Progress brings efficiency, but it risks quietly erasing the value of craft unless we choose to defend it – and if we’re around long enough to do so
AI is not going to take your job. It already has.
This is not a rant against AI. Those of you who follow me know that I use the absolute heck out of it! It’s my illustrator, animator, assistant, researcher, sub-editor… hell, AI is my bitch. It helps boost my workflow and up my pace – it’s the VTEC that lets this one-man content engine rev harder, faster, longer.
AI makes mistakes; occasionally, it F’s up big time. Don’t ever stop double-checking, verifying and grilling the algorithm regurgitator until its circuits are sizzling with contrition. Nonetheless, it’s a very useful tool. Like Grammarly. Photoshop. Digital cameras. Desktop publishing. Computers. Electric typewriters. The ballpoint pen replacing the quill. The car replacing the horse…
Progress always arrives with a promise in one hand and a bill in the other. There are consequences.
Technology giveth, and technology taketh away.
Even as I’ve benefitted from supercharged output. The same tool has also quietly gutted the freelance market. My inbox has gone from steady commissions to crickets – who took the time to dress up. Despite nearly 100,000 visitors across my platforms per month and over 8 million views in the space of one orbit around the sun, the trickle feed of revenue from the likes of YouTube is insufficient to constitute a ‘living’.
For that, I rely on freelancing. But in 2025, that mostly dried up like a teabag that’s been squeezed of all hope and left sulking on the side of a saucer. I’m staring at one as I write this.
Why now, why so suddenly and brutally? Isn’t it obvious? The same tool that has been assisting me, has been replacing me. AI can write articles. They may not be the most engaging, thought-provoking and insightful, but they’re “good enough” for content churn. Especially for clients who merely need to populate their blogs and newsletters.
Unless you’re looking for depth, authenticity, perspective and nuance that comes with 36 years of doing what I do – across continents, across genres.
From the infotainment of Motoring Middle East and BrownCarGuy, to consumer journalism for CAR Middle East, Used Car Buyer and Parkers Guides, to research and data analysis for JATO Dynamics. I’ve driven around the block a few times, laid down tyre tracks from Tooting to Tariq Road, churned up sand, butchered apexes, flung up gravel, and diced with drivers peddling like their time is not yet written.
Whether it’s mad motors in the morning, desert warriors at dusk, or supercars at sunset, I’ve reached into the core of cars and delivered their essence to a hungry audience, in written and verbal form.
As brilliant as AI is, it hasn’t done any of that. It hasn’t smelled the octane, felt the thrum, tasted the adrenaline of hitting the limiter.
So yes, if it’s just content fodder you’re after, fire up ChatGPT.But if it’s lived-in journalism, informed analysis, empathic commentary you seek, you know where to find me… at this rate, at the wheel of your next Uber.
f you found this useful, interesting or fun, consider supporting me via Patreon, Ko-Fi, or even grabbing a copy of one of my books on Amazon. Every bit helps me keep creating independent automotive content that actually helps people.
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