“If the consumers want AI content, then we’ll give them AI content.”
That’s what the Streaming Network Associate said, (I’m redacting the company for his anonymity as I’m not a reporter), and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since.
Let me explain…
#Prologue
As a recent TV writer whose first small show will be on Peacock next month (#selfplug ha), AI scares me for a variety of reasons…
…the big one being replaced by an “individual keyboard prompt warrior” who would rather “create” art by working and listening to a machine than collaborate with a diversity of thought from actual human beings who have actual real lived experiences.
But that’s just me…
So when I learned that someone in my circle of friends, a recent USC MBA graduate, had just been hired by the Streaming Network to help cut production costs, I felt I had no choice but to confront him about his thoughts on AI.
We went back and forth, but what stuck with me was this:
him: Studios aren’t making money. AI will cut our costs while we create more.
me: Who will AI replace? Who determines this?
him: We don’t know yet, but we’ll find out. In the end it’ll be up to the consumer to determine what AI will replace. If the consumers want AI content, then we’ll give them AI content.
I repeat.
“if consumers want AI content, then we’ll give them AI content”
It was in this moment that everything made sense. I finally found the root of where my fear and worries of AI derives from: comparison, legacy, and ego.
It’s a “me” issue.
Yes, let me first explain what I mean by these issues, and then I’ll share my solution to all of this.
#Comparison
Maybe it’s because of my abusive Asian childhood where my father loved to remind me that I would never be good enough to amount to anything. I carried this odd belief that in order to be successful at such a thing, I need to be skilled at it.
I define skill as a blend of genetic talent and work.
I define work as the process where one is dedicating their time on classes, practice, doing the reps, collaborating with others for feedback, clicking the “publish” button, etc…
…all to fail over and over again to build up the strength from the world’s criticism and more importantly find the answers inside of yourself that makes you proficient at the things you’re creating.
For example, my first TV pilot took two years to write: so much work went into that process. It never got picked up (more on those meetings later), but it was the reason I got hired on the small Peacock show coming out later this year.
Work requires you to really obsess and focus on one thing.
Work is essentially the journey: the explorative path to learning about yourself and ultimately discovering your purpose.
In equating this to the context of dating… I wouldn’t have discovered what I actually value in a partner if I hadn’t approached and dated different people, while also doing the inner work to understand what gives a relationship meaning and purpose for me.
AI eliminates work.
You can now be perceived as “good” at anything without focus and without skill.
Terrifying.
#Legacy and Ego
Since 2012 I’ve been a creative director for a variety of creators and brands on the internet. I’ve seen it all, starting from managing YouTubers all the way to influencer partnerships, BTS filming, UGC, micro-influencing, production, executive producing, getting paid by brands to pitch viral ideas… and the list continues.
Brands like McDonalds and Google…
Creators like KarenXCheng, Morgan Jay, Jesser…
Billions of views.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars.
We called ourselves the “Madmen of the 21st Century.”
I feel like there is nothing sexier than making a creative mess, then finding ways to put it all together with people to create something beautiful for people to experience.
However, in the beginning of 2024, after working with a few AI companies, I fell into the deepest depression and stopped doing work as a creative director.
I had this realization that in these last twelve years I rarely spent time prioritizing telling my stories.
I didn’t take the time to build up a following.
I didn’t take the time to build a community.
Because of this, all I could hear were the voices of the millions of marketing brand thought leaders on social media reminding me that I’m behind.
Overwhelmed with a set of questions:
How can I not only compete with people who rip content, but now do it with AI?
How do I have my personal stories heard in a realm of AI content farms?
How do I compete with all the AI commentators who profit from sharing AI content?
How do I compete with fake lived experiences?
On top of that, economically, due to my lack of savings and personal battles…
…do I have the monetary means to compete?
Lastly, the most important questions of all:
How do I make sure that when I create anything that people know that it’s original? That what I created is mine… it’s me?
#Solution
The solution came to me right when the Associate said, “it’ll be up to the consumer to decide if they want to see AI content”.
It was weird.
Tranquility.
I made peace with everything because this is what I came to walk away with…
As AI begins to destroy the environment and AI “creators” continue to steal content for their own projects and community videos, and how these AI “creators” will profit in multitudes from their “work”.
All I can do is understand that the only thing that matters is what I do individually.
Who am I to judge if people see it as valuable to be consumed?
Who am I to judge what people want?
Who am I to dictate what is art and what isn’t?
As a creative director it has been my job to make people care about the things I ideate and create. If people aren’t then I’m doing something wrong.
I have to strip away my ego and jealousy… and just say: who f*cking cares.
Yes, my counterpart will be an AI generated robot, so what? I’m not being sarcastic, if the consumer wants it then go right ahead. It’s my job to focus and about what I’m creating, who I’m creating with, and how I’m creating my projects.
It’s individual intentionality.
Does it matter if my art is seen by millions of people?
The answer is is now “who cares”.
Who.
F*cking.
Cares.
That’s not of importance.
What matters most is that I’m giving everything I have to tell my stories the way I feel they need to be told. In the way I want them to be told, without AI.
And maybe, hopefully, it’s good enough where there are enough people out there who’ll find value in my creations: just enough so I can also live enough at the same time.
This is may sound annoyingly idealistic high-brow, and you can roll your eyes after I say this, but I am creating for the art. I’ve made peace with the fact that I might be that forever “starving artist”.
But at least I’m creating for me…
Why? Because I crave creating: whether it’s great, good, or just plain confusing, even when it moves no one... I crave. creating.
This is all to say, if you’re an artist who doesn’t depend on AI to create your work (the word to focus on is depend), and you’re worried about AI… just remember:
Don’t let AI overwhelm you, be the distraction from making your things: if your art moves you, then trust that someone out there is craving to see it…
Keep creating.
Keep publishing.
Keep telling your stories.
We need your real human lived experiences now more than ever.
Thanks for listening
Philz Coffee - Ventura, CA
1:37 pm