The Golden Age of AI Will Fool Us All 📀

Remember when Netflix launched in Australia? Nine bucks to access all the movies and TV shows you could ever want to consume. No brainer. Boot that Foxtel contract. Sell those DVDs on Marketplace (but keep Dude, Where’s My Car? for the LOLs). And look down my nose at anyone still watching free-to-air TV.

Fast forward to today… and I think (because I’m not totally sure) I have five different streaming services that cost about $70 a month. And I still can’t find the movie I want to watch on a Saturday night.

Just like the golden age of TV streaming, we’re now in the golden age of AI tools.

Most of them are still free, or nearly so. We're talking ten, twenty, maybe fifty bucks a month, and they save us hours, if not days, every week. We’re embedding them into our daily workflows. Building processes around them. Automating the little things and sometimes the big things. We’re outsourcing not just our tasks, but parts of our thinking.

And that’s great. For now.

But remember the early days of Facebook, when organic reach was a goldmine? Brands jumped on board to upload content, engage communities and even feed it first-party data. Not only that, brands helped grow the platform. “Follow us on Facebook” was plastered on websites, shopfronts and even packaging.

Then the rules changed. Reach plummeted. Algorithms and ads took over. And the same brands that drove their customers onto the platform had to start paying just to be seen.

Now imagine the same story, but with AI.

What if your go-to tool - the one that now runs your product descriptions, your meeting notes, your social calendar - jumps from $30/month to $300/month? Or even $3,000 a month? Per user. Do you pull back? Pay up? Rebuild the process? Or do you just accept it, because you’ve already built around it?

Even if the price doesn’t skyrocket that far, we’d be silly to think today’s AI offer is permanent. Because it’s not.

Usage limits could change. AI point solutions might be acquired and folded into bigger offerings. Exit paths might get more expensive. Pricing models could get more complex and harder to predict. And that “free forever” feature you rely on today? That could quietly disappear in the next product update.

According to the latest research from Arktic Fox, AI tools are now the top priority for MarTech executives over the next 12 to 18 months, with nearly half planning to significantly invest.

I’m not saying stop. I’m not saying panic. But I am saying: enjoy the magic right now… just don’t expect it to last forever. And maybe hang on to a few of your favourite DVDs so you don’t bust your Saturday night.

Cheers,
Bushy

P.S. Our Reset & Scale Meta Bootcamp kicks off on Monday. Just have a look for you or your team. And then I’ll leave you alone from next week. I promise.

ECOMMERCE NEWS (from the past week)

☀️ Amazon’s doing Prime… Week?
Prime Day is back… but technically, if we round up, it's Prime Week - four days instead of two this year. From Tuesday, 8 July to Friday, 11 July, deals will drop every 5 minutes from midnight. Amazon’s sale warm-up game is strong, too. We could learn a lot from this. Plenty of messaging around signing up for Prime, downloading the app and loading up wishlists ahead of the event.

📦 Australia Post goes 24/7 and talkative
Australia Post launched its parcel-only Next Generation stores in Sydney and Melbourne, offering in-person hours, self-service, and 24/7 pick-up access via unique app access codes. Huzzah. In the same breath, they unveiled talking letterboxes in conjunction with Beyond Blue to fight loneliness. No word if there’s a correlation between less reliance on office staff and talking letterboxes.

🎥 Meta & TikTok with canne do attitudes
With all the marketers off in Cannes, we no longer have to talk about our feelings and the tech giants can tap dance their new ad products. TikTok and Meta now allow brands to upload multiple still images and automatically generate video ads. Google announced Search Live voice search. YouTube announced a new influencer-matching platform, Open Call, and product link stickers (these are cool). Meta also added ads in WhatsApp, renamed all videos as “Reels”, quietly confirmed that comment links still outperform caption links and allows you to rearrange your Instagram grid. That should be enough to convince their bosses that Cannes is “work”.

👗 Fast fashion taxed in France
France is rolling out a $9 tax per ultra-fast fashion item, aimed at synthetic-heavy imports from giants like Shein and Temu. It’ll double by 2030 and could shake up the cost model behind cheap threads. It’s framed as sustainability and ethical production, but you’ve got to wonder if it’s also protecting local fashion houses. Eyes on Australia next (HT Marina and Sarah, who brought this to my attention)

🎁 Klarna adds surprise, delight and CPMs
Klarna’s teamed up with gifting platform Nift to offer surprise rewards based on customer behaviour — like a warm hug wrapped in a programmatic bow. Customers get a gift card matched to their preferences. Brands get exposure in Klarna’s ad network. With 30% click-through and 40% redemption, this could be the gift that keeps giving.

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Nathan Bush works with retail and eCommerce businesses as a board advisor, strategic consultant and one-on-one coach.

If you're navigating change, planning a transformation, or just need a trusted sounding board, Nathan brings deep experience across digital strategy, marketing, and team development.

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