Key Takeaways

• New technologies first enter media through imitation

• Over time net-new media emerge, enabled by the technology

• This journey can take decades as creators explore and understand the new medium's capabilities

• Moving from imitation to innovation requires experimentation, imagination, and patience.

• The future of (new) media will be enabled by crypto and AI

When a new technology enters the media ecosystem, it follows a familiar playbook: first, it imitates; later, it innovates. This cycle is a constant in technological evolution, shaping each new wave of storytelling and interaction.

Early adopters leverage new tools to replicate the formats they already understand. It’s a natural reflex—why reinvent the wheel when the old one still rolls? But eventually, as creators explore the technology's untapped capabilities, the imitation phase gives way to something entirely original.

Same Patterns, Different Tech

Take cinema as an example. The earliest films were essentially filmed theater, static and constrained by the conventions of stage performance. It wasn’t until years later that pioneers like Sergei Eisenstein began experimenting with techniques like montage, moving shots, and special effects, unlocking the full potential of film as a medium.

The internet followed a similar trajectory. Its first wave of websites mimicked print newspapers—walls of text with minimal interactivity. Over time, we saw an explosion of digital-native formats: social networks, video streaming platforms, and e-commerce ecosystems that fundamentally redefined how we engage with information and commerce.

Each medium required time—not just for technical innovation but for cultural experimentation. The Lumière brothers debuted the Cinématographe in 1895, but modern cinema didn’t truly take shape until the 1910s and 1920s. Similarly, the internet needed decades to transition from static HTML pages to the vibrant, multifaceted digital landscape we inhabit today.

The Imitation Phases of AI and Blockchain

Today, we see similar arcs developing in both AI and blockchain technology. These are still in their imitation phases, echoing the forms we already know. AI models replicate human artwork, craft text based on existing patterns, and generate music in familiar styles. Building and putting media onchain gives it a set of new, embedded capabilities (markets, provenance, networking), but we haven't fully explored the true potential. In part, because the onchain economy, and with that, distribution needs to grow. Which it will. 

AI's generative potential will one day transcend mimicry. Crypto will lay the foundation for new, skin-in-the-game type experiences.

The true media-technology fit of crypto and ai is yet to be discovered. This makes the next few years incredibly exciting.

Seeing Past the (Faux) Stagnation

At any given moment, it’s tempting to view imitation as a plateau rather than a stepping stone. Critics see stagnation: AI is derivative, and blockchain is speculative. But history tells us this is the necessary prelude to transformation. Every groundbreaking medium begins by copying before it creates something wholly new.

Progress takes imagination, patience, and a bit of chaos. And it takes a willingness to experiment with what’s possible rather than settling for what’s familiar.

The Road Ahead

The future of media built on AI and blockchain is still unwritten. But if history is a guide, the breakthroughs will seem obvious in hindsight—just as cinema and the internet do today. To get there, creators, technologists, and audiences alike must embrace the experimentation that bridges the gap between imitation and innovation.

There’s already some signal of new media emerging. Memecoins, love them or hate them, represents a new type of media. Tokenized objects of culture, infused with a liquid market with native attention capture and liquid markets attached. 

The recent AI agent surge alludes to a future where the concept of IP may not be that of a static property, slowly evolved through human creation, but rather a "living" concept capable of interacting with its own audience, constantly iterating and expanding. 

The next chapter isn’t just about using technology to replicate what we already know—it’s about redefining what’s possible, to forge entirely new types of media.

And for that, we need imagineers.

As always, reach out to me on X or Farcaster if you have feedback or are working on something cool you want to discuss.