative work suppresses your brain's own creative output, just as exogenous testosterone suppresses natural production.
No indexed bits in this chapter.
TBPN had 74,000 YouTube subscribers and $5 million in annual ad revenue. OpenAI paid what the Financial Times reported as a low hundreds of millions — then immediately shut down the advertising business. They weren't buying a media company. They were buying voice, credibility, and the audience the most powerful people in Silicon Valley wanted to reach.
LinkedIn storyteller job postings doubled in one year to over 50,000. Corporate earnings call mentions of storytelling tripled since 2015. OpenAI and Anthropic are paying communications roles up to $400,000. Netflix posted a director of communications role paying up to $775,000. The average is $106,000.
This episode
Factual claims made this episode, and whether a source was named.
The Mayo Clinic's radiology staff grew by 55% after AI tools capable of reading medical scans became available.
In 2025, radiology was the second highest paid medical specialty in America, with average incomes 48% higher than a decade ago.
A study of radiologists across 3 hospitals found that only 36% of their time was spent actually reading scans.
LinkedIn job postings mentioning 'storyteller' doubled between 2024 and 2025 to more than 50,000 listings in marketing and 20,000 in media and communications.
Corporate executives mentioned storytelling on earnings calls 469 times in 2025, up from 359 in 2024 and just 147 times in 2015.
OpenAI has listed multiple communications roles paying above $400,000.
Anthropic tripled its communications team to about 80 people, with some roles paying as much as $400,000.
Netflix posted a director of communications role with a salary range reaching up to $775,000.
The average director of communications in America makes $106,000.
OpenAI acquired TBPN, a 2-year-old tech livestream with 74,000 YouTube subscribers, for a low hundreds of millions of dollars. The show generated about $5 million in ad revenue last year.
An analysis of 900,000 newly created web pages in April 2025 found that 74% contained detectable AI-generated content.
By late 2024, more than half of all new English-language articles published online were primarily AI-written, up from just 5% before ChatGPT.
Fortune editor Nick Lichtenberg produced more stories in 6 months using AI tools than any of his colleagues delivered in a year, with AI-assisted stories accounting for nearly 20% of Fortune's web traffic in the second half of 2025.
Nearly a third of consumers say they are less likely to choose a brand that uses AI-generated ads.
98% of typists went away during the 1980s as computing became widespread.
This episode
Publisher of The New York Times, quoted warning that AI will usher in an 'unprecedented torrent of crap' in online content.
Discussed as the acquirer of TBPN for hundreds of millions of dollars as a narrative and brand strategy, and as an example of paying top dollar for communications talent.
A two-year-old tech livestream with 74,000 YouTube subscribers and $5M in ad revenue that was acquired by OpenAI for a low hundreds of millions of dollars.
Data from LinkedIn job postings was cited to show that 'storyteller' mentions doubled between 2024 and 2025, evidence of surging demand.
Cited as the source for Mayo Clinic radiology staffing growth data, and publisher A.G. Sulzberger is quoted warning about an 'unprecedented torrent of crap' from AI.
Launched a new media team to help portfolio founders win the narrative battle online, cited as evidence of tech's investment in owned media.
Cited as evidence of surging demand for storytellers — Anthropic tripled its communications team to about 80 people with some roles paying up to $400,000.
Editor Nick Lichtenberg used AI tools to produce more stories than any colleague in six months; AI-assisted stories accounted for nearly 20% of Fortune's web traffic.
Cited as evidence that AI did not replace radiologists — the Mayo Clinic's radiology staff grew 55% after AI arrived at reading medical scans.
Launched a print magazine in 2025 as an 'antidote to the ephemeral nature of digital,' cited as an example of tech companies building owned media.
Cited as an example of premium communications salaries, posting a director of communications role with pay reaching up to $775,000.
Launched a merch line of hats, totes, and t-shirts described by analysts as a proactive communication strategy, despite its historically low public profile as a defense contractor.
Referenced as the inflection point after which AI-written online content surged from 5% to over half of all new English-language articles.
Mentioned as an example of owned media platforms companies and individuals use to build audience, and as a storytelling medium Galloway recommends for building skills.
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