An increase in creativity will be AI’s biggest impact on the creator economy, say 30% of content creators polled by video creation platform Artlist. However, 29% predict AI will result in a marked decrease in authenticity.
“Creativity is no longer the domain of a select few. With the tools and resources now available to everyone, anyone can create and share their ideas with the world,” says Google’s Amir Ariely. “This democratization of creativity is leading to an explosion of new and innovative content, from art and music to video and writing. As creativity becomes more accessible, we can expect to see even more groundbreaking work from people of all backgrounds and experiences.”
However, the creativity versus authenticity problem is particularly salient in the age of social media. Audience engagement lives or dies according to perceptions of credibility, and nearly 60% of respondents indicated that they were YouTubers, content creators or social media influencers. The remaining participants identified as freelance creatives, indie filmmakers and vloggers.
Read Artlist’s 2024 trend report in full, here.
AI’s Impact on the Bottom Line
Per the survey of more than 7,000 people, 24% are hopeful that AI will create more job opportunities that will lead to higher income, but 17% think the technology will generate more competition that will result in lower incomes.
Let’s add some context: About half of those surveyed said that they are paid by clients for their work, and 15% draw a salary from a company, while 12% rely on social media monetization. About 20% rely on subscription models or brand partnerships for revenue, and 26% say none of the above are how they make money from projects.
Only 14% of those surveyed say they create video content as a hobby, while 46% indicate that they make a living from this work. More than 15% say they supplement their income with video projects, while nearly a quarter say they “aspire to” make a living from their work as video creators.
Half of respondents say their video content generates $5,000 or less annually; 33% averaged somewhere between $5,000 to $50,000 per year; and 10% said they made more than $100,000 (4% of whom said that income was $500,000 or above).
AI Attitudes
It’s also important to factor in how familiar the respondents actually are with generative AI. Forty-four percent of those surveyed say they know the basic functions of generative AI tools, and 27% think they are very proficient. However, 29% admit that they don’t know how to use generative AI tools.
Also, 29% of respondents indicate that they sometimes use AI tools while working, and 23% say these tools are already “a big part” of their process. Twenty-two percent believe they will use these tools in the future, while 23% say they don’t think AI tools will help them at work and 3% think they’re too difficult to use for content creation.
At this point, half of respondents think generative AI hasn’t affected their work at all. But 31% say it has created more work opportunities and income, and 10% say genAI has meant more opportunities but reduced income. For 9%, AI has been a net negative, resulting in both lost work and lost income.
The survey also checked attitudes about generative AI and content authorship. Slightly more than half (52%) of those surveyed said they would publish AI-generated work under their own name because they “worked on it,” while 48% they would not because they “cannot take full credit” for the end product.
In the future, 52% predict their work will become easier because of the time-saving nature of AI tools; 13% think it will ease work through inspiration; and 10% say AI will reduce the amount of effort required for work. Some respondents are concerned that AI will complicate their work process: 15% fret that AI will take time to get good results, and 10% think that copyright and royalties concerns will be a drag on their efficiency.
With those beliefs in mind, let’s consider the type of work participants say that they create: 32% make promotional videos; 30% short films; 24% commercials ; 23% vlogs; 13% music videos; 12% podcasts; 12% tutorials/how to videos; 9% product reviews; 8% feature films; and 25% other. (Note that respondents could choose more than one answer). All of these areas are ripe for disruption and innovation, but AI tools are more fully developed for some use cases than others.