The Age of Intent: Rearchitecting the Media Catalog | a Reflect Podcast by Ed Fassio

In this episode, Ed Fassio examines a quiet but decisive recalibration in media: the shift from selecting finished works in a catalog to commissioning personalized experiences through artificial intelligence. As prompts replace playlists and intent begins to outrank genre, entertainment starts behaving less like a library and more like an on-demand instrument… one that can generate what you want, when you want it.

But the upgrade has a shadow. Ed explores the economic gap this transition exposes, where global superstars may extend their brand through licensed digital likeness, while middle-class creators face displacement by systems trained on their work without clear permission or compensation. He also confronts a cultural paradox: hyper-personalized media can be endlessly convenient, yet it risks dissolving the shared reference points that hold communities together.

The episode closes with a hard standard for the “creator decade” ahead. The winners will not be defined by volume of output, but by legitimacy… the trust, ethics, and human meaning that builders and creators choose to protect while the tools accelerate.