Hyper-Local Content & 'AI Payoff' Skepticism Are Driving the Formats That Work Right Now

LinkedIn

The 'AI Payoff' Honest Take Post

“We've spent real money on AI tools this year. Our output numbers have not moved.”

We've spent real money on AI tools this year. Our output numbers have not moved. I'm not saying AI doesn't work. I'm saying that for us — a 6-person team making physical products — the productivity gains that show up in tech-sector case studies have not appeared. We're faster at writing emails. We're not faster at anything that actually ships. A 444-point Hacker News thread this week says the same thing is true across most industries outside tech. I believe it. So here's my honest question for people who are not in software: where are you actually seeing the payoff? Not in theory. In your numbers. Drop it in the comments — I'll compile the real answers into a follow-up post.

Why it works: Specific self-disclosure ('6-person team, physical products') builds credibility faster than general claims; the explicit invitation to comment with a promise of a follow-up post creates a reason to engage rather than just react.

Instagram

The 'Nobody Understands Quantum Physics' Permission Carousel

“Nobody actually understands quantum physics. Including the physicists. Here's why that's fine.”

Slide 1: Nobody actually understands quantum physics. Including the physicists. Here's why that's fine. Slide 2: SUPERPOSITION. A particle can be in two states at once — until you look at it. When you measure it, it picks one. Why? Nobody knows. Slide 3: ENTANGLEMENT. Two particles can be linked across any distance. Change one, the other responds instantly. Einstein called it 'spooky action'. He hated it. It's real. Slide 4: THE MEASUREMENT PROBLEM. The act of observing something changes it. This isn't a metaphor. It is a literal, measured, reproducible fact that has no agreed explanation. Slide 5: WAVE-PARTICLE DUALITY. Light is a wave. Light is also a particle. It is both, depending on how you look at it. This is not a simplification. This is the actual answer. Slide 6: Save this for the next time someone makes you feel dumb about science. The people who invented quantum mechanics disagreed about what it meant until they died. You're in good company.

Why it works: Each slide delivers one complete, surprising idea — no slide requires the previous one to make sense, which means viewers who enter mid-swipe still get value, and the permission-giving final slide is the highest-save format on Instagram carousels.

YouTube

200,000 Creative Jobs — Is Yours Next? (Honest Answer for [Your Niche])

“200,000 people in media, film and the arts lost their jobs in the US. I want to talk about what that actually means for people like us.”

200,000 people in media, film and the arts lost their jobs in the US. I want to talk about what that actually means for people like us — not the think-piece version, the honest version. [Pause] The number comes from a piece by Apricitas Economics. It covers 2023 to now. The losses are real, they're concentrated in mid-level production roles, and the timing lines up with the wide rollout of generative AI tools. Here's what I think is actually happening in [your niche specifically]: [2 minutes of honest, specific observation about your own field — what work has disappeared, what has not, what you've personally noticed]. And here's the thing nobody in these articles says: the jobs that are surviving are the ones where the human judgment is the product, not the output. If your audience follows you because of how you think, not just what you make, that is your actual moat. I'm not saying don't worry. I'm saying worry about the right thing. Subscribe if you want me to keep being this honest about it.

Why it works: Bracketed personalisation prompts the creator to insert their own specific observation, which is what makes the video credible rather than generic; the 'moat' reframe gives anxious viewers something actionable to hold onto, which drives the subscribe CTA to land without feeling forced.