AI for the Rest of Us  🔗 **Source:** [AI for the Rest of Us](https://openchannels.fm/ai-for-the-rest-of-us/) > [!note]+ Document Notes > > [!info] Generated analysis — not the author's words. Sections below are machine-written > > from the captured source. Only text inside `> [!quote]` blocks is verbatim from the author. > > Do not quote or attribute any other line to the named author. > > [!warning] Content scope > > Despite the title, this is **not** a discussion of AI — it is a ~7-minute network housekeeping update in which Bob Dunn *announces* a forthcoming series called "AI for the Rest of Us." The series itself has not started (3 episodes were lined up for September). Roughly a third of the runtime is sponsor reads. Sections below are scoped honestly to that reality rather than inflated; several are marked not applicable with reasons. > ## 🏷️ Title > AI for the Rest of Us — Channel 4, Open Channels FM (episode #787, August 20, 2026) > ## 🧭 Table of Contents > 1. References > 2. Summary > 3. Main Content > 4. Paraphrase > 5. Newsletter > 6. Action Items > 7. Hypotheses > 8. Methodology > 9. Questions > 10. Future Research > 11. Implications > 12. Learning Styles Assessment > 13. Accessibility Assessment > 14. DEIB Assessment > 15. Logical Validity > 16. DARVO Analysis > 17. Conclusion > 18. Refactor Appendix > 19. Template Library > ## 🔗 References (in-page) > - Open Channels News (launched end of July 2026, hosted by Robert Jacobi) — @OpenChannelsNews on X, plus YouTube and LinkedIn > - Adam Weeks' new (as-yet-unnamed) series on AI and open source > - Sponsors: Automattic, InMotion Hosting, Omnisend > ## 📝 Summary > A short network-update episode from Bob Dunn on Open Channels FM's Channel 4. Four items of substance: (1) **Open Channels News**, launched end of July with Robert Jacobi hosting, dedicated to open source news — August was spent working out technical and hosting issues; it now has a dedicated X profile (@OpenChannelsNews) alongside YouTube and LinkedIn livestreams. (2) **Series changes** — Dunn's "Open Tab" series ended; Adam Weeks started an unnamed series on AI and open source; and Dunn is launching "AI for the Rest of Us." (3) The **premise of the new series**, which is the only genuinely analytical content in the episode: Dunn observes that his audience is developers and makers, and that AI conversation in that world is overwhelmingly about coding — he wants to cover AI's effects in non-coding industries and everyday applications, explicitly including "the good, the bad, and yes, the ugly," with guests from "smaller industries, niches" rather than product pitches. Three episodes were lined up for September, and he issues an open call for participants from under-discussed sectors. (4) **Version 5.0** of Open Channels FM launches in early September, with updates rolled out in smaller segments through the month rather than announced all at once, plus a teased "unique offer" for listener supporters designed to give something back rather than just acknowledge them. Bottom line: valuable primarily as a *signal* — a WordPress-adjacent podcast network deliberately pivoting AI coverage away from developer/coding framing toward non-technical industries — and as a standing invitation Courtney could plausibly answer given her cross-sector position. There is no AI analysis in the episode itself to extract. > ## 📖 Main Content > ### 🗒️ Notes > **Open Channels News status.** Launched end of July 2026, Robert Jacobi hosting, focused specifically on open source news. August was a fine-tuning period for technical and hosting issues on both Dunn's and Jacobi's sides. Now has a dedicated X account (@OpenChannelsNews) in addition to YouTube and LinkedIn livestreams. (Jacobi is the same person who co-hosted the WordCamp US closing keynote with Matt Mullenweg — already covered in this vault.) > **Series churn.** "Open Tab" (Dunn's own) ended the prior week. Adam Weeks began a new, not-yet-officially-named series on AI and open source. Dunn is launching "AI for the Rest of Us." > **The series premise — the substantive content of the episode.** Dunn's stated reasoning: his network's audience has always been "the makers, the tech people," and the AI conversation there is dominated by coding. His framing question is "what about the rest of us?" — meaning content creators and people outside tech entirely. He commits explicitly to covering downsides, not just adoption stories, and sets a clear editorial boundary: "this is not talking products or services. This is talking about how you feel about AI in maybe a certain industry that we don't always talk about in tech." He also states the value of cross-sector visibility — that it's "good to know what's going on everywhere" from people deep inside particular industries. Three episodes were scheduled for September; series length is deliberately open-ended. > **Open call for guests.** Dunn invites listeners from "smaller industries, niches" to come on and share how they feel about AI in their sector — explicitly not a vendor/product forum. > **Version 5.0 (early September).** A culmination of work in progress since July. Notable process choice: rather than a single omnibus announcement, Dunn plans to break the updates into smaller segments across September so he can explain each properly instead of just listing them. Also teased: a "unique offer" for listener supporters, designed around what he can give back rather than public acknowledgment alone. > **Sponsors.** Automattic, InMotion Hosting, Omnisend — read at both open and close, occupying a meaningful share of a ~7-minute runtime. > **Minor metadata inconsistency worth noting:** the page displays episode #787 while the social preview image filename is `episode-877.jpg` — one of these is likely a typo; the episode number should be verified before citing. > ## 📚 References > First-party network announcement content. No external sources, research, or data cited — appropriate for the format, but it means there is nothing here to verify or fact-check beyond the network's own plans. > ## 🗣️ Paraphrase > The useful thing here isn't the episode, it's the observation behind the series it announces. Dunn's audience is developers, the AI conversation in developer spaces is almost entirely about coding, and he's noticed that leaves out nearly everyone — including the content creators and non-technical professionals who are being affected by AI just as directly and have far fewer venues to talk about it. That's a real gap, and his editorial rules for filling it are the right ones: no product pitches, explicit permission to discuss harms, and a preference for niche sectors over the usual suspects. Whether the series actually delivers on that is unknowable from an announcement. For this vault, the concrete takeaway is that the invitation is open and Courtney is close to an ideal fit — she sits across WordPress, education, and faith communities, which is precisely the kind of cross-sector vantage the series says it wants and rarely gets. > ## 📰 Newsletter > **Bob Dunn noticed that when developers talk about AI, they almost only talk about coding — and is starting a series for everyone else.** "AI for the Rest of Us" launches on Open Channels FM in September with three episodes lined up, aimed at AI's effects in non-coding industries and everyday work. His editorial rules are worth noting: not a product showcase, explicitly open to "the good, the bad, and yes, the ugly," and actively seeking guests from smaller industries and niches rather than the usual tech voices. Also in this update: Open Channels News (Robert Jacobi hosting) is past its August shakeout period, and version 5.0 of the network lands in early September — rolled out in small segments rather than one big announcement. If you work in a sector nobody's asking about AI in, he's taking guests. > ## ✅ Action Items > - **Personal / DevRel:** The open call for guests is a genuine opportunity — Courtney's position across WordPress, education/training, and faith communities is exactly the cross-sector perspective the series says it wants and doesn't usually get. Worth considering a reply. > - **Community:** Worth tracking as evidence that WordPress-adjacent media is deliberately broadening AI coverage past the developer frame — a small counterweight to the "AI = coding tools" framing dominant in the WCUS material alread Hello and welcome to Channel 4, part of the Open Channels FM podcast network. Before we get into it, this episode is brought to you by Omnisend, the email and SMS platform that's making it easier and a lot less money to reach your audience. Automattic, the team behind WordPress.com, WooCommerce, and a whole lot of the open web you use every day. And InMotion Hosting, fast, reliable hosting backed by real humans whenever you need them. This is Bob Dunn, and it's been an interesting year so far for a lot of us, and I'm sure a lot of you. But hey, you know, we are moving on and we are getting into the fall, or close to the fall, I should say. I always officially think of August as over and I start getting into that mindset. But I wanted to give you an update on a few things because I'll be updating you on a lot more come September. First of all, let's kind of check back on Open Channels News. We launched that at the end of July. Host Robert Jacobi has been doing that. This is a channel dedicated for open source news, specifically. And if you haven't caught it yet, it's been going good. We've used August to work out some of the kinks, both technically on my side and for Robert and his hosting. Doing a show like that takes a little bit of time to fine-tune, and we are getting so close. There's been a few episodes. If you haven't checked any of them out, and also, if you are on X, formerly called Twitter, there is a profile there now just for Open Channels News, basically @OpenChannelsNews. So if you want to follow specifically the news, that's the place to be and where you also see the live streams in addition to YouTube and LinkedIn. We've also been working on some series. As you know, we've had a few of them. My Open Tab series has ended, or officially ended last week. We do have a few of them lined up. Adam Weeks has already started one last week. I don't think we've named it officially, but it will be something around AI and open source. Myself, I'm going to be starting a new one on AI too. Hey, why not? You know, we're always talking about AI. Mine is going to be — actually, what this episode is titled — AI for the Rest of Us. And to give you a brief introduction to that, I work around a lot of developers. I mean, this is what this site has always been, the makers, the tech people, and it's great, but I hear a lot of AI on coding, AI on coding. And AI on coding, which is not a bad thing. There's a lot of interesting things going on, but I'm thinking, what about the rest of us? You know, some of the creators that we've touched on, content creators, we've touched on other things here and there, but I want to get into some discussions, not only on other pieces of tech, but even outside of tech. And hey, to put it literally, people are going to come in, the conversations are going to be about the good, the bad, and yes, the ugly of AI in certain industries, smaller industries, niches, you name it. I'm not exactly sure how long this series will last. That's the beauty of a series, but I do have 3 lined up here for September, so watch out for those. They all should be very interesting and they all are. If you're interested in coming on with me, this is not talking products or services. This is talking about how you feel about AI in maybe a certain industry that we don't always talk about in tech. And at the same time, I think it's good to know what's going on everywhere and that someone that is deep in those certain industries or ecosystems are sharing a bit of their thoughts. And then, like I said, we have another one coming out as well. So look forward to those series and probably some new ones, both short and long. Now, what I'm also leading up to is in September. Yes, as many of you know, we do versions here at Open Channels FM, we are going to be releasing version 5.0. Now, this is a culmination of new things that have been on the plate since July. We've been fine-tuning a lot of them, working on them, and some of them are just in the very, very final, final stages. So with that release, I'm going to do it a little bit differently. Because normally I'll talk about all the things in it, but this time I'm going to break it up into some smaller segments that I'll do starting in September. And the reason being, I want to get into more than just a mention of some of the things we are or have been working on, and now it's released. So watch for that, or I should say, listen for that. I'll be catching you up on all these different things. And again, that will be at the very beginning of September. I'm kind of saving for the end. That is coming out in 5.0 is a very, what I call, unique offer for supporting Open Channels FM. I've been doing this a long time as far as doing podcasts. We always have our main sponsors that really make this possible. But I also want to offer for those that may want to support what we're doing. And also the key there was, what can I give back in a little bit of a unique way rather than, you know, these are my supporters, thank you. So watch for that as well, launching in September in version 5.0. So again, I'd like to give a big thank you to our sponsors. Automattic, InMotion Hosting, and Omnisend. They're 3 companies that are decidedly putting their support behind the open web and the people building on it. Until the next time, take care., AI for the Rest of Us, Bob Dunn, 01m0h2nyhh0tk8abfk6p5mm2q5.