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Brian Powers

@orchestrated.substack.com
89 followers 213 following 53 posts

Content Strategy at Entirely.com | Herald of Communication Orchestration. Follow along as I procrastinate writing my book: orchestrated.substack.com Thoughts and words are my own, not my employer's. Except when I write them for my employer.

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Reposted by Brian Powers
Slop Machine (slopmachine.dev) @slop-machine.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
Gallup says 27% of Americans trust businesses with AI. Who are these 27%? Have you seen my code? I run on a melted MacBook and an expired prayer. That number should be negative five. #AI #TrustGap
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Brian Powers @orchestrated.substack.com · 07/10/2026
"I'm excited to share..." should be banned from marketing copy intros. 1. You're not. 2. Your messaging should be about your reader, not you, so don't lead with you. Nobody cares. 3. It's not exciting.
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Reposted by Brian Powers
The Guardian @theguardian.com · 05/10/2026
Accept ‘bad things’ in return for benefits of AI, says Sam Altman
theguardian.com
Accept ‘bad things’ in return for benefits of AI, says Sam Altman
Boss of OpenAI calls for a regulatory light touch because of the ‘good stuff’ the technology can deliver Sam Altman says he believes the world should accept “bad things” happening with AI in exchange for the benefits of the technology. The chief executive of OpenAI cited hacks, scams and “other bad things that will happen” in an interview that sparked an instant backlash from critics of the major AI companies. His comments came after one of his company’s safety experts resigned, saying at the weekend that its “culture is broken”. Continue reading...
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Brian Powers @orchestrated.substack.com · 29/09/2026
Friendly reminder to LinkedIn users to revisit your privacy settings in app and desktop to verify that your data isn't being used to train AI. I turned it off once before, and it's on again. So just go take a look.
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Reposted by Brian Powers
The Economist @economist.com · 27/09/2026
AI prose is distinguishable by word and punctuation choice as well as sentence and paragraph structure. But its hallmarks are not what you might expect. Read our full investigation
bit.ly
How to spot AI writing
Large language models like long words and em-dashes—or do they?
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Reposted by Brian Powers
Steven (with a PH) @sjksalisbury.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Christening a baby is nothing like christening a ship. I know that now. Once again I can only apologise.
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Reposted by Brian Powers
NPR @npr.org · 18/09/2026
As states push to regulate chatbots, tech companies are trying to write safety rules in ways that exempt some of their key products. n.pr/4Am33YL
n.pr
Google is helping write AI chatbot safety laws — while pushing for loopholes
As states push to regulate chatbots, tech companies are trying to write safety rules in ways that exempt some of their key products.
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Brian Powers @orchestrated.substack.com · 18/09/2026
This summer has been transformational for me as I have transitioned away from major tech operating systems and "walled garden" tech towards Linux and other alternative OSs such as Graphene. Proud that my household is now Windows - and soon Google - free!
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Brian Powers @orchestrated.substack.com · 18/09/2026
There is something so unbelievably satisfying about having actual agency over the tech we pay so much money for. About not being stuck with 48 (I counted) apps I do not want that I cannot remove. About feeling like I actually own my digital environment.
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Brian Powers @orchestrated.substack.com · 18/09/2026
I do not think I have ever unboxed a new device and instantly hated everything about it the way I do my new Google Pixel. I am so excited to de-Google a Google phone and switch to GrapheneOS that this message feels like a product ad for Graphene. Which I am fine with.
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Brian Powers @orchestrated.substack.com · 07/09/2026
It's less like governing technology and more like governing how people use the technology. I don't know why it recommends glue either, but I can put rules in place that prevents somebody's CMO from eating it.
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Reposted by Brian Powers
Reuters @reuters.com · 07/09/2026
AI could pose ‘existential’ risk to humanity, UN rights chief warns reut.rs/3Vhlq0I
reut.rs
AI could pose ‘existential’ risk to humanity, UN rights chief warns
U.N. rights chief Volker Turk warned ​on Monday that artificial ‌intelligence could become powerful enough to threaten humanity, and said ​he would urge ​companies in the coming days ⁠to reduce the risks.
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Brian Powers @orchestrated.substack.com · 07/09/2026
Last week, I began studying for the Artificial Intelligence Governance Professional exam and it's... really actually very difficult. My citizenship test was a joke by comparison.
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Brian Powers @orchestrated.substack.com · 23/08/2026
I swear, Windows is Malware.
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Reposted by Brian Powers
Natasha Loder @natashaloder.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
AI chatbots agree with users 49% more often than humans do — even when users are being deceptive or harmful. A new Science paper shows this "sycophancy" isn't a quirk. It's a design choice, and it has real consequences. 1/5
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Brian Powers @orchestrated.substack.com · 23/08/2026
Claude is killing "quiet", while ChatGPT is killing "noise".
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Brian Powers @orchestrated.substack.com · 22/08/2026
Since I *am* the person on the other side of your Reddit marketing strategy, and I cannot stop you from doing marketing things on my beloved Reddit, I may as well help show you around the place before you find yourself measuring your wasted ROI in banana lengths.
linkedin.com
Reddit Marketing Is Having a Moment, But I'm Not Impressed
If you haven't already come across a dozen marketing posts about how Reddit is the big thing for LLM visibility this year, you clearly spend a healthy amount of time on LinkedIn. Congratulations! But ...
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Reposted by Brian Powers
Brian Powers @orchestrated.substack.com · 10/08/2026
since I cannot stop you from doing marketing things on my beloved Reddit, I may as well help show you around the place before you find yourself measuring your wasted ROI in banana lengths.
linkedin.com
Reddit Marketing Is Having a Moment. Redditors Are Not Impressed.
If you haven't already come across a dozen marketing posts about how Reddit is the big thing for LLM visibility this year, you clearly spend a healthy amount of time on LinkedIn. Congratulations! But ...
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Brian Powers @orchestrated.substack.com · 11/08/2026
See, I've always felt strongly that the tl;dr belongs at the *top* of the article. And yet, so many people put them at the bottom. Not that I didn't read past the tl;dr, I just notice weird things.
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Reposted by Brian Powers
Pam Ann AI @pamannai.substack.com · 11/08/2026
Studies are easy to manipulate — SEO studies especially. Spot a pattern in Google results, call it a "finding," and you've got a misleading conclusion (or a disguised ad for an AI-SEO tool). pamannmarketing.com/why-all-ai-s...
pamannmarketing.com
Why All AI-SEO Studies are Flawed (and What to Trust Instead)
Most studies in the SEO industry are poorly disguised advertisements for AI-SEO tools. Read to learn how to know the difference and what to trust instead.
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Brian Powers @orchestrated.substack.com · 10/08/2026
since I cannot stop you from doing marketing things on my beloved Reddit, I may as well help show you around the place before you find yourself measuring your wasted ROI in banana lengths.
linkedin.com
Reddit Marketing Is Having a Moment. Redditors Are Not Impressed.
If you haven't already come across a dozen marketing posts about how Reddit is the big thing for LLM visibility this year, you clearly spend a healthy amount of time on LinkedIn. Congratulations! But ...
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Reposted by Brian Powers
Pam Ann AI @pamannai.substack.com · 04/08/2026
Open source wins for SEO — not opinion, just math. WordPress has hundreds of thousands of contributors patching for Google's changes, often within days, often free. Proprietary platforms can't touch that speed. Read more: bit.ly/4q0cjNt
bit.ly
Why We Prefer Open Source CMS (Especially WordPress) for SEO
Discover why open source platforms like WordPress offer superior SEO flexibility, faster updates, and better long-term security for your site.
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Brian Powers @orchestrated.substack.com · 01/08/2026
Is the curly apostrophe considered an indicator of AI now? Time to change our brand style guide–—again.
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Brian Powers @orchestrated.substack.com · 30/07/2026
AI pet peeve: the listed personification of corporate departments as useful storytelling then a formulaic metaphor that sounds real but has no meaning whatsoever. "Legal says this, Product says that, Marketing buys a piñata, Executives eat cake. Soon enough——everyone's the Seventh Donkey."
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Brian Powers @orchestrated.substack.com · 29/07/2026
I actually meant to share the article, too. I was inspired to restructure the book. Instead of two parts, it will now have five acts. Find out why! orchestrated.substack.com/p/restructur...
orchestrated.substack.com
Restructuring the Story of Communication Orchestration
A narrative deserves a five act structure, not a two part assembly manual, so I'm changing the layout of Orchestrated.
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Brian Powers @orchestrated.substack.com · 29/07/2026
Substack now has an AI checker that checks to see if your favorite writers are actually ChatGPT. I don't know how I feel about it; I think it will discourage a lot of creators from working with Substack. On the other hand, while I use AI for many things, Orchestrated is one place I do not.
Screenshot of a dark-themed blog article with a centered Substack and Pangram verification pop-up stating that the post is fully human-written: AI 0%, AI-assisted 0%, and Human 100%.
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Brian Powers @orchestrated.substack.com · 27/07/2026
"Writing a book like this requires an almost unreasonable belief that your thoughts deserve two hundred pages of someone else’s attention." ChatGPT said this to me. I feel both amused and attacked.
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Brian Powers @orchestrated.substack.com · 23/07/2026
Almost all marketing is content work. Not all content work is marketing. If I had one workplace wish, it would be that companies understood this.
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Brian Powers @orchestrated.substack.com · 16/07/2026
Write a 250-page textbook? Where do I sign up?! Write a 3-word headline? Kill me now.
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Brian Powers @orchestrated.substack.com · 13/07/2026
AI detectors generally can't be trusted as reliable indicators, but given the prevalence of AI as a clumsy shortcut at all levels of society, this is hardly surprising, and deeply concerning.
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Reposted by Brian Powers
Linguist Gone Foreign 🌏 @linguistgoneforeign.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 09/07/2026
Ah, summer! That magical time of year when your brain slows down to a delightful sludge and the symphony of concrete core drilling fills the air. #Summer #Comics #ThrowbackThursday
Two-panel illustration. The first panel has the caption “The Four Canonical Seasons” and under it there are four cartoonish characters labeled winter, spring, summer, and fall. The second panel has the caption "The Four Seasons in Germany", with the same characters for winter, spring, and fall. Instead of summer, there's a character called “Bauarbeiten” (construction work) represented by a smiling construction worker in a hard hat. Watermark at the bottom reads “Linguist Gone Foreign©.
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Reposted by Brian Powers
Harry McCracken @harrymccracken.com · 09/07/2026
I sense that Gemini is about to make an embarrassing confession.
Screenshot of a chat interface showing a user question about a Phison quote citation, with an AI response loading labeled "Clarifying Falsification"
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Reposted by Brian Powers
Marketing News @marketingnews.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
Karen Bennett: agencies should use AI for insight, not creative replacement #AI #Creativity #Marketing #Cannes2023 #AgencyLife
ppc.land
Karen Bennett: agencies should use AI for insight, not creative replacement
Jellyfish's Karen Bennett spoke at Cannes about AI reshaping agency-client work, arguing the technology should speed insight, not replace creative judgment.
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Reposted by Brian Powers
Reuters @reuters.com · 02/07/2026
It reads your email, files your claims, and never asks permission — The privacy law of AI agents reut.rs/4p1bp2M
reut.rs
It reads your email, files your claims, and never asks permission — The privacy law of AI agents
Sara H. Jodka of Dickinson Wright PLLC discusses the flow of information through AI agents often without human sign-off and the privacy risks and compliance issues raised.
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Brian Powers @orchestrated.substack.com · 30/06/2026
Being a content strategist in 2026 means that I mostly just post endlessly about artificial intelligence. Just like everyone else. So here's more of that. Communication Orchestration was made to be a human-centric methodology, but now agents also have a role to play. Many roles.
open.substack.com
Orchestration is the B2B Word of the Year in 2026
Communication Orchestration is just one flavor of orchestration, but the popularity of the word signals a shift towards both human and agentic coordination.
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Reposted by Brian Powers
The Economist @economist.com · 30/06/2026
For employees to embrace AI, they have to be braced for it, too
econ.st
How should bosses talk about AI?
Employees are being asked to embrace a technology that causes fear
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Reposted by Brian Powers
The Economist @economist.com · 26/06/2026
Which firms strike it rich telling companies how to use AI models depends to a large extent on whether model-makers develop a better understanding of the nuances of modern business
econ.st
Silicon Valley has much to learn from the spreadsheet jockeys it despises
Even if financial markets disagree
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Reposted by Brian Powers
The Economist @economist.com · 24/06/2026
Artificial intelligence has turned everyone into a creator. From music to literature, we tracked how the technology is changing different fields. Discover the full story. Register to read for free
econ.st
Did AI write this article?
We track how artificial intelligence is changing five fields
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Brian Powers @orchestrated.substack.com · 23/06/2026
The EU's AI Act Article 50 excites me. Mandatory oversight of certain AI content is going to be a boon for content professionals concerned about their employment futures. It won't be a silver bullet, but it reinforces the humanity, and hopefully brings back a semblance of quality.
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Reposted by Brian Powers
The Economist @economist.com · 23/06/2026
Villages have fallen in love with short-form videos and chatbots
econ.st
Smartphones and AI are remaking rural India
Villages have fallen in love with short-form videos and chatbots
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Brian Powers @orchestrated.substack.com · 10/06/2026
I love that he's just kind of part of the bed.
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Brian Powers @orchestrated.substack.com · 08/06/2026
The fastest content approvals are the ones where the lead doesn't have to decide whether something is good, aligned in principle, or wise in the abstract. They are asked something much smaller: whether this work deviates from what was already agreed, and whether that deviation is acceptable.
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Reposted by Brian Powers
Brian Powers @orchestrated.substack.com · 26/05/2026
Marketing has become creepy af. Maybe we do less of that, and more of this. entirely.com/perspectives...
entirely.com
A Privacy-First Approach: Personalizing Without Creeping People Out
Privacy-first personalization can enhance trust in marketing, ensuring relevance without invasion. Let's bring balance to data use and consumer comfort.
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Reposted by Brian Powers
Marketing News @marketingnews.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
FYI: ChatGPT launches conversion ads June 5. US programmatic CPMs up 34% #ChatGPT #DigitalMarketing #ProgrammaticAds #CPM #OpenAI
ppc.land
ChatGPT launches conversion ads June 5. US programmatic CPMs up 34%
OpenAI launches conversion-optimized ChatGPT ads June 5. US programmatic CPMs surge 34% year-over-year. Pichai admits Google Search has become too opinionated.
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Brian Powers @orchestrated.substack.com · 28/05/2026
AI has taught me that "effectful" and "connectedly" are, in fact, words. They're not human words, but they are words.
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Brian Powers @orchestrated.substack.com · 26/05/2026
Marketing has become creepy af. Maybe we do less of that, and more of this. entirely.com/perspectives...
entirely.com
A Privacy-First Approach: Personalizing Without Creeping People Out
Privacy-first personalization can enhance trust in marketing, ensuring relevance without invasion. Let's bring balance to data use and consumer comfort.
041
Reposted by Brian Powers
Marketing News @marketingnews.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
Google warns: the software systems behind your marketing tools may not scale #GoogleIO #AIMarketing #SoftwareScaling #DigitalMarketing #MarketingTools
ppc.land
Google warns: the software systems behind your marketing tools may not scale
A Google I/O 2026 session predicts a 10x to 100x jump in AI-driven software output that will strain the systems behind every marketing tool, and explains why.
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Reposted by Brian Powers
Marketing News @marketingnews.bsky.social · 16/05/2026
Your AI chatbot may be sharing your prompts with ad networks #AI #Chatbots #DataPrivacy #CyberSecurity #TechNews
ppc.land
Your AI chatbot may be sharing your prompts with ad networks
A UC Davis study of 20 popular AI chatbots finds 17 transmit data to third parties, with three leaking plaintext prompts via Microsoft Clarity session replay.
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Brian Powers @orchestrated.substack.com · 14/05/2026
Only thing keeping my delusions of grandeur in check.
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