The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence has sparked both excitement and concerns across industries, particularly in the realm of AI-generated content marketing and publishing. As AI tools become more sophisticated, many creators worry about the potential flood of low-quality content, copyright infringement, and the devaluation of human expertise. However, with a thoughtful approach, AI can empower creators rather than replace them.

To shed light on these pressing AI concerns and dig into potential solutions, Astral co-founders Jack Bogdan and Stephanie Pereira sit down for an enlightening conversation about the challenges and opportunities ahead.

Jack, Stephanie, and growth marketer Zack Kinslow unpack these four AI challenges:

1. AI agents flooding the web with slop

2. Misinformation & AI hallucinations

3. Copyright & IP attribution

4. Quality & brand control

→ Tune into the full 30-minute discussion on YouTube, and drop a comment with your perspective!

Key Topics:

00:00 - Introduction to AI ethics and content quality concerns
01:12 - The dangers of AI agents in marketing – flooding online communities
05:00 - The "other Astral" and uncontrolled AI-driven sales slop
07:54 - The future of online interactions with trusted content sources
11:38 - Strategies for maintaining high-quality AI-generated content
18:31 - Rethinking IP value and creator engagement in the AI era
22:36 - Safeguarding against AI hallucinations and misinformation
26:17 - Surprising challenges in building effective AI tools
28:47 - The enduring importance of human creativity and expertise

Q&A

Q: There's been some buzz lately around AI agents flooding the web with low-quality content. What's your take on AI agents for marketing and sales use?

Jack: Ultimately, what an AI agent is going to do is break down some kind of larger task into steps, and then selectively interact in the browser or with some other tool to accomplish that task. While there are mundane tasks that could benefit from this automation, publicly shilling or promoting what you're doing in community spaces leads to the death of those community spaces on the web.

If we play out that technology at scale, you could unleash millions of these bots into all the spaces where people communicate online. In very short order, you would be unable to have a conversation on the web without something randomly trying to insert itself into your attention. It's completely detrimental to the web, and if we actually roll it out, it's going to kill a lot of what makes the web special.

"People are going to move closer to the experts and voices and brands that they trust."

Stephanie: The internet as we know it is completely different than before. The idea of going on social media and consuming content from the comments is changing because of agents, bots, and algorithms. What this means is that people are going to move closer to directly interacting with the experts, voices, and brands that they trust.

→ Related Video: AI Agents vs. AI Workflow Engines

Q: How can we maintain content quality and address copyright concerns in the age of AI?

Jack: On IP theft, I think you'll continue to see stuff play out in the courts. There are ongoing conversations about how these models were trained and the sources they used.

Regarding quality, it's really about how you break down solving a given problem and understanding what "good" is supposed to look like. Then, you take those component pieces and combine them in a pipeline to produce what you're looking to create.

At Astral, we've built our own tech so that we're able to be nimble enough to take on new challenges. We aim to provide the simplest possible input for users while delivering high-quality responses.

You can also use technologies like RAG (Retrieval Augmented Generation) to improve the output of large language models (LLMs) by providing a curated and relevant knowledge base of high-quality sources — which is effectively your Content Library in Astral.

Q: How can we keep creatives in the loop and give them a share of the AI boom?

Stephanie: I think we need to turn our understanding of the value of IP on its head. Content could be seen as almost like top-of-funnel, where your expertise is not represented solely in the words you've put on paper. It's about owning your brand, your voice, and the audience you build who are excited about what you have to say.

Another way to think about it is through the lens of blockchain technology. I feel like blockchain will finally have its moment with AI and the licensing conversation, helping to define what ownership looks like and how people can retain ownership of their IP.

For example, in publishing, your book's journey is only beginning at the point of publication. Your book isn't just a product — it's a goldmine of intellectual property waiting to be tapped. Smart authors are leveraging AI-powered content engines to turn their books into multiple revenue streams. It's not about rewriting; it's about reimagining your content for different formats, to grow your audience, meet them where they hang out, and diversify your revenue streams.

"We understand the edges of where these models start to break down and the core fundamental components that you need to combine to get them to produce really high quality material."

Q: How do we safeguard against AI hallucinations and misinformation?

Jack: The key is to focus on source data – your own material. At Astral, when you add content pieces to your library, you're creating a knowledge space around your information. We pull from that when you remix from a specific source or group of sources.

The best use cases of AI, when done right at scale, are looking at a very specific focused subset of material to drive whatever it is they're trying to do. The key that everyone can really understand is to anchor it around information that's trustworthy.

As we navigate what's next, it's clear that while AI challenges exist, there are also opportunities for creators and businesses to adapt and thrive. By focusing on quality, trusted sources, and ethical uses of AI, we can harness its power while preserving the value of human creativity and expertise.

→ Want to hear more about how AI is reshaping content creation? Listen to the full episode on YouTube for additional insights, and subscribe to our channel to join the AI conversation.