111: Thoughts On The Explosion Of Content, AI, and Focus. Plus ChatGPT on Buffett's Secret
There's more content than we can ever hope to consume.
You’re reading the free version of Watchlist Investing on Substack. If you’re not already subscribed, click here to join 2,800 others.
Want more in-depth and focused analysis on good businesses? Check out some sample issues of Watchlist Investing Deep Dives, a separate paid service.
For $20.75 per month, you can join corporate executives, professional money managers, and students of value investing receiving 10-12 issues per year. In addition, you’ll gain access to the archives, now 30 issues and growing!
*Image thumbnail created by ChatGPT’s DALL-E
A Scroll Down Podcast Lane
The sheer volume of podcasts available to the average investor is mindboggling. Scrolling through my feed the other day (I’ve been spending less time on X and when I do, mostly lurking) it hit me how much content is out there today. And it’s not just any content, this is seemingly good stuff put out by talented and interesting folks. There’s just one problem: time. I don’t know how one could consume all this content.
Which brings me to AI. I suspect the sheer volume of podcasts, articles, etc. is only going to explode as more people use AI to produce content. On the consumption side, I’ve already seen tools marketed where you plug in a YouTube link and out comes a one-page summary of a two-hour lecture. I’m not so sure how to feel about this.
On the one hand, it’s great how much free quality content is available. Someone looking to learn to invest (to use but one example, it could be knitting or skateboarding) can access many minds working diligently to produce content that is both useful and interesting. A newer investor could research the best investors, probably stumble on Berkshire Hathaway, and quickly find themselves with thousands of hours of free tutorials and curated videos on top of the many free courses universities publish online. That’s great!
But I only think this works if one takes their time and doesn’t try to get a degree via Cliff Notes. I’m a firm believer that there’s something to be gained by listening to a long lecture or reading a long book. A good author is going to give you context and nuance you simply can’t get from a one-pager. I think you’re missing a hell of a lot of nuance if you rely on ChatGPT to tell you how to become a great investor.
Which brings me to focus. Absent a clear goal, an individual might be lost amid competing producers looking for eyeballs or ears. I think the explosion of content is good for content curators who sift through the chaff and pull out the great kernels. I suspect the increase in quantity will also act as a sort of lubricant if you will, for the timeless wisdom to settle at the top.
The more fleeting and so-so work that’s out there, the more someone like Charlie Munger can be found to be the real deal and appreciated for his quality of thought/work. Then people will realize ‘Hey, you really can become worldly wise learning about 100 mental models’, and get back to the basics of learning timeless wisdom.
In the end, the increase in available content will bring opportunities and challenges. It’s an exciting time to be alive and a nice problem to have.
Stay rational! —Adam
