Recent advancements in generative AI are having a profound impact on almost every industry we can think of. Decades ago, we might’ve imagined AI robots taking over all the manual tasks in our home in the future, but to everyone’s surprise, the wave of AI disruption has impacted the creative fields first - the very areas that we thought were the most human of all. 

The creator economy has already been a rapidly evolving industry, changing structurally every year or two with the rise of new formats like Stories, first introduced by Snapchat in 2013, or as new networks, like TikTok, emerge, but it also changes on a weekly basis to keep up with the pace of new trends and changing culture. 

To everyone’s surprise, the wave of AI disruption has impacted the creative fields first - the very areas that we thought were the most human of all.

However, I believe a change more fundamental than anything since the rise of mobile is happening, which will forever change how we all communicate, and how creators, brands, and platforms interact.

When the creator economy was first starting out, it centered mostly around the concept of influencers, but as it has matured, the focus has broadened toward a more holistic view of creators. Today more than ever, more people are capitalizing on the creator economy, making a living off of it, and both brands and the platforms are investing in it, giving creators more ways to create, optimize, and monetize their content. These changes have professionalized and grown the industry, but we’re about to see massive changes to it in terms of reduced barriers to entry and further growth, plus business model evolution. 

Generative AI will democratize creativity to an exponential degree, shrinking the barrier between what you can imagine and what you can create. People who did not think of themselves as creators suddenly will find that they can be one. 

Generative AI will democratize creativity to an exponential degree, shrinking the barrier between what you can imagine and what you can create.

This will have profound effects, potentially shrinking the marginal cost of some traditional content creation to near zero in the future, but it will also open up new possibilities of what can be created, and even give rise to new business models. 

Historically, as new tech emerges, barriers to entry lower, and more creators join the flock. The advent of photography might’ve been scary to painters of the age who specialized in portraits, but it also opened up endless other types of creation, which we all enjoy today.  

Importantly, there is no going back - but I’d like to argue that the creative fields are all about pushing boundaries. We need to evolve with our field and find what new things are possible and lean into the change around us. However we can certainly try to influence it to be positive, from a perspective of productivity and responsibility. As a matter of trade, AI can help creators with everything from initial ideation to execution. It can even learn a creator’s style and mass-scale and personalize art in ways never possible. From a responsibility point of view, we can influence these systems to be modeled after proper consent, credit, and compensation.

Importantly, there is no going back - but I’d like to argue that the creative fields are all about pushing boundaries.

The pace of change we’re seeing is only going to increase, so we have to come to terms with the state of the industry and where it’s going, and try to shape it to what we want it to be.