Independent Creators - Decentralized AI & IRL Fan Gatherings

What structures can we build — technological structures, market structures, and community structures — to make sure creators and innovators thrive in the age of AI and have sovereignty over their creations? This is the question I'm obsessed with right now. One of the highlights of my career was when Don Henley, musician, songwriter, producer, and founding member of the Eagles, gave this blurb for my book, Monopolies Suck: “The creative community is paying a steep price in monopolized America, with millions of artists struggling to make a living under rules that prioritize Big Tech profits. Sally Hubbard lays out the case for how we fight back—and why we must.” The tech titans of Web 2.0, the version of the internet dominated by big platforms, extracted so much from creators. And yet we’re careening in the direction of AI titans robbing creators more than any robber barons have done before. What most people don’t realize is the shift from Web 2.0 to the agentic web presents a rare opportunity for creators to take back control. The internet as we know it is transforming to the agentic web – a complex hive structure of AI agents shaping the flow of information, art, and business. This technological revolution offers the opportunity to build de-concentrated networks that allow creators to be fairly compensated and to own the relationship with the audience, instead of having big tech platforms control that relationship and siphon off the fruits of creators’ labor. The danger is that we keep our ideas small, yearning for a time of slightly less theft, instead of dreaming about the world we want and reverse engineering that reality. To start, I’m focusing on two main areas, and writing about it here https://lnkd.in/gVZfa9A7: 1) Decentralized AI, including on-premise AI, local control over data, and local LLMs. In other words, technologies that can give creators and innovators control over what they create and how it’s used. I will call this inquiry AI at the Edge. 2) Fans supporting creators though joyful, in-person gatherings. I’ve been experimenting with this through my Gather IRL Rock Club. We recently hosted a pre-party for the Daisy Chain Fields music festival, the all-women rock festival spearheaded by Olivia Rodrigo. I'm an amateur bassist, and below is a pic of me having a blast at our celebration! Now is the time to lean into our humanity and the things that machines can’t replace, like community and the energy we all feel when we get together in real life. Are you working on making sure creators thrive in the age of AI, decentralized AI tech, or making gathering in-person easier? I'd love to hear from you!