06/22/2026
Hot take: the danger isn’t AI replacing us.
The danger is AI averaging us.
For the first time in history, the door opened for we the melanated, if you catch my drift, at almost the same time as everybody else. We got the tools and the instructions from voices we trust in our hands at the same moment. No gatekeeper. No waiting generations for the access. No dying just to get in the room. That’s real. That’s powerful.
But hear me: we cannot lose the thing that made us special back when they kept us out.
In those moments, we were sharp. It pushed us closer and created expressions and innovations nobody could copy, because they wouldn’t let us use theirs. Genius born in a lockout.
Now the door’s open and everybody’s running through it, typing the same prompts into the same machine, getting back the same flavorless answers. All that flavor we fought and bled for, flattened into the feed.
Real talk, this one isn’t for everybody.
Want fast, want easy, want to blend in and call it a brand? Scroll on, no hard feelings.
But if your culture is the whole point, the way we sound, the way our people get it without us explaining, then pull up.
You’ll leave with a ready-to-go protocol and checklist to captain a ship with soul in a sea of same.
— That dopamine hit of done? It’s a high. Same as any drug. Be careful what you’ll trade for the feeling of fast.
— A yes-man, or a yes-robot, will gas you up all day. It’s rarely what you actually need to grow.
— AND if you couldn’t check behind a real ten-year vet to know their work was any good, what the fuzzy makes you think you can check behind a robot cosplaying as one?
Friday, June 26 at HBCU Empower in Washington DC, I’ll be at the front of the room talking about the one thing the machine can’t fake: us.
“Code Switch the Code: AI, Authentic Voice, and the Brands We Build”
—Breakout Session #6 · 11:40 AM · Washington, DC
And real pride here: Studio J Lorne branded HBCU Empower again this year. This is room where culture meets capacity building and I am honored to help champion both.
Tickets at HBCUEmpower.com
Howard & PNC National Center for Entrepreneurship
