Which of my 2023 predictions came true 3 years later

Hey! Missed me? As my kid's finally in kindergarten, I'm back to work in full swing.

I sat down to write this newsletter yesterday, thinking: "What should I even write about?” Because honestly, I didn't think about content marketing in these two weeks. Very unusual for me.

So I opened my LinkedIn and checked a few newsletters I'm subscribed to. Guess what everybody talks about?

Predictions! Same as last January. And the January before that.

I remember I made a YouTube video with predictions once. Back in 2023. ​​ChatGPT was two months old.

It got me thinking: "How about I go through those predictions three years later to see how wrong I was?” (Spoiler: Very wrong about some things. Weirdly right about others.)

That's the topic of this newsletter. 

In today's newsletter:

• My prediction about Google banning AI content
• The writer evolution I nailed 
• How "everyone will use AI" became true in the worst possible way
• Companies wanting "thought leadership" still publish generic garbage
• The thing I didn't see coming 
• What's happening in content marketing right now

Prediction 1: "AI will put SEO writers out of work (but they'll make money first)" 

What I said: Freelancers would use AI to scale content production and make easy money. Then companies would realize they could just use AI instead of paying writers.

What actually happened: Writers split into three groups:

•  AI writers churning out ChatGPT content and charging pennies per article
• Content writers charging their pre-AI rates while quietly letting AI do most of the writing
• Strategy-first writers who think, position, and decide what to say, charging more than ever

Verdict: Half right. Some writers were put out of work, but good writers are still in demand.

Prediction 2: "Google will try to ban AI content and come up with better ways to detect it" 

What I said: Google would label AI content as spam and penalize it.

What actually happened: Google said: “Appropriate use of AI is not against our guidelines.” They say they focus on quality, not how content is produced. They even launched their own AI writing features in Docs. 

Despite the "quality” they keep highlighting for years, I still can't rely on Google to find great content. Meanwhile, AI-generated fluff continues to rank just fine.

Verdict: Wrong about Google’s response. And wrong to hope it would recognize what “quality” looks like.

Prediction 3: "Writers will become strategists, editors, and subject matter experts" 

What I said: Writers would either do more strategy work, or edit AI-generated content, or deepen their expertise.

What actually happened: Exactly this. Every successful writer I know now cares about:

• Strategy (not just writing)
• Research (not just Googling or AI-ing)
• Results (not just word count)

Writers who don't understand marketing? Gone. (Check out my issue: "Is content writing a dead-end job?”)

Verdict: Nailed it.

Prediction 4: "Everyone will use AI to create content" 

What I said: AI is too good to ignore. Every marketer would adopt it.

What actually happened: Look at your LinkedIn feed. Every post looks the same. Yes, everybody is using AI. 

"Human-written" became a differentiator. Some companies specifically advertise "No AI content."

Verdict: Right about adoption, and right that companies will be looking for differentiators to make their content more valuable and less likely to be replicated.

Prediction 5: "Companies will invest in thought leadership to differentiate" 

What I said: In a sea of copycat AI-generated content, quality will become a differentiating factor.

What actually happened: Everyone says they want thought leadership. Then they prompt ChatGPT: "You're a thought leader in [industry]. Write an article about [topic]."

LinkedIn is full of "thought leaders" sharing identical thoughts.

Actual thought leadership (data research, contrarian views, experience-based insights) is rarer than ever.

Verdict: Right about the need, wrong about the execution.

The big thing I missed

In 2023, we worried AI would replace writers. 

In 2026, the problem is everyone sounds the same. 

And everyone knows they do. But very few companies (and writers) are willing to risk being different.

Content marketing is divided into two camps:

1. Optimizers: Still chasing keywords, copying "best practices” and asking ChatGPT to "make it unique."
2. Differentiators: Running surveys, publishing data, taking positions. 

ChatGPT did us a favor. It showed us that our "unique" content was generic. We were all writing the same stuff, just manually.

Here is my main takeaway for 2026:

• If you're a writer, your value isn't writing. It's thinking.
• If you're a company, your content problem isn't volume or keywords. It's having something to say that only you can say.

See you next week

I just had a call with a client where he said: "We are creative people, we can come up with something better than just using AI to do marketing for us.” In fact, we are.

Kateryna

P.S. If we aren't connected already, follow me on LinkedIn and Instagram. If you like this newsletter, please refer your friends.

P.P.S. Need help with quality content? Zmistify your content with Zmist & Copy