I want to thank Claude for making this all possible, and of course you, dear customers, for continuing to pay full price for a product that now takes 5 minutes to deliver and is significantly worse than it was six months ago. (POV: You’re scrolling LinkedIn right now). Efficiency fatigue has officially set in, thanks to the fact that none of these supposed cost savings that are being bragged about are being passed onto the consumer these days. However, it is possible to automate without burning your customers in the process… [Read more]

- Charlotte Ellis, Editor ♡

(btw - If you’re already using Claude Code or Cowork daily, scroll on by bc this isn’t for you)

But if you’ve just dabbled in using AI, maybe you’re using ChatGPT to help you look up recipes, write basic emails, or attempt to diagnose that insect bite you just got, stay with me for a sec.

When it comes to AI, there’s a lot of “bro you’re so behind” messaging out there. When, in reality, within just a couple hours, you can learn how to use AI better than 95% of people you know. And this why we put together the Beginner’s Guide to Claude AI course.

It’s a 4-week cohort where you learn how to go from using AI as a glorified Google to getting it to actually help you with the sh*tty admin (life or work) you hate doing every day.

We kick off our second cohort on 22 June, so if you want to go from feeling behind to using AI to make your life better, this is for you 👇

But inflation feels like it just keeps smacking me in the face lol. According to The Times, US inflation has officially spiked to a gruesome 4.2 percent, mostly thanks to a massive energy shock in the Gulf driving fuel prices through the roof. So yes, that explains why your latest petrol station visit felt like a literal robbery.

Annual consumer prices in the world’s largest economy accelerated from 3.8 per cent in April and are running at the highest level since April 2023. Which is awful, right? Well, not according to Trump. When asked if he was concerned about the rise in consumer prices, he said, “No, I love it. I love the inflation” which sounds like someone doing a parody of his voice. I can assure you it’s not. Just like the POTUS assured us directly after that inflation will fall “like a rock” once the Iran war is over.

Fun! This probably explains why a terrifying new Bloomberg report reveals that a record number of Americans are now holding down multiple jobs just to survive, with Gen Z completely leading the surge. We aren't talking about a cute little side hustle here. We are talking about 20-year-olds working 80-hour weeks because a single income doesn't even cover groceries anymore. I’ve never read something more relatable and now I’m crying into my empty Balenciaga. Capitalism is capitalising way too hard.

But hey, at least we can offload our exhaustion to AI, right? Welp. It turns out the bots are actually making us stupider. The Atlantic reports on how Google Search is completely breaking because SEO marketers are optimising everything for AI scrapers instead of humans. And it's turning the internet into a giant soup of fake info.

MIT tracked people using AI chatbots to verify news headlines. It found that while the AI helps in the moment, it creates an "AI dependency paradox". When the chatbot was taken away, people's ability to spot fake news on their own completely tanked by 15 percentage points. We are literally deskilling our own brains and letting our critical thinking muscles atrophy because we're too tired to Google things ourselves. No thoughts, head empty, just vibes.

-Sophie Randell, Writer

Founder after founder, all announcing that their company has officially "revolutionised" its workflow. Which sounds great, because, you know, why would anyone not want to make their lives, their business and their margins better?

Until I read further and see they’ve integrated eight new AI agents, automated their entire production pipeline, cut human labour hours by 75%, and effectively halved their operational overheads.

But as a consumer standing on the other side of that transaction, I have only one question: If it now costs you half the time and money to make your product, which is now considerably worse than before, why is my invoice still exactly the same?

Actually, let’s be honest. The invoice isn't just the same. It’s higher. We are trapped in a baffling economic paradox. Companies are aggressively automating their processes and driving their own costs through the floor. All while still charging premium prices for a product that increasingly tastes, looks, and feels like absolute garbage.

A company found a way to automate a tedious process—think assembly lines or digital printing—which brought production costs down. Part of those savings was kept as profit margin. But a massive chunk was passed down to the customer in the form of lower prices. Innovation democratised access.

Today, that contract has been completely shredded.

Companies are treating the cost savings of technology as a pure margin play while aggressively pulling out human touchpoints, human quality control, and human empathy. And then pocketing 100% of the financial difference.

We are being forced to pay a premium price for a self-service world. You check in your own bags at the airport. You scan your own groceries. You chat with a broken AI bot instead of a customer service rep. You pay full price for a digital agent that feeds your brief into a generic prompt generator and delivers a hollow, uninspired PDF.

We aren't paying for value anymore. We are subsidising their operational optimisation.

There is a massive, foundational difference between automating for scale and automating for sloth.

If your automation strategy leaves your product looking like a generic template, you haven't optimised your business. You have just tricked your clients into paying premium rates for a software subscription you didn't build. Nice one. Jack ass.

If you are a founder or executive looking at your balance sheet right now, automation is inevitable. But if you don't want your brand to become a pariah of the "efficiency heist," you must follow these rules:

And consumers absolutely do not want to pay luxury prices for automated mediocrity. We can spot a machine-generated email, a bot-driven customer service queue, and an unreviewed, automated product faster than you can type an em-dash.

Ask yourself, are you using tech to give your team superpowers? Or are you just using it to short-change your clients?

-Sophie Randell, Writer

Two trends in one week from the same film. Can you blame me though? This trending sound is for everyone who has been completely in something, no questions, no hesitation, and then out of nowhere it just... hits. The fog lifts. You look around. Wait. What the f*ck?!

The scene is early in the film, right after Bear makes his wish on the One Wish Willow. Nikki shows up at his car door acting completely unlike herself, already under the obsession's spell. Bear tells her she's drunk. She goes "I'm not." Then just stops. "Wait. What the fuck." A two-second window where the real Nikki surfaces before it takes over completely.

People are using it for any moment of sudden, slightly alarming clarity:

Lipsync the audio and put your snap back to reality reason as your on screen text.

A few ideas to get you started:

-abdel khalil, brand & marketing exec

😂Yap’s funniest home videos - Switching apps to talk to the same friend
❤How wholesome - he failed in the most wholesome way
😊Soooo satisfying - Jelly Blox
🍝What you should make for dinner tonight - Nacho Beef Burrito Bowl

Hey Bridget!

First of all, I'd encourage you to spend some time on social media, paying attention to what stops your scroll.   Analyse the hooks that grab you, then think about how you can use those as inspiration for your own content.

Second, think about how relatable your content is. I know you're targeting a specific audience. But if you want to grow your following, your content can't be too niche. So if you find your content isn't accessible to the average person, ask yourself how you can speak to a broader audience.

Lastly, you need to make more content. Posting more often will not only make you more visible on the platform. It will also give you more data, which will help you improve your content faster.

- Charlotte Ellis, Editor ♡

We get it. Creating content that does numbers is harder than it looks. But doing those big numbers is the fastest way to grow your brand. So if you’re tired of throwing sh*t at the wall and seeing what sticks, you’re in luck. Because making our clients go viral is kinda what we do every single day.