What does AI mean for user-generated content as it advances?

One of the most disruptive trends to come out of the internet was the emergence of the creator economy, which made it possible for independent authors, singers, artists, podcasters, YouTubers, and social media influencers to interact directly with audiences and make money doing it.
On websites like Facebook, Instagram, Vimeo, Substack, TikTok, and others, creators can publish and share their user-generated content in addition to creating it. Through social media, people may become independent content creators and self-publishers, upending established economic structures and empowering a whole generation of creative thinkers to forge their own route to success.

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Until recently, it was believed that the creativity exhibited by these people was exclusive to humans and could not be affected by technological advancements. But the rise of generative AI, along with the creator economy, has the potential to upend this fledgling sector and fundamentally change how new content is created. With a few easy suggestions, anyone can use generative AI models to generate written paragraphs, software code, high-quality photos, music, video, and more.

In what ways can AI support user-generated content?

With the release of ChatGPT in late 2022, generative AI gained widespread attention and quickly gained traction on the internet. Since then, tech companies have hurried to develop a wide range of user-friendly applications that may facilitate content production.
One example is ChatGPT, a text-generation tool that can generate blog posts, essays, marketing copy, email pitches, documents, and more when given a straightforward prompt from the user.

More remarkable types of content creation are image producing models like Midjourney, which can produce dramatic images based on user suggestions. Video generators like Runway, Google DeepMind’s Veo, and OpenAI’s Sora can also produce engaging images.

The creation of video game content is also being impacted by generative AI. Consider the cutting-edge technology created by AMGI Studios for their popular Web3 game My Pet Hooligan. This technology replicates the player’s in-game facial expressions through the use of AI algorithms and proprietary motion capture. Additionally, it makes use of generative AI to provide each user charactera different NFT a unique personality that users can get to know through a chat interface.

Buzzfeed’s personalized content creation tools, which let users make personalized quizzes quickly, and its generative AI recipe creator, which can suggest meals based on what’s in the user’s fridge, are two other examples of how people are using generative AI to boost creativity.

There are three possible outcomes.

Although not everyone agrees, some believe that AI-generated material poses a serious danger to user-generated content. There are a lot of scenarios that could happen, but it’s uncertain what effect generative AI will ultimately have on the creator economy.

First scenario: AI fosters innovation

As for the first scenario, it’s feasible to see a world where AI-assisted invention is exploding and content producers themselves use AI to boost productivity and performance. Designers, for example, can utilize AI to swiftly produce basic concepts and outlines, then use their human knowledge to refine those creations—be they product designs, logos, or other designs—after that. Generative AI just becomes a tool that designers utilize to increase productivity and enhance their job, not to completely replace them.

Copilot, a generative AI tool from GitHub that functions as a sort of programming assistant to assist developers in generating code, is an illustration of this. It helps them create code snippets, such the lines of code needed to design an app to do common tasks, but it doesn’t completely replace their work. However, the developer is in charge of all of this and employs his imagination to create all of the intricate details of the program.

Another example of how AI enhances human creativity is found in AMGI’s in-game content creation tools, which produce original in-game scenarios and characters that are ultimately determined by the user’s choices.

User-generated content and creative professionals are not in danger in such a situation. AI won’t replace people in the workforce; instead, it will help those who already work there and improve their performance. They’ll be able to operate more quickly and effectively, finishing more tasks in less time, and devoting more of their time to directing the AI tools they employ and modifying their outputs. Innovation will accelerate as a result of the ability for creative ventures to proceed far more quickly.

Scenario 2: AI monopolises creativity

A more dystopian scenario is the one where algorithmic models leverage their unfair advantage to totally dominate the world of content creation. It’s a future where human designers, writers, coders and perhaps even highly skilled professionals like physicists are drowned out by AI models that can not only work faster, but at much lower costs than humans can.

From a business perspective, if they can replace costly human creators with cheap and cheerful AI, that’s great, translating to more profitability. But there are concerns, not only for the humans that lose their livelihoods, but also on the impact of creativity itself.
As impressive as generative AI-created content sometimes is, the outputs of these algorithms are all based on existing content – namely the data they’re trained on. Most AI models have a habit of regurgitating similar content. Take an AI writer that always seems to write prose in the same, instantly recognizable and impersonal way, or AI image generators that constantly churn images with the same aesthetic.

An even more alarming example of this is the AI music generators Suno and Uncharted Labs, whose tools are said to have been trained on millions of music videos posted on YouTube. Musicians represented by the Recording Industry Association of America recently filed lawsuits against those companies, accusing them of copyright infringement. Their evidence? Numerous examples of supposedly original songs that sound awfully familiar to existing ones created by humans.

For instance, the lawsuit describes a song generated using Suno, called “Deep down in Louisiana close to New Orle” which seems to mirror the lyrics and style of Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode.” It also highlights a second track, “Prancing Queen” that seems to be a blatant rip off of the ABBA hit “Dancing Queen.”
These examples raise questions over AI’s ability to create truly original content. If AI were to monopolise creativity, it could result in true innovation and creativity screeching to a halt, leading to a future that’s sterile and bland.

Scenario 3: Human creativity stands out

Given AI’s lack of true authenticity and originality, a third possible way this could play out is that there is a kind of backlash against it. With consumers being overwhelmed by a sea of mundane, synthetic imagery and prose, those with an eye for flair will likely be able to identify true, human creativity and pay a premium for that content. After all, humans have always shown a preference for true originality, and such a scenario could well play into the hands of the most talented content creators.

It’s a future where being human gives creators a competitive edge over their algorithmic rivals, with their unparalleled ability to come up with truly original ideas setting their work apart. Human culture, fashions and trends seem to evolve faster than generative AI models are created, and that means that the most original thinkers will always be one step ahead. It’s a more reassuring future where humans will continue to create and be rewarded for their work, and where machines will only ever be able to copy and iterate on existing ideas.

This is perhaps the most likely scenario and, reassuringly, it means there will always be a need for humans in the mix. Humans, after all, are characterised by their creativity – everything that exists in the modern world today was created by someone, whether it’s the shoes on your feet, the device you’re reading this article with, or the language you speak. They’re all human creations, inspired by original ideas rooted in the human brain, and humans – especially those who find AI can do their jobs for them – will have more time to sit and think and potentially come up with even better ideas than the ones we’ve had so far.