How to get ahead with storytelling in a world of AI slop
As artificial intelligence takes over more of our operational process, rewards will come for those who focus on the one thing that machines are really bad at: articulating a story that humans and algorithms both trust. Storytelling is back, according to Simon Murphy, founder of Indigo Murphy.
Simon Murphy - author
Globally, white-collar work has become the next cost base driving wild market swings, with Wall Street acting like “a mob with bats”, indiscriminately searching for the next industry to be hit by AI automation.
This is a familiar theme being felt across the communications sector right now, especially in holding company land where consolidation is both a cost and capability play. The Omnicom–IPG merger, for example, has focused on an estimated US$750 million in annual cost savings tied to severance and “structural expense savings” that will be reinvested in data and AI.
On the surface, it’s about productivity: AI taking on junior production, research and reporting so networks run leaner. Take a look underneath though, and something more interesting is happening. As generative models flood the world with cheap content (aka “AI slop”), brand leaders are rediscovering that what still differentiates isn’t volume, but the human ability to frame a story that clients, regulators, employees and machines recognise as credible.
