This week I attended the best content conference in the world … Soap! After a two-year hiatus, we spent 3 days discussing how the future will change the world of content and writing.

In our posthuman age, humans and technology cannot be separated. We cannot understand humans without understanding technology … and vice versa. We exist together or not at all.

Writer's cannot exist in that world, but creators will thrive.

New technologies will not displace writers ... if they become creators.

Writing is not just about putting words on the page… never really has been. Anyone can put words on a page, even artificial intelligence. Not everyone understands audience, genre, and culture. Or how to adapt these in new contexts. Not Ai. Not developers. Not even writers. Only creators.

Yes, we will have machines that can write and revise, but they won't create. The world needs us for that.

New technologies will help writers become better creators.

The future will bring new tools that we can't even imagine today. Writers who on only see words on a page or in a .docx will most certainly perish.

Creators understand writing as composing … putting stuff together to make new content (not just words). Creators are always on the lookout for new tools and new ways to put stuff together.

Creators see content through the ethics of goodwill.

In the digital age, accuracy and clarity is not enough. Creators will need to understand the ethical implications of content and how content can do good things in the world. That’s what technology can’t do. Make connections with people and understand how to build a community of goodwill.

We need creators for that, and I met with some of the best this week.

Good content is driven by communities of goodwill seeking to help people. That’s what makes Soap! so special. No matter where the future takes us, that will alway be true.

Future Technologies Will Kill Off Writers ... but Not Creators

My take aways from the best content conference

The all-in-one writing platform.

Write, publish everywhere, see what works, and become a better writer - all in one place.