AI content creation

How AI Is Changing the Creator Workflow | Descript CEO Laura Burkhauser #690

~ Rob Greenlee ~ Leave a comment

WATCH OR LISTEN · EPISODE 690

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New Media Show with Podcast Hall of Famer Rob Greenlee and Guest: Laura Burkhauser, CEO, Descript.com In New Media Show #690, Host Rob Greenlee, Podcast Hall of Famer and Founder of TrustFactorLab.com, joins Laura Burkhauser, CEO of Descript (https://www.descript.com), to explore how AI is changing the way creators edit, produce, and share their work.

As AI takes on more production tasks, what becomes more valuable about the human creator? Laura and I discuss creative direction, storytelling, authenticity, audience trust, and the role of tools such as Descript’s Underlord. The conversation also looks beyond editing to the business of creating media and the pressure to show up across more platforms.

From Editing to Creative Direction

We start with a question many creators are facing: is editing becoming more like directing?

Laura distinguishes between people whose craft is editing and people whose craft is the story they want to tell. Both can benefit from AI, but they may want very different levels of control.

For an editor, the small decisions are part of the art.

For a storyteller, editing may be the obstacle between recording an idea and sharing it with an audience.  We discuss why a clear creative vision still matters.

Asking AI to edit a podcast can produce a usable result, but communicating a specific perspective, reviewing its choices, and refining the work are what help a creator make something distinctive.

Let AI Handle the Friction

Laura’s approach to AI starts with understanding what creators actually want help doing.

Creators want relief from repetitive production work while keeping their voice, vision, and story. Laura describes Descript’s philosophy as “struggle with your art, not with your tools.”

That leads to a discussion about the promises AI companies make and the trust they can lose when those promises overlook how creative work happens.

Rob Greenlee shares his experience moving from assembling radio shows by hand to using Descript in my current workflow. We explore how creators can choose the right balance of manual editing and AI assistance for the content they want to make.

Authenticity and the Choices Behind an Edit

Does editing make a conversation less authentic? Laura argues that thoughtful editing can bring its meaning into sharper focus.

A reaction shot or a well-timed close-up can help an audience understand the emotion in a conversation. The question is whether an edit serves what happened between the people involved.

We also talk about the difference between being authentic and performing authenticity online. Showing up as yourself can build connection, but it can also leave creators exposed to criticism.

Laura explains why a recognizable human presence and community engagement matter to her.

Rob connects that discussion to my work with Trust Factor Lab and the challenge of building trust as more synthetic media enters the mix is the growing opportunity.

Start Creating Before Expecting a Business

Laura was a Descript customer before she joined the company. Editing a podcast with a friend showed her she could put her own humor and perspective into the world without mastering a complicated production tool.

Her practical advice is to begin by recording something.

The opportunity is to talk about a problem you understand, a subject you care about, or an issue you can explore with another person. Then edit it, share it, and keep going long enough to learn from the experience.

We discuss how the expectation of immediate revenue can get in the way of the authentic creator process.

Creating media can support a business even when the media itself is not the product. For coaches, consultants, founders, and other professionals, a video or podcast can show their expertise and help start a relationship that leads to work.

Community, Revenue, and Reaching the Right People

Our business discussion moves into audience support, Patreon, and sponsorship opportunities.  

Laura points to community support as one possible path for working creators. We also explore why a business serving a specific audience may be a better sponsorship prospect than a broad advertising buyer.

Local businesses and companies serving a particular interest give us examples to consider.

The discussion focuses on understanding your audience, what they care about, and which relationships could create value.

We also look at why more companies are building their own media operations and why creators feel pressure to produce both long-form conversations and short clips.

Algorithms and What Comes Next for Descript

Laura describes being intentional about her own media consumption, including turning off YouTube recommendations. I share how I use both subscriptions and algorithmic discovery.

A broader conversation starts about personalization.

Laura argues that the goals given to an algorithm matter. A system rewarded for attention does not automatically distinguish between an experience that helps someone and one that keeps them engaged through anger or distrust.

We close with Laura’s BIG Direction for Descript:

Helping creators across more of their content workflow, including identifying the subjects they want to own, building a library of useful material, publishing across platforms, and learning from what works. Laura describes that as a direction for future development as creators manage growing demands on their time.

Key takeaways:

AI can make production easier, but your perspective still gives people a reason to listen. Use the tools to reduce friction, make deliberate creative choices, and invest in the relationships that give your work lasting value.

Key topics

– AI editing, Underlord, and the changing creator workflow
– The difference between editing as a craft and editing as a production task
– Creative direction, specific prompts, and human judgment
– Reducing repetitive work while preserving a creator’s voice
– Authenticity, thoughtful editing, and audience trust
– Getting started without expecting immediate monetization
– Using media to support a coaching, consulting, or founder-led business
– Community support, Patreon, and targeted sponsorships
– YouTube discovery, subscriptions, and personalization
– Descript’s direction beyond editing into broader content workflows

Chapter timestamps

– 00:00 AI workflows and the value of the human creator
– 02:00 Meet Descript CEO Laura Burkhauser
– 03:00 Is editing becoming directing?
– 05:00 When storytelling is the creator’s main craft
– 07:00 Creative vision and directing AI
– 10:00 Standing out through your voice and perspective
– 12:00 AI promises, creator trust, and tool friction
– 14:00 From manual production to AI-assisted editing
– 16:00 Authenticity and the role of a good editor
– 18:00 What does it mean to be authentic online?
– 21:00 Technology, human needs, and useful AI
– 24:00 Trust Factor Lab and finding a balance with AI
– 26:00 Laura’s experience as a Descript customer
– 28:00 Record, edit, share, and build confidence
– 30:00 Does pressure to monetize hold creators back?
– 32:00 Content as a way to grow a business
– 35:00 Community support and creator revenue
– 36:00 Local businesses and targeted sponsorships
– 39:00 YouTube recommendations and intentional viewing
– 42:00 Personalization, engagement, and human outcomes
– 46:00 What comes next for Descript
– 48:00 Closing thoughts

Guest Laura Burkhauser

Laura Burkhauser is CEO of Descript. In this conversation, she shares her perspective as a technology leader, a humanist, and a former Descript customer who discovered the creative possibilities of editing her own podcast.

– Descript: https://www.descript.com
– Descript Underlord: https://www.descript.com/underlord
– Laura Burkhauser on the Descript blog: https://www.descript.com/blog/author/laura-burkhauser

Host Rob Greenlee

Rob Greenlee is the founder/builder of Trust Factor Lab (https://TrustFactorLab.com), host of New Media Show, and a 2017 Podcast Hall of Fame inductee and Chair. His work connects podcasting, video, creator platforms, audience trust, and the media business.

– New Media Show: https://newmediashow.com/
– New Media Show on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@TheNewMediaShow
– Rob Greenlee: https://robgreenlee.com/
– Rob Greenlee on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robgreenlee
– Podcast Hall of Fame: https://podcasthall.com
– Adore Network Audio: https://www.adorenetwork.com/show/new-media-show-audio
– Adore Network Video: https://www.adorenetwork.com/show/new-media-show-video
– Apple Podcasts Audio: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/new-media-show-audio/id392545649
– Apple Podcasts Video: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/new-media-show-video/id392545647

AI disclosure

AI tools helped organize and draft these show notes from the completed Episode #690 transcript. Rob Greenlee and guest retain all editorial responsibility. The New Media Show is human-hosted with human guests. AI is used for light editing of the actual audio and video media files.

The Creator Reset: AI, Trust and What Comes Next | Jim Louderback #689

~ Rob Greenlee ~ Leave a comment

New Media Show with Podcast Hall of Famer Rob Greenlee and Guest: Jim Louderback, Editor of Inside the Creator Economy Newsletter, Former CEO of Vidcon. In New Media Show #689, I’m joined by Jim Louderback, publisher of Inside the Creator Economy and former CEO of VidCon and Revision3, to explore what the next phase of the creator economy means for people building media businesses.

Jim and I have lived through several shifts at the intersection of media and technology. This conversation connects the early days of video podcasting with today’s AI tools, changing audience habits, and the search for a lasting creator business. More ways to create and distribute content bring opportunity, but they also raise questions about attention, ownership, and trust.

Digital Jim and the Human Premium

We start with Digital Jim, the AI version of Jim that turns his human-written newsletter into short videos.

Jim explains how the team at Popcorn uses his words, an AI voice, and a visual avatar to help him reach audiences on LinkedIn, TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube Shorts. He still writes the newsletter and reviews the videos before sharing them.

That experiment leads to one of the episode’s central ideas: the human premium.

Jim’s hypothesis is that, as audiences encounter more AI-generated media, they may place greater value on recognizable human voices, imperfect conversations, and experiences with real people. We discuss what that could mean for audience relationships, advertising, and in-person events.

Podcasting in a Bigger Creator Economy

We revisit Revision3, Diggnation, and the early use of short clips to introduce people to longer shows. Video podcasting and distributing a conversation in several formats have a longer history than today’s debate sometimes acknowledges.

Jim describes an audio-plus approach: people can listen when that suits them, while video creates another way to discover and experience a show. We also discuss why creators spread their work across platforms, how short-form awareness differs from monetization, and the risks of depending on one platform’s rules.

Could Personalized AI Media Disrupt YouTube

Our platform conversation moves from Netflix’s interest in creator programming to a bigger question:

What could disrupt YouTube? Jim suggests that a major technological shift, rather than another similar video service, could open the door.  His audience-of-one idea goes beyond recommending existing videos. We explore the possibility of media generated specifically for an individual, along with what Jim calls robo-social relationships with AI characters that respond to and remember their users.

We debate these predictions, including how they might compete for time people currently spend with human creators.

Your Identity and Archive Have Value

We discuss the business value of a creator’s name, image, likeness, voice, and archive. I share my experience exploring Royall.ai and receiving inquiries about using past New Media Show conversations as AI training material.

That raises questions about guest permission, licensing, tracking use, and maintaining control over future uses of a creator’s work.

Jim also describes an audio watermarking approach he has encountered, while acknowledging that he has not independently established how well it works. The discussion is about taking identity and content rights seriously as new business models emerge.

Live Shopping and the Next Media Business

Jim explains what he wants readers to get from Inside the Creator Economy: timely reporting, his interpretation of the news, and ideas they can question. We talk about the differences between email subscribers, LinkedIn newsletter subscribers, and the audience numbers platforms report.

We then explore global creator markets, Whatnot, live shopping, and the role of personality and audience participation in commerce.

TBPN’s combination of a live show, a focused audience, and widely distributed clips gives us another example to examine. We close with local AI tools and a practical encouragement from Jim: keep experimenting.

My key takeaways:

Use these tools to expand what you can create, while giving people a reason to connect with you. Your ideas, judgment, and relationships shape the value of the media business you build.

Key topics

  • How Digital Jim turns a human-written newsletter into AI video
  • The human premium and the value of real audience relationships
  • Video podcasting’s history and an audio-plus approach
  • Multi-platform distribution, short clips, and platform dependence
  • Netflix, YouTube, and media generated for an audience of one
  • Robo-social relationships and competition for audience attention
  • Creator identity, archive licensing, AI training, and permission
  • Newsletter measurement, global creator markets, and live shopping
  • Whatnot, TBPN, and building a focused media business
  • Local AI tools, creative judgment, and continued experimentation

Chapter timestamps

  • 00:00 Welcome to New Media Show 689, and the creator reset
  • 01:00 Meet Jim Louderback and watch Digital Jim
  • 03:00 How Popcorn produces Jim’s AI newsletter videos
  • 06:00 Bringing podcasting and the creator economy together
  • 10:00 Audio plus video and reaching audiences in more formats
  • 13:00 Multi-platform distribution and creator business risk
  • 17:00 The human premium in an AI media world
  • 24:00 Younger creators and the changing meaning of podcasting
  • 27:00 AI visuals and turning audio into video experiences
  • 30:00 Netflix and the value of creator programming
  • 32:00 What could disrupt YouTube
  • 34:00 Personalized media and the audience of one
  • 37:00 Robo-social relationships and AI companions
  • 43:00 Human creativity and the limits of average content
  • 44:00 Royall.ai and capturing a creator’s digital identity
  • 47:00 Archive licensing, AI training data, and guest permission
  • 49:00 Watermarking, content control, and future use
  • 53:00 Inside the Creator Economy and newsletter measurement
  • 57:00 Global creator markets and live shopping
  • 58:00 Whatnot, collectibles, and audience participation
  • 01:02:00 TBPN, live shows, and the power of distributed clips
  • 01:06:00 AI platforms, local models, and new media tools
  • 01:08:00 Keep experimenting and closing thoughts

Guest Jim Louderback

Jim Louderback publishes the weekly Inside the Creator Economy newsletter and produces, curates, and moderates creator events around the world. He is the former CEO of VidCon and Revision3, and his career also includes leadership and editorial roles at Discovery Digital Networks, TechTV, and PC Magazine.

Host Rob Greenlee

Rob Greenlee is the founder of Trust Factor Lab, host of New Media Show, and a 2017 Podcast Hall of Fame inductee and Chair. His work connects podcasting, video, creator platforms, audience trust, and the media business.

AI disclosure

AI tools helped organize and draft these show notes from the completed Episode #689 transcript and edited the full show. Rob Greenlee retains editorial responsibility. The New Media Show is human-hosted with human guests; this episode also includes a disclosed AI-generated Digital Jim video demonstration.

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The Human Signal: What Becomes Valuable in AI Creation Era | Jaymi Bauer #682

~ Rob Greenlee ~ Leave a comment

New Media Show with Podcast Hall of Famer Rob Greenlee and Guest Jaymi Bauer. Jaymi is CEO and co-founder of Vaquera Group, creator of Resonance Design, and founder of a new women’s vitality venture called Reign.Care.When AI content becomes abundant, what becomes scarce?

In Episode #682 of the New Media Show, Host, Rob Greenlee talks with growth and brand strategist Jaymi Bauer. Jaymi is CEO and co-founder of Vaquera Group, creator of Resonance Design, and founder of a new women’s vitality venture called Reign.Care.

She and Rob previously worked together at Microsoft during the Zune and Xbox eras, giving both a long view of how technology continually reshapes media and human behavior.

The conversation is not anti-AI. It is about understanding where AI is powerful and where human creators may still have the advantage.

The Human Signal

Jaymi states that humans feel trust before they intellectually recognize it. We respond to tone, presence, energy, emotion, authenticity, and whether something feels genuine.  AI can increasingly reproduce human language, imagery, voices, and creative patterns, but Jaymi believes audiences will continue seeking something deeper: content rooted in real human experience.

Her advice to creators is simple: Become better at AI while becoming even more human. AI as Amplifier, Not the Source

Rob and Jaymi explore AI as a creative and production layer rather than the original source of meaning.

AI can:

Research faster
Organize ideas
Improve production
Expand visual possibilities
Help creators distribute content
Personalize discovery
Build new interactive experiences

But the strongest output still begins with a strong human seed: an idea, experience, perspective, story, or creative intention.

Jaymi shares her experience of heavily using AI on a book proposal. The result was polished, but she felt it had become hollow and disconnected from her own creative voice. That became a reminder that efficiency does not automatically create resonance.

Why Human Content May Become Premium

As synthetic media becomes harder to distinguish from human-created media, Rob raises the possibility that creators may eventually label content as human-hosted or human-created, rather than simply labeling AI content.

Jaymi believes genuine human interaction may eventually feel more valuable precisely because it becomes less common.

That could increase the value of:

Live conversations
Human-created storytelling
Live music and events
Real relationships
Distinctive personal perspectives
Physical experiences
Trusted communities

The future may not be human versus AI. It may be human creativity amplified by AI.

Creators Need AI Literacy

Jaymi strongly advises creators not to ignore AI. Her view is that creators should learn the tools, experiment with them, understand their limitations, and explore what they make possible. But they also need stronger critical thinking and editorial judgment.

Rob and Jaymi discuss how experienced professionals may have an advantage here because they have lived through multiple cycles in technology, media, business, and the economy.

Knowing when AI is wrong, when to stop refining, what matters, and what audiences actually value may become increasingly important skills.

AI Changes Discovery Too. AI is not only creating content. It is increasingly sitting between creators and audiences.

Rob discusses how platforms such as YouTube use AI to analyze media, understand content, personalize recommendations, and decide who should see what.

That means creators are entering an environment where AI may influence:

Creation
Editing
Distribution
Metadata
Search
Recommendations
Audience targeting
Personalization

The creator still provides the human idea, but AI increasingly shapes how that idea reaches the world.

A More Interactive Media Future

The conversation also explores AI-powered audience participation. Rob describes emerging platforms where synthetic personalities, expert knowledge bases, and human audience members can participate in shared conversations.

Instead of traditional one-way media, future shows could include creators, audiences, and AI agents discussing topics together.

That could make podcasts, livestreams, sports media, education, and communities considerably more interactive.

Discussion Highlights
-What Jaymi means by the “human signal”
-Why trust is often felt before it is understood
-AI-generated media versus human-created media
-Why creators should become “superhuman,” not anti-AI
-AI as a creative amplifier
-The importance of critical thinking and editorial judgment
-Why AI-generated work can feel polished but hollow
-How experienced professionals can work effectively with AI
-AI’s growing role in discovery and recommendation
-Personal LLMs and creator knowledge models
-Human and AI participants inside future media experiences
-Why live and human-created experiences could become premium
-The possibility of labeling media as human-hosted
-Creativity, trust, and relationships as long-term advantages

Chapter Markers

00:00 Why the human signal matters
01:32 Introducing Jaymi Bauer
02:48 What is the human signal?
05:35 Can AI reproduce human connection?
09:15 Staying human while using AI
11:22 Collective AI knowledge versus individual human knowledge
13:30 Why audiences may eventually reject synthetic sameness
16:04 Will AI-generated entertainment satisfy us?
18:35 AI as a new creative tool
21:05 Lessons from Xbox and immersive media
23:10 Why gamers still want human creativity
25:10 How humans remain valuable
26:38 The dystopian side of AI
28:10 Could AI eventually give humans more freedom?
30:05 Creativity as a human advantage
31:15 Why creators need AI literacy
33:15 Becoming “superhuman”
34:25 Jaymi’s AI-generated book proposal mistake
36:00 Using AI as a first draft
37:20 Better prompts start with better human thinking
38:25 When AI becomes inefficient
40:20 Humans as AI tutors and experts
42:15 What happens when AI gains real-world experience?
45:10 Human truth and durable brands
48:10 AI becomes the discovery layer
51:00 Personal LLMs and expert AI models
52:20 AI-powered audience participation
55:00 Humans and AI in the same conversation
57:10 AI companionship and relationships
59:55 Will human-created media become premium?
01:01:05 Hybrid human and AI production
01:03:10 Where to find Jaymi
01:04:00 Jaymi’s new vitality venture
01:05:40 Closing thoughts

Jaymi Bauer Guest Links:

Jaymi Bauer on Substack
https://jaymibauer1.substack.com

“The Human Signal”
https://jaymibauer1.substack.com/p/the-human-signal

Vaquera Group
https://vaquera.co

Reign
https://reign.care

About the Host:  Rob Greenlee is a 2017 Podcast Hall of Fame inductee, Chair of the Podcast Hall of Fame, founder of Trust Factor Lab, and longtime new-media executive, creator, strategist, and industry leader.

Through The New Media Show, Rob explores the changing intersection of podcasting, video, creator-led media, artificial intelligence, platforms, audience ownership, trust, monetization, and the future of human-created media.

Host and Show Links

New Media Show
https://newmediashow.com

New Media Show on YouTube
https://youtube.com/@TheNewMediaShow

Rob Greenlee
https://robgreenlee.com

Rob Greenlee on LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/robgreenlee

Podcast Hall of Fame
https://podcasthall.com

AI Disclosure

AI tools were used to assist with organizing and editing to remove filler words; this episode description was created from the completed full transcript of episode #682. The recorded conversation, human performances, perspectives, editorial direction, and final responsibility for the episode remain with Rob Greenlee and Jaymi Bauer. The New Media Show is human-hosted.

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IRL Experiences Build Trust and Authority | Samara Beth Hurley #679

~ Rob Greenlee ~ Leave a comment

New Media Show with Podcast Hall of Famer Rob Greenlee and Guest Samara Beth Hurley, Samara Beth & Co.In Episode 679 of the New Media Show, host and Podcast Hall of Famer Rob Greenlee welcomes Samara Beth Hurley, founder and CEO of Samara Beth & Co., for a wide-ranging conversation about experiential branding, audience trust, personal authority, storytelling, live events, artificial intelligence, and the growing value of real human relationships.

Creators have more ways than ever to attract attention through podcasts, video, social media, newsletters, events, books, speaking, search, and AI-powered discovery.

But attention is only the beginning.

The deeper challenge is turning attention into trust, trust into authority, and authority into relationships that can support a lasting creator brand or business.

Samara brings more than 30 years of experience across events, experiential branding, public relations, marketing, publishing, coaching, speaking, and business strategy. She explains why memorable experiences engage more than the mind. They involve emotion, physical presence, environment, story, and multiple senses, making them more likely to remain with an audience.

The central idea of the episode is that content may introduce people to a creator, but experiences can make that creator memorable.

From Attention to Experience:

Why creators need more than visibility, impressions, downloads, views, or followers.  Samara explains that an immersive experience can involve all five senses and create a much deeper memory than a conventional piece of content. This can happen through an in-person event, retreat, workshop, book, video, virtual presentation, conversation, or carefully designed brand interaction.

The goal is not simply to be seen.

The goal is to make people feel something meaningful and consistent enough that they remember the creator, trust the message, and understand the value behind the brand.

Samara also explains why events should be reverse-engineered around the desired audience result. Before selecting the venue, visuals, entertainment, content, or promotion, creators should determine what they want people to believe, feel, remember, and do after the experience.

Credibility, Confidence, and Congruence:

One of the central frameworks Samara shares is her three-part trust formula:

– Credibility
– Confidence
– Congruence

Credibility comes from experience, demonstrated knowledge, proof, media appearances, testimonials, awards, published work, results, and a consistent record of showing up.

Confidence develops through practice. Samara discusses how speaking, presenting, selling, training, and communicating become stronger through repetition rather than waiting to feel completely prepared.

Congruence means that the person audiences encounter across a website, podcast, social profile, book, stage, event, media appearance, and personal interaction should feel recognizably connected.

Omnipresence With a Strategy:

Samara describes herself as an “omnipresence fairy godmother” and explains why creators need to appear across multiple relevant platforms, media formats, and public channels.

But omnipresence does not mean publishing without direction.

Creators need a strategy that connects social media, podcasts, video, PR, books, articles, television appearances, events, awards, websites, and public profiles.

Rob and Samara discuss the danger of throwing content onto platforms without a clear understanding of the audience, purpose, brand position, or desired business outcome.

A creator may be visible everywhere but still be difficult to understand.

The strongest public presence creates repeated, credible signals around who the person is, what they know, what they stand for, and why their work matters.

Personal Brand Versus Business Brand:

Samara explains the distinction between a personal brand and a business brand.

A personal brand is connected to the individual’s name, expertise, story, reputation, values, speaking, publishing, and long-term legacy.

A business brand may be structured so it can grow beyond the founder, employ a larger team, scale independently, and potentially be sold.

Not every creator needs both.

– A coach, speaker, consultant, author, or experienced executive may only need a strong personal brand.

– A founder building a company that can eventually operate without them may need a separate business identity and brand architecture.

Turning Personal Stories Into Authority:

How frequent moves, career changes, family experiences, loss, divorce, business transitions, and personal reinvention shaped Samara’s current work.

The conversation examines when personal experience becomes a valuable market asset rather than simply a private story.

Samara argues that people connect to stories because stories help audiences see themselves inside another person’s experience.

A strong creator does not need to reveal every private detail. A personal experience can be adapted, anonymized, reframed, or presented as a client, family, or community example when appropriate.

The purpose is not personal exposure for its own sake.

The purpose is to make knowledge relatable, memorable, and useful to the audience. Samara also describes how she integrated memoir elements into her business book, “WIN YOUR BRAND: The Unapologetic Playbook for Becoming Iconic”. Her personal stories support the larger lessons about branding, resilience, visibility, relationships, and authority.

When the Brand Leaves the Screen:

Why in-person events, retreats, masterminds, workshops, intimate gatherings, and community experiences may become more important as digital content becomes more abundant.

Large conferences can provide scale and visibility, but smaller events can create stronger relationships.

A person may speak to thousands of people from a major stage but only build genuine relationships with a smaller number through meals, conversations, workshops, shared activities, informal gatherings, and follow-up.

Samara believes the market is moving toward more intimate experiences where participants can meet one another, build trust, share knowledge, and form partnerships.

The most valuable part of an event may happen over coffee, dinner, a walk, a workout, a shared hotel stay, or a conversation after the scheduled programming has ended.

Those interactions can create referrals, clients, collaborations, partnerships, friendships, and long-term business value.

Creating Immersive Virtual Experiences:

Not every creator or audience member can travel.

Storytelling, visual design, direct eye contact, shared activities, gifts, music, food, demonstrations, physical materials, and guided participation can make virtual experiences more engaging.

A virtual event cannot fully replicate physical presence, but it can be designed to foster stronger emotional engagement.

Storytelling remains one of the most powerful tools.

When a creator describes a setting, emotion, challenge, sound, physical feeling, or moment in detail, the audience can begin to experience that story even when they are not physically present.

Samara supports the use of AI for research, workflow automation, idea development, organization, operational support, and production assistance.

But warn against using AI in ways that create a false impression or weaken the audience’s confidence in the creator, thereby breaking trust.

Rob discusses his decision to label The New Media Show as human-hosted and his earlier consideration of creating an AI-generated co-host or clone.

They explore how synthetic voices, avatars, cloned appearances, generated scripts, and automated media could become increasingly difficult to distinguish from human-created work.

The risk is not simply that AI content exists.

The larger risk is that an audience believes it is interacting with a real person and later discovers that it was misled. 

Transparency, consent, rights, voice protection, likeness protection, and responsible disclosure will become more important as these technologies improve.

Many of these tools remain inconsistent.

They may produce images that do not resemble the person, use generic language, miss the creator’s personality, or create more work rather than saving time.

Samara advises creators not to purchase every new tool simply because an early price or lifetime deal appears attractive.

The AI marketplace is crowded, and many products have not yet reached a reliable level of quality.

Creators should begin with a clear problem, test the technology, measure the result, and determine whether the tool actually improves the work. Professional photography, original video, custom design, trusted partners, and human creative judgment continue to matter.

Content Repurposing Versus New Content:

The conversation also explores the tension between repurposing existing material and creating new content for specific platforms.

AI can help extract clips, rewrite posts, summarize interviews, search archives, and transform old material into different formats. But audiences and platforms may still respond more strongly to content created for the current moment.

Samara explains that her social media team encouraged her to reduce some repurposing and create more original, audience-directed content.

The larger lesson is that efficiency should not replace relevance.

Creators need a balance between extending the value of existing work and continuing to produce fresh ideas, stories, and perspectives.

Relationships Are the Long-Term Advantage:

The episode returns repeatedly to the value of relationships.

Platforms, algorithms, content formats, AI systems, and business models will continue changing. A creator’s strongest long-term assets may be credibility, relationships, reputation, trust, lived experience, professional network, and the ability to create meaningful human connection.

AI can help operate the systems behind a business.

AI can automate repetitive tasks, support follow-up, organize information, and free up more time.

Samara’s argument is that creators should use some of that saved time to be with people, attend events, build relationships, have conversations, and create experiences that technology cannot easily reproduce.

Discussion Highlights

– Why attention alone does not create trust or authority
– How immersive experiences engage memory and emotion
– Using all five senses in events, books, media, and brand experiences
– Samara’s three Cs of trust: credibility, confidence, and congruence
– The difference between omnipresence and unstructured content publishing
– Why creators need a clear personal-brand strategy
– When a separate business brand is necessary
– Turning lived experience into relatable authority
– Using storytelling without exposing every part of private life
– Why smaller, intimate events can create deeper relationships
– Making virtual experiences more engaging and memorable
– The value of books, speaking, PR, awards, podcasts, and media appearances
– Balancing content repurposing with original platform-specific work
– Using AI for research, automation, ideas, and workflow support
– The limits of AI avatars, generated imagery, and creator clones
– Protecting voice, likeness, intellectual property, and reputation
– Why professional photography and original creative assets still matter
– The importance of transparency when using AI
– Using AI to create more time for real human relationships
– Why networking after an event may be more valuable than the formal sessions
– The movement toward smaller retreats, workshops, summits, and masterminds
– Building a legacy while still being able to experience it

Chapter Markers:

00:42 Why creator brands need more than content
02:22 Introducing Samara Beth Hurley
04:00 How experiences engage the five senses
05:20 Reverse-engineering events around audience outcomes
06:23 Building connection in person and virtually
08:47 Audience attention, energy, and human presence
09:32 Omnipresence across platforms and media
11:25 Samara’s three Cs of trust
12:06 Building confidence through repetition
13:28 Congruence and consistency across a brand
14:25 Turning personal history into a relevant story
16:20 Content overload and the need for strategy
18:48 Why creators need a personal-brand strategy
20:11 Building a legacy while living it
21:06 Personal brands versus business brands
22:01 Separating private life from professional content
24:05 Executive transitions and second-act personal brands
25:50 Recession-proofing a business
26:32 The growing trust recession
27:54 What an immersive brand means today
29:25 Creating immersive retreats, workshops, and masterminds
30:31 Bringing experiential elements into virtual media
32:04 Storytelling that helps audiences feel present
34:17 Why relatable content performs
35:52 Using memoir and personal experience in a business book
37:20 Turning stories into business and brand value
38:29 Building trust through partners and vendors
39:52 Using AI to help shape stories and scripts
41:04 The difficulty of making AI speech feel human
41:55 Human-hosted media and the future of creator clones
44:04 Content scraping, archives, and AI repurposing
45:14 When repurposed content stops performing
46:12 Problems with AI-generated images and avatars
47:20 Why creators should stop buying every new AI tool
48:21 The coming AI platform shakeout
50:37 How established brands survive technology shifts
51:14 How creators should use AI today
52:15 AI for research, editing, and practical support
53:04 Why professional photos and original assets still matter
54:00 AI, copyright, likeness, and intellectual property
55:44 Using AI without replacing the creator
57:04 Transparency and disclosure
58:24 Adapting without losing human credibility
59:21 Trust must be earned
01:00:01 Why intimate events are returning
01:02:01 Relationship building versus event scale
01:03:23 Why smaller gatherings can be more memorable
01:04:42 Samara’s future television and media plans
01:06:05 AI can create more time for human connection
01:07:05 Why the best networking happens after the event
01:08:41 Using automation to support real relationships
01:09:06 Responsible AI and protecting audience trust
01:10:03 Why Rob chose not to create an AI co-host
01:11:01 Avoiding deception with synthetic media
01:12:18 Where to find Samara Beth Hurley
01:13:05 “WIN YOUR BRAND” and Samara’s audiobook plans

About the Guest:

Samara Beth Hurley, professionally known as Samara Beth, is the founder and CEO of Samara Beth & Co.

She is an experiential branding strategist, event producer, speaker, author, business coach, and entrepreneur with more than 30 years of experience across events, public relations, branding, marketing, publishing, community building, and business development.

Her work focuses on helping entrepreneurs, executives, authors, speakers, and creators turn expertise and personal stories into immersive brands that operate consistently online and offline.

Samara is the author of “WIN YOUR BRAND: The Unapologetic Playbook for Becoming Iconic”, a combination of personal storytelling, branding strategy, resilience, and practical frameworks for building a memorable brand.

Samara Beth & Co.
https://samarabethandco.com

Samara Beth Personal Website
https://samarabeth.com

WIN YOUR BRAND: The Unapologetic Playbook for Becoming Iconic
https://brands.samarabethandco.com/winyourbrandbook

Samara Beth Hurley on LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/samarahurley

Samara Beth & Co. on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/samarabethandco

About the Host:

Rob Greenlee is a 2017 Podcast Hall of Fame inductee, Chair of the Podcast Hall of Fame, and a longtime new-media executive, creator, strategist, and industry leader.  He is the founder of Trust Factor Lab.

The New Media Show
https://newmediashow.com

The New Media Show on YouTube
https://youtube.com/@TheNewMediaShow

New Media Show Audio on Apple Podcasts
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/new-media-show-audio/id392545649

Rob Greenlee
https://robgreenlee.com

Rob Greenlee on LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/robgreenlee

Rob Greenlee on YouTube
https://youtube.com/@RobGreenlee

Podcast Hall of Fame
https://podcasthall.com

AI Disclosure

AI tools were used to create a video and audio introduction clip, episode images, help organize and edit this episode and its description, and create chapter markers from the completed Episode 679 transcript. The recorded conversation, human performances, guest perspectives, editorial direction, final review, and responsibility for the published content remain with actual human Rob Greenlee and Samara Beth Hurley.

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How Creators Are Using AI Agents to Work Smarter | Mike Russell #664

~ Rob Greenlee ~ Leave a comment

New Media Show with Rob Greenlee #664AI use with creators is moving beyond simple tools for transcripts, show notes, image generation, and editing.

In this episode 664 of the New Media Show, host Rob Greenlee, 2017 Podcast Hall of Famer, talks with Mike Russell, founder of CreatorMagic.ai and longtime audio producer behind Music Radio Creative, about how new media creators, podcasters, and video producers can begin building their own “AI creator employee.”

Mike explains how AI agents are becoming active collaborators capable of controlling studio lighting, camera settings, thumbnails, content workflows, research, WordPress optimization, and production tasks.

The conversation explores the shift from podcasting as an audio-first medium to a broader video-first creator economy, where YouTube, Apple Podcasts HLS video, AI workflows, and agentic automation are reshaping how content is made, distributed, measured, and monetized.

Rob and Mike also dig into the tension between human-created and AI-assisted media, why “taste” still matters, how creators can avoid generic AI slop, and why the next competitive advantage may come from combining human judgment with powerful AI systems.

What happens when AI stops being just a tool and starts acting like a real creative team member?

Rob Greenlee and Mike Russell explore how AI agents, video-first media, and creator workflows are changing podcasting, YouTube, and the future of new media.

Topic Chapters:

00:00, Welcome to New Media Show #664 with Mike Russell
01:00, Why AI is becoming more than a creator tool
02:00, Building your own “AI creator employee.”
03:00, Using AI agents to control studio lighting, cameras, and production settings
05:00, The growing complexity of being a modern creator
07:00, Why video quality is becoming a bigger creator advantage
08:00, YouTube as the new TV and the move toward 4K content
09:00, Podcasting, YouTube, and the digital replacement for broadcast
11:00, Mike Russell’s shift from audio production to video and AI
12:00, Early YouTube lessons and why creators need to be on camera
14:00, Why video matters now for creators
15:00, Audio versus video consumption and the risk of treating audio listeners as secondary
18:00, Apple Podcasts HLS video, deeper metrics, and YouTube analytics envy
20:00, How streaming video could help podcasting catch up on measurement
22:00, Creator Magic, community growth, and helping creators adopt AI
23:00, Mike’s AI-focused YouTube channel and 200,000 subscriber milestone
25:00, From Adobe Audition expert to AI creator educator
26:00, Why human taste still matters in an AI content world
28:00, Using AI as a creative director, not a replacement
30:00, AI agent experiments, crypto wallets, OpenClaw, and automation
32:00, AI tools versus AI agents
33:00, How agents connect tools across transcripts, thumbnails, analytics, and publishing
35:00, Moving from Zapier-style workflows to agentic AI systems
37:00, OpenClaw, Hermes, and self-healing AI workflows
38:00, Keeping the human layer in AI-generated content
39:00, Training AI agents on your own creative style and back catalog
40:00, Studying successful creators without copying them
42:00, Orchestrating AI tools to create output that feels personal
43:00, How AI models are improving creator workflows
45:00, Prompting for better thumbnail style, text, and simplicity
47:00, The tension between human-created and AI-created content
48:00, AI in communication, negotiation, and personal reflection
50:00, Embodied AI, Tesla, robots, and real-world AI systems
51:00, AI moving into cameras, microphones, appliances, and creator devices
53:00, Polished production versus raw human authenticity
54:00, Where shorts, live streaming, and long-form video each fit
55:00, Human clones, AI-generated versions, and trust labeling
57:00, Will AI-generated content become as good as or better than human content?
58:00, First steps for creators moving toward agentic AI
59:00, Claude, Codex, Gemini, and easier entry points for non-technical creators
01:01:00, How Claude Code can connect with WordPress and audit content
01:03:00, CreatorMagic.ai community and YouTube resources
01:04:00, Why AI agents are becoming practical for everyday creators
01:24:00, AI search optimization, answer engines, and formatting content for discovery
01:25:00, Why creators should direct AI instead of rejecting it
01:26:00, The “AI slop” debate and why humans also create low-quality content
01:28:00, Where to find Mike Russell and Creator Magic
01:29:00, Rob’s closing thoughts on the expanded New Media Show mission

Host: Rob Greenlee

Guest: Mike Russell, Founder of Creator Magic AI

About the Host/Author:
Rob Greenlee is a 2017 Podcast Hall of Fame inductee and Chair, a global new-media leader who bridges podcasting’s human roots and its AI-driven future. As founder of Trust Factor Lab and host of the “New Media Show” and “Spoken Human”, Rob helps creators start, grow, monetize, and future-proof their content. He’s held leadership roles at Microsoft, Spreaker, Libsyn, StreamYard, and PodcastOne, and serves as Chairperson of the Podcast Hall of Fame. Learn more at RobGreenlee.com and join the Trust Factor Lab Creator/Podcast Services.

Personal/AI Disclosure Note: I used AI tools to help organize and edit this episode and generate show notes. I have many hand edits; the views, clarifications, responsibility, and industry perspective are mine and my guests’. I have been working in podcasting and platform adoption for more than two decades, and this article reflects my own position. The original word choice was mine, and so is the clarification.

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