Are we doomed by AI? Not so fast...

Welcome to The FoLD, a newsletter about AI, Branding, and Business Innovation for Friends of Liam Darmody (see what I did there?). Subscribe for free to explore my curiosity with me. I’ll send at least one newsletter per week on AI, Branding, and Business Innovation, with a bonus hot sauce review at the bottom :)

Let’s jump into this week’s fascination:

🔮 On AI: Small Teams, Big Leverage

You probably saw that Dario Amodei (CEO of Anthropic) made headlines this week saying AI could replace up to 50% of entry-level white-collar jobs within 5 years.

And while that’s a spicy stat, here’s the thing:

You’re not a bloated enterprise with 600 junior analysts.

You’re a founder.

You are the analyst.

• And the marketer.
• And the ops team.
• And probably also the person replying to DMs at midnight.

So the question isn’t: “Will AI replace jobs?” It’s:

“How fast can I use AI to replace the parts of my job that slow me down?”

Google’s AI Overviews are now available in over 200 countries and in 40 languages.

That means search behavior is shifting right now.

People are seeing AI summaries at the top of Google, not just link lists.

So if your business relies on blog traffic or SEO visibility, you might need to adjust.

Fast.

I have to admit that I've been pretty slow to adopt any of the AI services from Google. I think I'm kinda ready for a new company to come in and take over my life.'

But you can never count them out because of how much data they have and all the smart brains working there.

Take a look at this edgy video showing what it’s capable of.

GPT-4o’s free tier is a huge unlock for solopreneurs.

It’s now faster, cheaper, and more conversational.

And the free version gives you access to tools that used to be behind a paywall: vision, file uploads, browsing, and even voice.

It’s basically like hiring a chief of staff, research assistant, and brainstorm partner for $0/month. I basically created an entire “team” of people in my ChatGPT instance, including:

• CMO
• COO
• CFO
• CTO
• General Counsel

And that’s in addition to my therapyGPT, Nutrition & Business Coaches.

It’s exceptionally useful.

My systems & software project features experts in all of my tools and helps me automate so much of my backend operation in no time.

🧠 On Brand: AI Is Not Your Biggest Risk — Inconsistency Is

Everyone’s talking about AI replacing jobs.

But this week, Klarna gave us a reminder that the real danger for founders isn’t AI.

It’s overreacting.

It’s inconsistency.

It’s damaging trust and then scrambling to rebuild it.

In 2022, Klarna laid off 700+ people in what they called a “strategic pivot”

(translation: we think AI can replace humans and allow us to cut our OpEx)

But now they’ve been quietly rehiring a bunch of them, sometimes into the same roles they cut!

And while Klarna’s a giant, the lesson hits home for founders, too:

💡 Your brand isn’t just what you post online. It’s how you treat people when things get hard.

Whether it’s a contractor, collaborator, or long-time client — how you handle the uncertain moments is what sticks.

People remember who ghosted them. Who took shortcuts. Who panicked and burned bridges they later had to rebuild.

As founders, we all make tough calls.

But if you make them with clarity, honesty, and a clear explanation of your why, your brand gets stronger, not weaker.

AI can help you move faster.

But your reputation is still the thing that moves the needle.

🌶️ On Hot Sauce: The End. Flatline.

— Death in a Bottle (Thanks, Lori 😈)

This one’s not for the hobbyists.

The End: Flatline by Pepper Palace is an ultra-concentrated hellstorm of Carolina Reaper, Trinidad Scorpion, and Ghost Pepper coming in at a face-melting 1.5 million Scoville units.

Despite how hot it is, these powerful peppers combine to form a smoky, BBQ-adjacent undertone if you can find it between airing out your tongue.

But this one’s not about nuance — the burn is immediate and I’m thanking my lucky stars that I just licked the top of the rim instead of taking a sip through a straw like I normally do...

My recommendation is to save this capsicum for big batches of chili or soup that you want to infuse with a little heat. Stay away from this stuff raw or you’ll be sorry.

Massive thanks (and maybe a little side-eye) to Lori Mazor for the gift! You rock!

That’s a wrap on another edition of The FoLD.

If you’re already a subscriber, thank you so much for your trust.
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Until next time…

Hi5,

LD

🌶️