BLOG #35 - REFLECTIONS ON AI

Blog #35
 
It’s been quite a while since I’ve written a blog so apologies readers. I am currently writing the sequel to “Let’s Be Peace”.  It will be called “Let’s Be Joy” and I’ve already conducted 8 interviews with the Joy theme as well as health and wellness alternatives.  A couple of invited individuals have written their own chapter so the format will be very similar to “Let’s Be Peace”.  I am considering having a few people who are not necessarily tied to the alternative health and wellness sectors but are full of joy and have much to say about how we can Be Joy and create Joy for ourselves.  Stay tuned!
 
Today’s blog is about AI. Although I have had memberships in two of the most prominent AI platforms I have rarely indulged in it’s usage for more than research which I do admit it is excellent as long as I keep diligent and make sure the information is accurate.  Yesterday, however, I had a more robust taste of AI when I participated in a trail period for a new company called Inkflare.  My trials only lasted one day because they found that a memoir was not in the correct configuration for what they are building and although I agree once spending a day with what they provided, I was amazed that AI came up with a blog about the memoir that was pretty darn good.  I’m sharing it here as it is packed with tons of info that AI gleaned from ‘reading” “It’s About Time: My Award-Winning TV Adventure”.  By reading I mean they had me upload it and AI worked from the manuscript.  I think the results of this one blog (the two other’s it provided were off base) is remarkable.  Culling my 200 plus pages into a teaching tool. Inkflare is working as a media tool and I have to say I am considering going with the paid subscription in the future for “Let’s Be Peace” and “Let’s Be Joy”. They also offer weekly social media placements, including you-tube.  They’ll be sending me more materials for me to share with my colleagues and friends. So if you are interested in this unique offering, contact me. 
I still don't plan on using AI beyond research and synthesizing but it's nice to find a use that will assist me in promoting the work that I do and author.
 
Okay, Here’s the AI Blog about “It’s About Time”:
 
BUILD WHAT YOU WANT TO WATCH: ESCAPING DYSFUNCTIONAL TV FOR PURPOSE-DRIVEN PROGRAMING:
 
If your gut tightens when a pitch wants you to shame someone for ratings, the problem is not your gut, it is the format.
Who this is for
You are a producer, writer, or rising showrunner who wants to do excellent work without losing your center. You want to serve audiences, mentor your team, and still sleep at night. Karen Lee Cohen has lived that path. In her memoir It’s About Time, she shares how she stepped out of formats that felt wrong at a national show and built a career around “uplifting and positive programming,” drawing on her WNBC‑TV leadership years and later founding Crystal Pyramid Productions in Los Angeles .
What is not working
There is a version of TV that feeds on conflict and cuts corners on dignity. Karen tried that world. After producing a nationally syndicated magazine show, she walked away. “I literally couldn’t get myself to do it,” she writes, naming it “dysfunctional television” that highlighted what was wrong with people instead of what was good and kind. She chose to build shows that served the public instead, under her own banner .
The resistance was real. Years earlier, when she pitched positive formats, a veteran syndicator told her, “Good concept Karen, but I can’t sell positive.” That was the early 90s. She notes the market is beginning to change, but her choice back then was to keep going anyway .
What can change
You can choose your lane. Karen started prototyping the kind of television she wanted to watch. One example is The Great Health Debate, a service‑first format where a strong moderator convenes two medical doctors and two alternative practitioners. Each episode explores topics “from aspirin to cancer, from Covid to zinc,” so viewers see options side by side and decide what fits them. The aim was not spin, it was informed choice, and she remains passionate about that mission .
She also tried to launch a full wellness channel with trusted collaborators. The funding deal fell through, but the vision did not. She kept creating and refining values‑aligned work and credits steady inner practice for that staying power. Karen says the arc of her spiritual growth outweighs even her eight Regional Emmys, a reminder that who you are while you work or in your personal life. matters.
How to start building what you want to watch
Here is a simple playbook you can adapt to your show, your slate, or your career.
1) Write your content credo

• Define what you make and what you refuse. Karen’s line was clear. She left a format that celebrated conflict and focused on building shows like Good Copy and Positively Speaking that highlighted human interest and hope, not harm .
• Add one sentence that keeps you honest. Karen often returns to a spiritual north star, the conviction that we are connected, which keeps service at the center and ego in check .

Try this: If a million people watched my pilot tonight, what would I be proud to have amplified in them?
2) Design audience‑service KPIs

• Measure impact you can feel, not just clicks. For a debate show like The Great Health Debate, you might track the percent of segments that present more than one viable path forward, the number of reputable resources shared per episode, and viewer notes that say, “I did not know I had this option.” Karen designed the format to widen choice, not narrow it, so let your metrics reflect that purpose .
• Track dignity. List tactics you will not use, like ambush edits or shaming beats. Karen’s values showed up in daily decisions, not slogans. When she learned staff were being pushed to work unreported hours, she went to the company lawyers and told her team to file for the time they actually worked. Integrity is operational, not aspirational .

Try this: What would a grateful viewer write to us after the credits, and how will we know we earned it?
3) Adopt “free‑lance” autonomy where it fits

• Not everyone needs a classic full‑time box. Karen knew she was “destined to be on [her] own,” hated punching a clock, and built a company that let her take aligned projects as a freelancer when needed. That structure protected both her standards and her stamina .
• Use autonomy to guard your yes. A clear credo and clear KPIs make it easier to say no to the show that will cost your soul and yes to the one that will grow your craft.

Try this: What arrangement would give me the courage to say no quickly and yes wholeheartedly?
4) Lead with grounding rituals that make values real

• Make wellness practical. Colleagues remember Karen doing yoga at dawn on tough shoots and encouraging short movement breaks in the office. These small rituals kept pressure from turning into panic and helped the work stay kind and sharp at the same time .
• Keep curiosity close to the work. During a hospital stay she and a teammate chatted with ICU nurses about nutrition and holistic options. That spirit of asking, learning, and sharing later showed up in her health programming. It is a simple habit that sets a culture of service and respect for the whole person .

Try this: What five‑minute practice will I protect even on shoot days, and how will I invite my team into it?
Hidden gems you might have missed

• Persistence is alignment, not just grit. When the wellness channel funding disappeared, Karen did not treat it as a verdict on the vision. She kept creating, kept learning, and kept the mission of positive programming alive through other formats and collaborations .
• Integrity shows up on screen. Karen weighed awards against inner growth and chose growth. Viewers feel that stance, and teams do too. It is part of your credibility, not a side note .
• Service scales through format. A panel can be gossip or guidance. Karen’s version turned debate into a doorway, giving ordinary people language and options to advocate for themselves in health decisions .

Your next right moves

• Draft your one‑page content credo. Name your non‑negotiables and the specific outcomes you want for your audience.
• Set three audience‑service KPIs for your current show or pilot. Put them where the team can see them.
• Choose one autonomy lever you can pull this month, like reshaping your role, carving out a values‑aligned segment, or piloting a free‑lance collaboration pattern inspired by Karen’s independent path .
• Lock one daily practice into your calendar. Five minutes of breath, a stretch circle at lunch, or a gratitude wrap at day’s end. Protect it like a key interview slot. People will feel the difference in your leadership and your work .

You do not have to keep making shows that drain you. Build what you want to watch, with numbers that honor people and rituals that keep you steady. As It’s About Time shows, you can walk away from the noise, serve the public, and still do award‑level work. What would change in your career if you decided, today, to only greenlight what your wiser self would be proud to be a part of.
 
 
YOUR PEACE WHISPERER/PEAC COACH