Can AI Provide Passive Income? Week 7 Insights

I hope you’re having a great Easter break and managed to find a moment to switch off.

Personally, I have spent my time thinking about one key truth when it comes to building with content (and AI): you can’t outsmart your audience — but you can understand them.

This week, I learned that the hard way.

When Your “Best” Work Underperforms

A trending topic in my Faceless Channel’s niche hit the news this week, and I jumped on it. I made what I genuinely felt was my strongest Short yet — great pacing, visuals, voiceover — the lot.

But… it flopped. Barely 1,000 views, making it one of the lowest-performing videos I’ve put out in weeks.

It was a reminder that just because something is newsworthy or polished doesn’t mean it’s what your audience wants.

Read the Signals, Not Just the Comments

I went back through my analytics to figure out what went wrong. The answer? My audience doesn’t respond to clickbait-style topics — even if they’re hot in the headlines.

Instead, they’re far more interested in lesser-known information around the niche that they haven’t heard before. Something they can’t get just from following mainstream news on the topic.

This is why looking at the data matters. Comments can be kind, but watch time, click-through rates, and view drop-offs tell the real story.

Where AI Is Going, Not Where It’s Been

A quick note on AI this week: most of the tools being marketed right now are focused on speed — generate scripts faster, edit faster, publish faster.

But the next evolution will be insight.

The future of AI in content won’t just be about output — it’ll be about understanding your audience better than ever before.

Imagine AI tools that don’t just help you make videos, but predict what kind of stories your audience wants next, based on micro-trends in your niche.

That’s the real promise of AI — and the kind of development I’m keeping a close eye on.

What’s Next?

This week was a lesson in humility — and in listening. I’ll be returning to the kind of storytelling my viewers come to the channel for: niche-specific, curiosity-driven, and unexpected.

I’m also quietly working on a longer-form video idea and starting to shape what a second format might look like beyond Shorts.

If you’re building in the content or AI space, I’d love to know: how do you decide what to make next? Do you trust instinct or data?

Let me know — and follow my journey as I keep testing the line between creativity, consistency, and AI-powered insight.