A metamorphosis is underway in how content is created as well as consumed. We have all tried using GenAI to churn out text. Surprisingly the output is contextual, coherent and engaging. Already websites, resumes, product descriptions and blog posts are littered with text written using GenAI. It is just so much simpler, cheaper and faster to get a rough draft from ChatGPT rather than stare at the cursor blinking at the top of a blank document. Some people dismiss GenAI because of its shortcomings like hallucination, bias and the tendency to prefer certain phrases. Considering this new kid on the block has just been around for 18 months, I shudder to imagine what it will be able to do in a few short years.
The impact of GenAI is even greater on video. Every day billions of users visit streaming platforms and social media to consume billions of minutes of movies, serials, podcasts and reels. Video production is both long and laborious, with specialists required for scripting, storyboarding, directing, and post-production. The simple reality is that our appetite for fresh content far exceeds our capacity to create high-quality videos.
AI tools are reinventing the video creation process. AI tools encompass script writing, curating, mixing, editing, translation, colour correction and special effects. This is freeing creators to focus on crafting compelling narratives. The choice is clear, learn to collaborate with AI or be left behind.
AI has also become the latest tool for digital platforms to cater to our ever shrinking attention spans. Much like Uber gets you to your destination rather than a list of cabs to choose from, chat is replacing search as the interface for finding information. We don’t even need to view the information we find. We can get a summarised answer to our precise question or drill down to the precise second covering the new touchscreen in the car review video.
AI is just a tool and can be used for any purpose. AI-powered recommendation algorithms have taken over our screens, our feeds and thus our minds. Every App seems to learn our preferences and serve up just the content we like. There is no attempt to educate, inform or enrich. There is a real risk of creating social media zombies living in echo chambers and the trend towards it is relentless. Even scarier is the rise of deep fakes. From embarrassing videos to phone calls which sound like a loved one, deep fakes pose an insidious threat. Trust has eroded – we can no longer believe what we hear or see.
This brings me to the essential question, how to reach these zombies and earn their trust?
Let me ask the AI and get back to you.
