In the Age of AI: Rethinking Human-Centered Media

In a world where scrolling never stops and AI-generated content floods our feeds, it’s getting harder to tell what’s real, and even harder to stay informed without burning out. Chiesa Gospelli from GFR Fund sat down with Stu Rogers, founder of Spread, to talk about what’s shifting in how we consume information, what it means to be “human” online, and why the answer may not be to replace social media, but to rediscover what’s worth paying attention to.

Chiesa: Let’s start with what feels like a foundational shift. We’re seeing fatigue around AI-generated content, recommendation engines, and the sense that the internet is just... less human. How do you think consumer behavior is evolving in the middle of all that?

Stu: I think we’re in a moment where there's a ubiquitous skepticism of synthetic content throughout every aspect of our online life. Pair that with rising awareness of algorithmic addiction, and there’s a real appetite for something different. Not a rejection of the internet, but a desire to use it more intentionally. At the same time, I always say: it’s never a good idea to try to change human behavior. It's obviously better to identify massive trends and waves and build towards them.

And to zoom out a bit, in addition to consumer sentiment toward the internet today, business model-wise, there are massive waves across tech empowering moves away from subscription as a concept. Very soon, subscribing to a never-ending list of publications, substacks, newsletters, and direct subscriptions to specific creators will become unsustainable. That’s the big-picture opportunity in evolving consumer behavior that we see every day, not just with our users but in the market overall.

Chiesa: That makes sense. I’ve been thinking a lot about how the web today is filled with tiny moments of friction—doomscrolling, misinformation, subscription overload, app fatigue. But the bigger challenge might just be how easy it is to fall into passive consumption. Even people who want to be more informed find it hard to change those habits.

Stu: Absolutely. Current models encourage fragmented attention. But I’d also highlight the moments of friction that are so built into the way we access information today. Subscriptions are piling up, news access is gated, and user experience is anything but frictionless; people hit paywalls sometimes, even when they’re already subscribed. There is clearly room for improvement. We predict that we’ll see accelerating shifts toward models that reward reach and quality human engagement without unnecessary conversion and registration friction. Especially as more media gets scraped and reused by AI anyway, we have to rethink what access means in a human-first internet.

Chiesa: One thing that really stuck with me when we spoke last time is the idea of being “complementary” rather than competitive with the platforms people already use. Instead of building yet another social app, how do you build tools that enhance the way people already discover and share?

Stu: Ever since Elon Musk bought Twitter, we’ve seen a wave of Twitter clones trying to recreate the same social dynamics. But hitting critical mass is next to impossible now without the growth hacks available in the early Web 2 days. Legacy social platforms will still host the conversation, but the real opportunity is to rethink where discovery happens. The conversations happen on social media, and what we’re trying to build at Spread is the place where people discover what's worth talking about. Where they cannot only discover those things, but they can seamlessly access them.

Chiesa: As you’ve mentioned before, Gen Zs have grown up in this hyper-digital world, but they also seem to have the strongest skepticism toward it. What patterns are you seeing in how they consume content and connect online?

Stu: Gen Z is digitally native and inherently digitally cynical. They already don’t trust everything they see online, and they’re right not to. But what they do trust are individuals. They build real allegiance to creators, often more than traditional institutions. We say “trust in media is at an all-time low,” but trust in people is at an all-time high. I think the big shift coming is that creators will not just be content producers, but also curators. People don’t just want to know what their favorite creator is saying—they want to know what they’re reading, listening to, and watching. Human curation will only become more important as AI slop continues to flood every corner of the internet. And it’s foreseeable we’ll have not just creator economies, but curator economies as the internet evolves post-AI. 

Chiesa: That rings true for me personally. I’ll watch a whole BookTube video just to find out what my favorite actor is reading, even if it’s totally random. There’s something about wanting to get closer to someone’s thought process—or just their taste. It’s like you’re borrowing their lens on the world.

Stu: Exactly. That’s what breaks through and differentiates from your algorithm today: when you feel a real connection to someone’s taste or judgment. And I think we’re seeing this across the board. People are experimenting with digital detoxes, using dumb phones, or rediscovering analog formats (vinyl, zines, physical books, and magazines). These are probably signs of the human curation that’s coming, not just a fleeting nostalgia trend. It could not be clearer that there are growing movements of people trying to consciously reclaim how they spend their time and attention.

Chiesa: What’s interesting is that those trends—detoxes, abstaining from apps, going analog—don’t mean people are abandoning digital life. They’re just setting new boundaries. Do you think that opens up space for more intentional ways of staying informed?

Stu: Definitely. I think we’ll see more people actively seeking curation, especially since AI already floods every feed. Right now, personalization is driven by engagement history. But it’s also what traps us in a loop of “more of the same.” The shift I’m hoping for is toward what we’ve been calling authentic intelligence…a slightly different kind of AI: taste, discernment, context. The kind of human filtering that helps you not just consume more, but consume better.

Chiesa: I like that—authentic intelligence. There's a psychological hurdle, too, right? Some people love their algorithmic feed. They’re proud of how chaotic or niche it is—like a reflection of their identity. But that doesn't always translate to being well-informed.

Stu: Yeah, and I don’t think that’s something that will be replaced. I actually think algorithmic entertainment will continue to get better and more addictive. But that doesn’t mean it’s where people go to think or learn. We’ll need to build alternative spaces, not to compete with entertainment, but to give people alternative lanes when they pursue substance. You can still love your brain-rot reels and want a smarter, more human way to engage with the world.

Chiesa: As someone who spends a lot of time thinking about digital communities, I’m curious—what excites you most about how things could evolve? If we do move toward a more human-centered internet, what could that unlock?

Stu: I know it sounds lofty, but I think we're watching a tectonic shift in how people use the internet. Our big bet is that proof of humanity will be a layer that powers the future of internet commerce. We’re building toward a world where you will access the best of the internet through human authentication. 

One big trend I’d emphasize is the massive tectonic shifts towards consumption-based models versus more static subscription-based models. We’ll see that apply not just to media but across consumer applications. 

Chiesa: Anything else you’d like to share?

Stu: I'd like to share some high-level optimism. There’s a lot of talk these days about AI either accelerating us into the future or ruining everything. And I'm obviously a tech optimist. I think we’re on the cusp of building new interfaces and hardware that use AI to help us reclaim our time and reconnect with what matters: spending time with other humans. I'm optimistic that as automation handles more of the noise, what stands out will be the signal: human creativity, taste, and judgment. That’s what I want to bet on.