About Marc

I'm Marc Brown, an American tech writer. My beat is consumer AI, and my favorite format is the unglamorous one: the head-to-head comparison. Pick the tools people are actually choosing between, run them through the same tests, and say plainly which one I'd spend my own money on.

I got pulled into AI entertainment because it's where the most interesting, and most awkward, questions are. What makes an AI character feel alive instead of agreeable? Why does a good voice make bad dialogue more obvious? Can a two-minute vertical drama made with AI be any good? (Sometimes, yes.) Most coverage treats this world as either a novelty or a scandal. I think it's a new medium, and it deserves real criticism.

How I test

Every tool gets the same fixed prompt sheet. I run each prompt several times and score every output, not just the best one. Then I work out what a usable result really costs. It's slower than writing up a launch video, but it's the only way I trust my own conclusions.

What I won't do

I don't recommend products that manipulate users, blur the line about what's AI, or make cancelling hard. If a company gives me access to something I write about, or I have any connection to it, I say so in the piece.

Say hello

Tips, corrections, briefings, commissions: marcbrownpen@gmail.com. I can't answer every pitch, but I do read them.

— Marc