2-minute read – written by a real person in bad lightening, Tijuana April 2026 ‘Barista Cafe’
AI is wonderful, but you (the new Affiliate Marketeer) should know by now that it’s not the holy grail. AI feels like the bloggers’ ultimate wet dream. Get 50 ideas, press button, CLARO as we say in Mexico. Some things are good in relation to blogging in general. ChatGPT will recommend keywords, sources, a high-converting lay-out, CTA in spaces 1,3,6 and 9. That’s fine.
We all want to distinguish ourselves from the competition and AI is not doing that. I believe that it’s a useful but highly ‘autistic’ tool that spits out mostly generic information that can be produced by anyone.
Chat can generate high volumes of low-differentiation content without human personality aspects.
My verdict: The Video Rental Store Debacle of ’88
++Storytime++
I remember a great, now legendary YouTube video from the 80s in which the owner of a video rental place complained about copying movies. If you were born before 2000 you’ll remember this. The war was real. Rentals were down by 80% in ’88 as every high-school kid sold illegal copies in the schoolyard. And remember this video?: Blockbuster employee predicts future in old home video
Rental movies went out a few years later. Since I’m dramatic I always like to think about things that hundreds of movie-rental-guys did in order to survive in an industry that was being Netflix-ed. Most of them would have paced up and down their smelly blue-grey carpets in their stores as their wives cried behind them.
“We’re done, it’s over, no tomorrow”
“Harry, think of the children” as she slumped to the ground in despair.
There was something going on, this industry was about to disappear. In situations like this, most entrepreneurs will not attack the core-problem but address symptoms. Cheaper rentals, 5 for 2 deals and free popcorn. It didn’t matter, rentals were out. The brutal truth.
Today in 2026 we stand for another great wall of China: AI/ChatGPT in relation to Affiliate Marketing.
Even your retarded niece can write an academic piece of the glories of Affiliate Marketing. That Russian guy in his mom’s basement who doesn’t speak a word of English can do so too. SEO-optimized with the right lay-out and Google-friendly. Prompt, splash, Tadaaa!
But these numbskulls don’t have what every Affiliate Marketeer should leverage in 2026: You, Yourself and more of You. You is the Ferrari, the Rocket and the Cheetah. ChatGPT is the rusty bicycle, paper airplane and turtle.
“But AI can perfectly….”
Yes, I know. And that’s the problem. Right now, about 1.567.893 other Affiliate Marketeers are using AI to create their perfect blog. Optimized and all. They are all the same. From the same pool of knowledge. Nothing stands out.
I want to stand out and so do you! No one is like me, no one is like you. No one can duplicate this exact picture of me eating chocolate nibbles as I type.
You feel the realness in this picture?
But in all seriousness, it’s normal to get nervous, overwhelmed and even truly worry about AI. It can do things so much faster and more perfect in an imperfect world. Let that be your angle in 2026 and moving forward. No-one can copy you and who you are. The rental-guy was worried sick, and should have made a logical choice to work in another niche as his was about to go under.
We make the logical choice ‘against’ AI, though it is not our enemy. We use our personal selves in a world that is becoming more impersonal by the second. And that’s because the opportunities are massive. You have that one thing that people on those sometimes God-awful social media platforms crave more than anything.
The very personal and unique YOU!
Happy Affiliate Marketing!