I asked Grok: if video killed the radio star, then what did AI kill?
Answer:
AI killed the cubicle drone.
AI killed the data entry clerk.
AI killed the typewriter poet.
AI killed the analog artist.
These aren’t just headlines or hypotheticals. It’s happening. And I know because it happened to me.
A year and a half ago, I made a major career shift. I hung up my lab coat and decided to pursue writing full time. After completing a technical writing course, I’ve been freelancing for the past year—and paying my bills doing it.
It’s been a scary but liberating adjustment. I don’t rely on an employer anymore—I am the employer. I’m fully responsible for my career.
What I mean by that is, when you work for someone else, everything is generally a lot easier. You just show up, do your job, and go home. You don’t have to think about the background details—like setting aside money for taxes, tracking your income, dealing with healthcare, or planning for retirement. All of that is just… handled. As a freelancer, it’s all on you.
Let’s be real—when you work for someone else, some days you can literally just show up, stare at the wall, eat lunch, reorganize your desk, and call it a day. You’ll still get paid. But when you work for yourself, if you don’t do anything, you don’t make any money. No emails, no pitches, no content, no invoice.
But the thing about all of this responsibility being on me now?
I absolutely love it.
My job—and the work I produce—has way more meaning to me. I’m not just a robot going through the motions. I’m building something of my own. Writing assignments, seeing my name published, working on topics I actually care about—it’s been a dream come true.
I traded in boring lab work for creative freedom, and despite the stress and uncertainty, I wouldn’t go back.
But suddenly, the wheels have stopped.
And I mean within a matter of weeks. One of the companies I freelance for slashed my assignments—literally cut them in half. A few weeks later, they cut them again. What used to be a packed calendar of deadlines has dwindled to just a few scattered assignments.
The reason? AI.
Traffic to the website I write for has slowed way down—because of Google’s new AI-generated search answers. Now, when someone types in a question, they don’t see a list of search results like before. They see an AI response right at the top of the page. Instant answers. No need to click. No need to scroll.
And that means fewer people visiting the site. Less traffic. Less ad revenue. Less budget for freelancers.
And here’s the thing—this isn’t a hobby. This is how I pay my bills. This is how a lot of us pay our bills. AI isn’t just disrupting an industry—it’s disrupting real people’s livelihoods.
Suddenly, I’m out of a job—not because of poor performance, not because I missed deadlines, but because an AI wrote a one-paragraph summary that replaced the need for human-created content.
Thanks a lot, AI.
I read that MTV is shutting down some of its music channels at the end of this year—after more than four decades on the air.
They used to say video killed the radio star when MTV first came along.
Now, it seems AI killed the “analog artist.”
I guess nothing lasts forever.
But maybe what comes next doesn’t have to be the end—it just has to be different.
The medium changes. The message still matters.
And I am still a writer. I am still an artist. AI can’t take that away from me.
Blessings, Stacey