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From the FT:
"...have pointed out that AI is more unpopular with Americans than the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency."
I created a new web agency in February. The positioning is around "human made", "built by hand", "handcrafted", etc.
If you are in this space - design, development, anything web-related - I would try to lean into this messaging. My guess is there is a massive amount of the population who are ready or will be ready to have a website now or in the next couple of years, but are skeptical of AI. I think this is especially true of lower income, less educated states, but as you can see, the anti-AI sentiment is strong across the board on both sides of the aisle.
The overall marketing message and positioning should be: premium, handcrafted websites. "We think that AI shouldn't create the touchpoint between your brand and your customer."
Do your research, find who might be interested in this messaging, and charge a premium rate.
Obviously, how you build the website does not really matter. But you have to hold true to the notion above: more effort needs to be put into the design phase, originality, and creativity - all three areas where you can still standout and help a business create value.
Literally 90%+ of people on LinkedIn are positioning themselves as AI consultants and solution experts now. Be the anti-AI play.
"...have pointed out that AI is more unpopular with Americans than the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency."
Are data centres becoming the new fracking? It’s a question I first saw posed in a Strategas research report back in February. Since then, growing AI backlash makes me think the answer is yes. While Amazon, Meta, Alphabet, Microsoft and others are expected to spend around $700bn building out data centres in North America this year, these “hyperscalers” are starting to face pushback about the implications of the technology. The economic and market consequences could be significant.
According to the Data Center Watch project, $156bn worth of AI data centre projects were stopped or stalled last year because of concerns about everything from rising electricity prices (data centres are massive electricity consumers) to water scarcity to tech-related job losses. Just as opposition to fracking led to “not in my backyard” concerns over environmental and health implications of the technology that stalled drilling, AI worries are now slowing the rollout of data centres.
A Jefferies report notes that 47 states had considered new legislation to regulate the technology as of mid-2025, and more than 30 had enacted new statutes ranging from whistleblower protections to requirements around power usage and safety.
It’s telling that after the failure of the Trump administration’s federal moratorium on state-level AI regulation last year, the White House is now trying to get in sync with public opinion. Americans are more negative about AI than the citizens of any other country polled, according to Pew, and so the administration is now requiring Big Tech firms to sign a “ratepayer protection pledge” that would theoretically keep electricity and other utility bills, which have risen in many places thanks to data centre growth, under control.
The pledge is voluntary. There are, as of now, no binding rules that force Big Tech to compensate the public for rising prices, strains to an already old and beleaguered grid system, or any other negative externalities from data centres, like higher noise levels or decreased air quality.
But as non-tech companies join the public in voicing concerns, that could change. The Louisiana Energy Users Group — which includes ExxonMobil, Chevron and major chemical manufacturers — has opposed what they view as preferential treatment for new data centres built by companies including Meta. Some big corporations (like Diamondback and Devon Energy) have even started building out their own power and utility infrastructure as a hedge against AI overconsumption of energy, something that will undoubtedly fuel public concerns about an AI electricity arms race.
It is no wonder Democrats are making AI pushback a big campaign issue in advance of the midterms. Populists like Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have called for a moratorium on new data centres. And even corporate-friendly Democrats like Senator Mark Warner have pointed out that AI is more unpopular with Americans than the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency.
I created a new web agency in February. The positioning is around "human made", "built by hand", "handcrafted", etc.
If you are in this space - design, development, anything web-related - I would try to lean into this messaging. My guess is there is a massive amount of the population who are ready or will be ready to have a website now or in the next couple of years, but are skeptical of AI. I think this is especially true of lower income, less educated states, but as you can see, the anti-AI sentiment is strong across the board on both sides of the aisle.
The overall marketing message and positioning should be: premium, handcrafted websites. "We think that AI shouldn't create the touchpoint between your brand and your customer."
Do your research, find who might be interested in this messaging, and charge a premium rate.
Obviously, how you build the website does not really matter. But you have to hold true to the notion above: more effort needs to be put into the design phase, originality, and creativity - all three areas where you can still standout and help a business create value.
Literally 90%+ of people on LinkedIn are positioning themselves as AI consultants and solution experts now. Be the anti-AI play.
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