In a nutshell - we’re talking about influencers and their economy. We know that influencers, produce and share written, image, and video content and earn money through affiliate marketing, brand sponsorships, merchandising, and paid subscriptions. This creator economy therefore is a relatively new socioeconomic system empowering content creators to, directly and indirectly, make money from the content they develop.
Speed and simplicity like never before
Highly intuitive Gen AI-powered tools like Typeface and Microsoft’s Designer generate graphics, product shots, and social media posts. These tools integrate the functionality of language models such as GPT-4 with image generation capabilities, making content creation much quicker and easier. Gen AI-capable video tools like CapCut are great for beginners as many of the features are free and they are simple to use. Content creators race towards time-saving features like auto-caption, which generates almost perfect subtitles for social media reels and video content. It can also write video scripts from a prompt, create promo clips from longer videos, and auto-create ads using product URLs. Runway makes videos and animations from simple text prompts. It also transforms still images into videos and generates lip-syncing avatars using organic voice recordings.
Lightricks surveyed over 1,000 content creators and identified that 53% already use generative AI to create photo backgrounds. 47% said they use it for video backgrounds, and 84% said they would likely use AI if it helped save them time or money. Tools like Photo AI learn to recognise facial patterns, allowing new images to be generated according to prompts provided by the user. Such tools will potentially eliminate the need for content creators to pay for travel and in some instances, professional photographers. There is, however still a lot to be said for human creativity, W/Brand and the magic of real images in real situations. The best influencers will learn how to harness the power of AI without coming across as fake, which has the potential to work against them.
What happens next?
Gen AI assists with the technical aspects of content creation therefore it is becoming increasingly easier to enter the creator economy without any in-depth technical know-how. Where we are heading can be seen by the emergence of AI-generated influencers like Aitana Lopez who is an example of what is popping up on social media feeds. As generative AI becomes increasingly accessible and easy to use we will potentially witness an unprecedented explosion of this type of content and a rush of new players to the creator economy.
Whilst some aspects of content creation will inevitably become automated, this technological advancement will swiftly increase the volume of content clutter. An increase in content quantity will inevitably come with the risk of sacrificing quality. Generic and repetitive content is boring and brands who associate with this for the sake of quantity run the risk of losing hard-earned sharpness and appeal. This will call for a necessary counterbalance from brand message innovation so that a strengthened brand identity emerges. Powerful brand visual, literal and audio disciplines, innovative iconography and precise application frameworks will require more attention to ensure that the now new storytellers, our influencers, are equipped with robust brand tools that don’t run the risk of being lost to the wind.
