How AI ruins things
Artists are leaving mass market social media for good reason.
Creative writing and visuals that are made using AI tools...look cheap.
Many brands are actively choosing to create communication artefacts (or content as it's now called) affordably by using AI. This may save them money in the short-term, but what it ends up conveying to the rest of us is that 'this brand is managed by a bunch of accountants that don't care about crafting excellence, but rather want to craft their own bottomline.'
Which is fine if that's the positioning you're going for, but then just be aware of the game you are then actively choosing to play.
What this means though is that brands who choose to carry on hiring real artists and creators that are able to create beautiful works that actually touch people will certainly stand out. Flooding the world with your 'content' is a sure path towards conformity.
On this point, one of our favourite artists, Gerhard Human, recently made an announcement that he will be leaving Instagram in favour of rather building his audience on Cara.
The reason for this move is obviously because Instagram (along with Facebook and Twitter) have become increasingly awful to use.
Feeds are now riddled with shitty ads and AI-generated crap that frankly make the value of the experience of using these platforms less than the time expense you need to pay for the privilege. Plus, platforms like WhatApp, Instagram, Facebook etc etc use personal pictures that you post, as well as works of art like Gerhard's, as training fodder for their AI systems. For obvious reasons this is unethical, but whacha gonna do right?
Well done to Gerhard and all of the other artists and creators that value themselves enough to flip the bird to Zuckerberg and the other Silicone Valley bros that seem to think that they literally own the rights to everyone's creativity.
AI is quickly creating a creative flatland that's good news for brands that choose to avoid the traps that it sets.
Quality, excellence and that special secret something that cannot be measured (so we know accountants can't see it) is what draws an audience to develop an emotional connection with something. And those that choose quality over value will successfully continue to draw a crowd.
Expect to see more creators abandon mass market social media and head into less exploitative arenas like Cara and Mastodon.
Related:
Jon Cherry
Rebecca Jennings