Ruby Thelot on Internet Culture, AI, and the Future of Taste

Ruby Thelot on Internet Culture, AI, and the Future of Taste – The a16z Show

Market views

Bullish

AIMODELS— Americans are using and loving AI chatbots like ChatGPT for practical tasks despite negative sentiment toward AI broadly. Anthropic survey shows 85,000 people using AI for career advancement and life management, with concrete examples of utility.
ALTDATA— Growing demand for cyber ethnography research to map digital communities for major brands (H&M, Pepsi). Companies need to understand micro-communities and their behaviors to market effectively, creating structural demand for this type of analysis.

Bearish

TRADFI— Mass culture and new aesthetics have been subsumed by finance, with decisions driven by financialization rather than creativity. Movie sequels dominating, architecture lacking innovation, and culture industry making risk-averse choices based on financial metrics rather than artistic merit.

Not investment advice.