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Intel
Where we share information you should know.
Chinese influencers’ AI avatars sold $7.65M in one livestream
Yuo Longhao, a very popular Chinese livestreaming influencer, used AI avatars operated by Baidu and trained on five years' worth of his videos; the sale generated $7.65M in sales.
Was it just a gimmick that worked the one time, or do people prefer AI avatars? Time will tell. Link
Insight
Where we share analysis of the business of Creators.
MrBeast’s AI Fiasco
MrBeast is in trouble again...but this time, I'm not sure he should be.
His YouTube analytics platform, Viewstats, launched an AI Thumbnail Generator. Bet you can guess what happened next….
The YouTuber Twitterverse was swift to lash back; Jimmy removed the product and apologized almost overnight.
The crux of the complaint was expressed in this tweet from a Game Theorists fan account @GTeaLive:
"In such a scary time for artists it's really sad to see Mr Beast disregard all of the many awful things about AI in favour of optimising views and stats.
How can you care about other creators while actively pushing for the use of something that's taking so many jobs?"
I get where they're coming from - I myself have been a fairly outspoken critic of AI.
Recently though, my perspective has been changing.
Here's where I'm at now and what I think of the drama:
1) Greatness requires direction.
AI tools currently work best to enable skilled Creators, not replace them.
Just because a product can generate a thumbnail doesn't mean it will be the best thumbnail possible - making something great requires the direction of a human with great prompting skills, output curation, and vision for the end product.
That’s exceedingly rare, so an AI tool alone is nowhere near sufficient to replace human thumbnail (or any) artists.
2) Nothing is free, especially not good things.
When Uber “democratized” transportation, the taxi business collapsed, devastating the incomes of taxi drivers and forcing many into bankruptcy.
And yet, I would be surprised if anyone reading this takes taxis instead of Uber. It’s cheaper, easier, and a better overall experience.
AI thumbnail generators democratize access to something that currently only the highest-earning Creators have: data analysis and creative production to optimize against otherwise inscrutable algorithms.
AI tools are unlikely to be as good as real thumbnail artists, but they are more accessible for lower-earning Creators who don’t have the money to hire real people.
Thumbnails can make or break a YouTube channel, so the value here for smaller Creators is non-trivial. Access for those who previously couldn’t is what “democratization” is all about…
But it always comes at a cost. Just ask the taxi drivers.
Unfortunately, the costs of this inevitable democratization include:
Lost real and potential income by thumbnail artists
Successful thumbnails used by successful Creators used to train (and even get copied by) AI
3) Pandora's box is open.
No one is going to like this, but it's the truth:
Fighting back against technological "progress" is a losing battle.
When new technology disrupts an industry, labor always gets screwed - and since our government can't adapt in ways that benefit “the People”, it's on us to adapt ourselves.
That sucks, but it's reality. No one came to save the cabbies.
Despite his many flaws, I believe MrBeast cares about the Creator Economy.
Well, I believe he cares about himself, and his brand and long-term success are intimately tied to the Creator Economy.
It would be better for Creators if someone like MrBeast - who has a stake in the same game we do - builds AI tools for us instead of the trillion-dollar tech company that otherwise will fill the gap.
Those certainly don't care about Creators.
What do you think? Should MrBeast have removed his AI Thumbnail Editor or kept it up?
Reply to let me know.
Resources
Fresh links to events, articles, communities, and products that will help you build your business.
This week’s resources:
beehiiv is hosting a Creator Business Summit on July 16th at 1pm Eastern. They’ll have huge names including Shaan Puri and Codie Sanchez. I just registered - will I see you there?
Join the Creator Logic community for events, guest speakers, and product deals!
About: Creator Logic was founded by Avi Gandhi - award-winning Creator agent, producer, and executive - with the mission of helping 1 million people find freedom in the Creator Economy
Poll
How (if at all) do you use AI tools for optimizing your content?
Stay Curious
Where we share things we find interesting.
Calculate the value of your attention (literally)
(In)famous management consultancy McKinsey created a widget to calculate the value of your attention per hour, comparing the value of your attention to the average monetization per hour so you can see where attention is overpriced and underpriced.
I could spend hours playing with this thing. Link
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