When the Label Falls Away

AI-native.

What do you think when you see that?

🥳 😰 🤬

You might be AI-native, or how someone is. Maybe the sheer mention of it made you tap away from this (👋).

I’ve been thinking about this label a bit because I saw this on X:

Yep. Spot-on.

But not just about AI. We’ve been here before (many times).

We don’t absorb the arrival of new technology quietly. We label it. We name the thing, and in naming it we mark it as foreign, separate, and other than.

Digital-first. Digital-native. Digital transformation. Web 2.0. CD-ROM. The World Wide Web, all-cap because it deserved formal respect in using it.

The label might a description of the technology initially, but not ultimately. It’s a description of our relationship to it.

It says, “We see this new thing. We aren’t sure what to do with it yet, but the name gives us a lane to operate from.”

But then, slowly, over years, and often without even realizing it, the label loses its value. The thing becomes normal. The word becomes invisible.

“Email” used to be “e-mail.” You don’t need that silly hyphen anymore, everyone in the world uses it. When was the last time you said “I’m sending you an electronic mail.” Never.

“Digital shopping” or “online shopping”? Feels weird just writing it.

We won’t say “streaming” as a qualifier forever. Eventually it will just be called “watching something.” “Streaming” will be something your parents still say. (Already nearly there.)

And we will not say “AI native” forever. The phrase will do its job and go quiet.

It’s not prediction, it’s a pattern that’s repeated many, many times. Every technology enters the culture as a labeled foreign object and eventually becomes furniture.

Which is particularly interesting given the moment we’re in culturally. The narrative pendulum around AI swings with gusto. So. Much. Vitriol. There’s a lot to be critical of and concerned about (I have my own list, but, at the same time, there’s so much misunderstanding.

Then I saw this:

Scott Belsky, with his usual level of discernment and vision, is pointing at the thing happening around us in real-time.

There are many who avoid or tear down AI so voraciously that there’s no chance to highlight what might be worth celebrating because of it.

For the record, I’m not blindly optimistic about AI. As I write this, I’m two weeks from having my role eliminated at my former company because they think the business doesn’t need the role or expertise anymore. So I get it. Things are shifting, and without wisdom, understanding, or even regulations things can happen fast. But that doesn’t mean it’s all bad.

Scott’s point is similar to other truisms we’re familiar with:

• Most overnight successes started years ago.

• Most fans show up once you’re a big deal.

Patterns.

Which takes us back to labels.

The label announces the arrival. The celebration happens once it’s no longer new and the benefit is obvious or accepted.

Everything in between is just the actual work, largely unwitnessed.

It’s all painfully visible in media and entertainment…

• Digital projection in theaters faced real suspicion from cinematographers who considered it inferior to film.

• Streaming distribution deals were initially called revolutionary by some and a capitulation by others.

• When studios first announced AI tools for production workflows, the reactions were immediate and INTENSE (still are).

Not saying there aren’t good reasons for intense reactions, just highlighting the pattern. Cool? Cool.

“AI-generated” became a badge and a warning almost in the same news cycle. And the industry that has historically done more than most to tell the story of technological change has also been, historically, one of the most resistant to being changed by it. Every time. The label lingers longest, the celebration arrives latest, and then one day it’s just: how things are done.

So when we say “AI native,” we’re not just describing someone. We’re marking the gap between where we are and where we aren’t yet. The label is a flag: there is still unmapped territory here. The room hasn’t fully adjusted.

“Digital native” felt important once. Now it sounds like something from a consulting deck circa 2014. That’s not the term failing. That’s the term doing exactly what labels do. The gap it was marking closed. The label went quiet.

The same thing will happen to whatever phrase is next.

I don’t think it’s productive to focus on convincing people you’re AI native. Instead, I’d focus on being curious and building something that will still matter when “AI native” is hanging with HD-DVD.

Perspective x Confidence = Fearless

Be well. Excelsior,

Will

Didn’t get as far as I had liked, but there’s some great things happening that I’m excited to share soon.

Original Animated IP. Logline:
In a universe where high-octane races keep the peace, the newest Ember Star team gets derailed when two human stowaways turn their galaxy upside down.

Accomplished:

• Finish race team icon

• Main cast in full color

Goal for the next two weeks:

• Finish all Dino cast in race outfits

• Finish Space Dinos logo

Learn more about why I write here.

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