A.I. is a polarizing force: optimists view it as an era-defining innovation, and pessimists see an impending bubble of epic proportions. Regardless of perspective, there’s broad consensus: A.I. won’t miss or softly adjust industries incrementally. Instead, every sector will have distinct pre- and post-A.I. eras, marked by the most transformative shifts experienced since the rise of the internet, if not ever. Among them, the creator economy will face one of the most profound transformations because it monetizes the very essence of what generative A.I. excels at—content.
Industries around content creation have existed as long as storytelling itself. Books, radio, television and music all relied on licensing, royalties or sales of the content. Success was gated by publishers or broadcasters who controlled distribution, influencing who gained recognition and pouring revenue and large budgets into their creation. Then came the Millennial-driven social media revolution, empowering creators with unprecedented direct access to audiences. This shift redefined distribution, allowing creators to cultivate niche communities and monetize content independently. Although nowhere near the quality of studios, high-quality content became pivotal in standing out, growing audiences and maximizing earnings through brand partnerships, sponsored posts and paid appearances.
More recently, Gen Z introduced two concurrent yet opposing revolutions. On one side emerged TikTok, democratizing virality by favoring authentic, raw content captured on phones over polished, professional productions. Monetization shifted accordingly, with creators earning modestly from views and engagement—requiring a sheer volume of content and views—or often funneling audiences toward other platforms for additional income streams. Conversely, the other revolution embraced exclusivity and personalization. Platforms like OnlyFans (~$2 billion annual revenue), Patreon (~$200 million annual revenue) and Cameo (~$100 million annual revenue) empowered creators to sell premium, personalized content directly to consumers, commanding prices from modest subscriptions to thousands of dollars per interaction.
Now, A.I. introduces a singularity for the creator economy. With A.I.’s ability to rapidly generate virtually unlimited text, images, audio and video, content scarcity becomes obsolete. A.I.-powered tools enable personalized, professional-quality content at scale, instantly tailored and delivered to countless users simultaneously. There are no more trade-offs or decisions to be made between mass market or personalized, amateur or professional standard, or opportunity costs of doing one paid activity over another.
This singularity represents change: the limitations of yesterday, around costs, time and physical bounds, are gone, meaning tomorrow’s opportunities will be fundamentally different. Authentic-feeling experiences are now commoditized—which is a new paradigm. I anticipate that, similarly to other media industries, it likely means a falling value of each experience and an equivalent, if not greater, increase in the quantity of the experiences. Therefore, we anticipate that the industry will move from quality to quantity, all enabled by A.I., for those that adapt to the new paradigm.
Ultimately, A.I. will radically transform the industry, and each creator’s adoption of or resistance to A.I. will shape not just their own career trajectory, but the overall industry. In this free market, creators will bring fans and revenue to the A.I. platforms and developers; therefore, their adoption of different A.I. offerings will help shape which A.I. becomes dominant and moves the creator economy into the future.