Hand-Picked Content
AI and the Quality Dip
Blog, 3min
Seth Godin looks at what happens when new technology disrupts established professions. Typographers, photographers, doctors. They all warned us that democratizing their craft would lower the quality bar. And they were right, for a while. But Seth’s point is that the market does not care about hard-won expertise, and that after the initial wave of slop, quality and taste tend to find their footing again.
This leaves me with two thoughts. One: maybe AI is just another bump in the road. Crafts get disrupted, then evolve, and the professionals who stick it out end up with more creative outlets than before. We have seen this pattern play out before.
The other thought is: we have never seen a technology that touches hundreds of professions at once, at this scale. The pattern Seth describes may not hold when the disruption is everywhere simultaneously.
Asymmetry of thought.
Blog, 5min
Sending raw AI output and asking someone else to evaluate it is offloading your cognitive work onto them. It is the AI equivalent of forwarding an email with just “FYI” at the top.
If you share AI output, include the prompt and your own take on it. Review it yourself before passing it on.
Flickr Still Standing in 2026
Blog, 10min
Flickr was one of the darlings of Web 2.0. A photo sharing platform aimed at pros and aspiring amateurs. Before Instagram, Tumblr, and mobile apps disrupted it. This is a look at the history of the platform and what is going on there in 2026.
- Reading this blog got me curious if there are any pictures of me on the platform, this is me in 2010.
Hack your workflow
Slop or Not?
A fun side project by a friend: Slop’o’Meter rates your LinkedIn profile by its slop index. Paste your profile URL, wait 20 seconds, and find out how human your last 10 posts really are. Don’t take the results too seriously. It is satirical by design.
Tools & Apps
Rightly hyped
AI Design
Much of the AI buzz in the last weeks was about Claude Design. I took it for a test and it’s already part of my workflow. Not so much to generate assets I can use 1:1 in my work, but for inspiration, review, and feedback. Here are a few ways you can test it out:
- Drop a screenshot of your website and ask it to suggest improvements or prompt for changes you would like to see
- Ask it to turn an idea of yours into a prototype
- Upload your brand assets and ask it to build a slide deck
- Or connect a GitHub repo and ask it to improve specific aspects of the project
Claude Design is not replacing the work of designers. It’s changing workflows, enabling more people to tinker around in design questions. And I think it raises the bar for what good design will be in the future.
- How I tested Claude Design for a specific project (LinkedIn)
- Two guys testing Lovable vs Claude Design with the same task (YouTube)
Gemini Mac App
Productivity
Google Gemini now also has a standalone app for Mac. If you are a heavy user of Gemini and prefer the convenience of a desktop app, you might want to take a look. My initial verdict is that it does not bring benefits over using it in the browser yet, except potentially easier access.
Focus is everything
Productivity
I am always surprised how much I can get done if I stay focused for longer stretches on a work day. Recently I use this simple website more and more to stay on course.
Fresh Reflections
How Tos, opinions, thoughts.
New Date: AI Prototyping Workshop Vienna (May 28/29)
This is the third edition of our AI prototyping workshop, and the content and structure have been refined with every run. You benefit from everything learned and built across all previous editions.
The group is kept intentionally small, so you get a lot of personal attention. You will go from idea to working digital prototype, no coding required. Newsletter subscribers get a discount, just hit reply for the details.
Blog: Organizing content work in Linear app
Linear is built for product teams first. But many content and marketing folks work inside those same organizations, and they use Linear too. With a few small customizations, it works surprisingly well for content work. Read the blog post.
Classifieds
Tight Studio: Screenrecording with AI built-in
Tight Studio is a Mac screen recorder that does more than capture: record screen, camera, and audio, then polish with captions, zoom effects, and AI voiceover. All in one place. Use code ROLF20 for 20% off the first 3 months.
Descript: Audio and Video Editing for Creators
Descript started as a podcast editor where you edit audio by editing the transcript. Today it’s a full-fledged audio and video editor for creators. Quirky at times, but powerful once you’re into it.
No-Nonsense Web Analytics
For too long, installing Google Analytics on a new website was the default option for many webmasters, but for most projects, it’s overly complex. Meet Fathom, privacy-first, cookie-free web analytics. We ditched GA for Fathom a long time ago.
The Smart Email Marketing Alternative
EmailOctopus is the email software perfect for creators and small businesses. Simple, intuitive, world-class support – all at a fair price point. And this newsletter also runs on EmailOctopus.
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🤝 Work with Fresh van Root
An AI-native agency with a human-centric approach. We run digital marketing projects across content, social, and growth, helping teams adopt AI workflows without losing their soul. Book a call
Off-Topic Links
Explore Visually
Website
A fun way to explore any topic by either uploading an image or prompting about a topic. After the first image appeared, you continue your exploration by clicking on the image, which creates the next one. You can go down rabbit holes. Keep in mind how wrong AI can be!