I’m a bit of a Bowie fan…

But aside from his music, I think one of his finest moments was his interview with Jeremy Paxman on Newsnight in 1999.

They were talking about the internet, which at that point was still a new technology that most people weren’t yet using.

Paxman suggested it was just another tool and wouldn’t change the world very much.

But Bowie said,

“I don’t think we’ve even seen the tip of the iceberg. I think the potential of what the Internet is going to do to society, both good and bad, is unimaginable. I think we’re actually on the cusp of something exhilarating and terrifying.”

Paxman, predictably, scoffed at this, as if Bowie was exaggerating.

But within a few years, the internet boom was underway and the whole media landscape began to change at a speed that was, indeed, “exhilarating and terrifying.”

A lot of people began panicking about it.

Record labels felt undermined by Napster giving away free music as digital downloads..

Film companies were horrified by online piracy…

High street shop owners saw customers abandoning them for the new eCommerce sites…

Newspaper and magazine publishers worried about blogs and websites destroying the print industry.

For a while, it genuinely felt as though whole industries were being hollowed out.

And, in a way, much of the old ways of doing business were disrupted – in some cases, destroyed.

But it also transformed the world, and opened up entirely new ways of finding customers, creating products, consuming media, and communicating with people.

Think about Google, Amazon, Facebook, eBay, Etsy, Vinted…

Think about smartphones, GPS navigation systems and video calling…

Think about eBooks, email newsletters, digital planners, print-on-demand services and cryptocurrencies…

All of these were birthed from that disruptive new tech.

These days, I tend to think about David Bowie’s words to Paxman when I think about Artificial Intelligence.

You could easily adapt what he said like this:

“The potential of what AI is going to do to society, both good and bad, is unimaginable.”

Just like the advent of the internet, generative AI is changing things in a racial and accelerated way.

And it’s following the classic pattern of disruptive technologies…

• When the printing press appeared, mass-produced books were seen as dangerous, error-ridden and destabilising for religion. Many scribes lost their livelihoods.
• When photography emerged in the 19th century, painters declared that art dead. If a machine could capture reality more accurately than a human, what was the point of painting?
• When recorded music arrived, musicians’ unions protested that mechanical reproduction would cheapen music and destroy incomes.

We are seeing a similar panic about AI technology.

It’s going to destroy music, film and art..

It’s going to destroy the creative industries…

It’s going to destroy skilled freelance work…

There’s been plenty of the expected hand-wringing in the broadsheets that AI means…

THE END OF EVERYTHING!☹

Amidst the outcry, many big companies pulled the barriers down and proclaimed they would never use AI or allow AI products.

Others threw lawsuits at AI companies, decrying them for copyright violations.

But three years after the launch of Chat GPT, I can see signs that this attitude is changing.

Waterstones Gives a Cautious Thumbs Up to AI Books

A few weeks ago, I read a BBC online interview with James Daunt, the boss of Waterstones.

He admitted that Waterstones WOULD stock books created using artificial intelligence, as long as they were clearly labelled… and, crucially, if customers wanted them.

Waterstones already uses AI for logistics, stock prediction and supply chain management.

So this wasn’t some sudden ideological pivot.

But what has changed is the acceptance that, if people want to read AI-powered books, then they’ll supply them,

The BBC article went on to point out: “Some writers use AI themselves, especially for research, and AI tools are being used to edit novels, and even produce full-length works.”

Which means that AI is already merging with the creative process. Just as writers used Google for their research process when that came along in the 2000s!

And this is not the only example…

A few weeks before Daunt’s admission, Warner Music signed a licensing deal with the artificial intelligence song generator Suno.

This new deal allowed people to create AI-generated songs using the voices, names and likenesses of the acts who chose to opt in to the service.

Robert Kyncl, the chief executive, said that artificial intelligence could be ‘pro-artist’.

Now these might not seem like major news stories.

But for me this is a strong signal of a sea-change in opinion about AI.

Because let’s face it…

If people want AI-based products, then there’s going to be a market for them.

And what do people want when they go online to search for solutions to problems?

Usually it’s not “effort” or “purity” in the creator.

It’s what the product can do for them…

• Help them understand something more clearly.
• Save them time.
• Make them money.
• Entertain them.
• Make something easier.

If you can create a product that does this, then they won’t care about how much AI helped you research, write or design it.

So ultimately….

This is GOOD NEWS For AI-Powered Home Businesses

Fact is, AI is here to stay….

And the longer it’s around, the lower the resistance will become, and the more it will become an accepted way of life.

Which means that, no matter how much moaning you see in the media about it, you should feel emboldened to use AI…

From print-on-demand mugs and t-shirts, to social media videos and digital courses…

As long as AI is helping you create a GOOD product that targets a niche, or a specific need, then it can make you money.

This applies to eBooks too.

Because yes, at the moment there are still grumblings about the use of AI for books – but if Waterstones admit they’ll accept AI creations, then you shouldn’t be afraid to push forward.

To see the potential, why not hop onto ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini and see if there’s an eBook idea that fills a niche?

Here are four different prompts you can use (I’d recommend trying all of them).

Prompt 1 – Demand

“I am interested in writing a practical eBook. List 10 specific, real-world problems faced by [insert audience: e.g. people over 40 starting an online side income] that are confusing, frustrating, or poorly explained online. Focus on problems people actively search for solutions to.”

Prompt 2 – Gap in the Market

““I am interested in writing a practical eBook. Give me [X number] topics where people frequently say ‘someone should write a simple guide to this’? Identify gaps where existing information is scattered, outdated, or overly complex.”

Prompt 3 – Personal experience

“I am interested in writing an eBook based on my own life/work experiences in [insert field or life situation]. My main interests and skills are as follows [list them here]. Focus on specific topics or lessons I could share in a practical step-by-step way.”

Prompt 4 – Problem Solving

“I want to write a short, practical eBook. Generate 10 narrowly focused book ideas aimed at [specific niche], each designed to solve one clear problem in under 60 pages.”

See what you come up with – it might inspire you to create your first profitable digital product in 2026!

Actually, with that in mind…

Would you be interested if I produced some more in-depth training on creating books with AI?

If so, please commnet “YES NICK” to this post.