The Creator Economy has a new offshoot: Introducing The Created Economy
The future of content is Created over Creator
I spent much of this weekend, along with 15,000 other people at many points, entranced by the infinite, entirely AI-generated, Seinfeld-inspired 90s sitcom, Nothing, Forever.
Notwithstanding recent technical issues that led to the show airing problematic content (leading to a 2-week ban on Twitch), Nothing Forever is surprisingly coherent, given that its animation, script, direction, and music, are all generated by AI tools.
The show features sitcom tropes such as lighthearted dialogue, jokes with lead-ups and punchlines, musical stings, scene changes, Seinfeld’s signature stand-up sequences, and a prominent laugh track.
It had been streaming one infinite episode of entirely new content, 24 hours a day, for over a month and aims to be back soon when its safety features are functioning again.
This surreal experiment in generative AI got me thinking about the division of effort between the creative minds that thought up the show and the AI tools that produce every second of it.
Nothing, Forever is more about what is being created than it is about its creators.
I believe that as AI tools become more user-friendly, capable, safe, and autonomous, creators behind shows like Nothing, Forever will fade into the background and consumers will be able to leverage new AI tools to produce whatever content they want, whenever they want it.
This will create an entirely new paradigm for content creation and consumption, occupying much of the space created by the Creator Economy over the last ~20 years.
I call this new paradigm The Created Economy.
Advantages of the Created Economy
Personalization
Imagine reading just one newsletter a day instead of the 5-10+ many of us skim every morning. It is created just for you, containing all of the news and information most relevant to your interests, summarized and delivered in the format and style you prefer.
Imagine listening to the perfect playlist on your run with each song produced for, and adapting to, your pace.
Imagine watching new episodes of your new favourite TV show whenever you feel like it.
The Created Economy will vastly improve the content we consume in most categories by catering it to our unique tastes.
In the Created Economy, all content will be bespoke.
Discovery
The key to a successful Creator Economy platform was serving users a stream of content that would engage them. Content discovery was the number one pain point.
The Created Economy will bring the pain of content discovery to zero.
Discovery of the right content is no longer a problem when the content is created just for you.
Ask a Created Economy platform for what you’re looking for and it will appear, better than you could have imagined.
Niches
The Creator Economy has reached a scale whereby it feels like there is a creator for every niche. But there isn’t.
The Created Economy will allow anyone to have high quality content produced for them in whatever niche category they wish.
Want a daily digest on advancements in the scientific study of fungi, read to you in 60 seconds or less? Hit play.
Want a sample of Brazilian Techno-Folk music? Have a listen.
Want a manga poster for your bedroom of Michael Jordan as Superman, dunking on Lebron James as Lex Luthor? You got it.
The Created Economy will unearth and produce new content niches.
While we may still tune in to creator content for the personalities, points of view, and life experiences of creators, Created content will suit us better much of the time.
I don’t care who created the ambient beats playlist that I put on during a session of deep work as long as it helps me focus, the same way I don’t care who reports on the latest technology news as long as it is concise and accurate.
I don’t even care who I’m watching on TikTok as long as they are teaching me something or making me laugh.
The Created Economy means unlimited content, superior to that of the Creator Economy, generated for us in the moment that we ask for it. Created content will be highly personalized, it will occupy new niches, and it will always be at our fingertips. All we will have to do is ask for it.