The development of artificial intelligence has taken center stage in tech in the last year, and virtually every industry has had to grapple with the opportunities and ethical concerns its growth has generated.
Creators and influencers, as well as companies in the creator economy, have also begun experimenting with the tech and finding ways to implement AI into their everyday workflows.
Some creators have been using AI technology for years. But when OpenAI’s chatbot ChatGPT came into the mainstream, more and more of them started experimenting with it, for tasks like idea generation, email drafts, and help with researching topics for videos.
Read about 9 ways influencers use ChatGPT in their day-to-day work.
It seems like pretty much every creator has found ways to effectively introduce AI in their work — a May survey found that over 94% of creators had been using the tech to help with their content.
Read more about the top ways creators have been using AI, according to a survey of 660 of them.
The power of AI hasn’t gone unnoticed by brands, either. In a June survey, over half of creators said brands had asked them to use AI when creating branded content.
Here are the key takeaways from a survey about AI and monetization in the creator economy.
Use cases for AI
Creators have found dozens of ways to implement AI in their workflows, from helping with video editing to generating content ideas.
ChatGPT has by far been the most utilized AI tool, with creators saying it was a “game changer” and had become “an indispensable tool.” The use cases for ChatGPT include:
Read more about how influencers use ChatGPT in their day-to-day work.
But ChatGPT is only one of many tools that leverage AI. A recent survey of 2,000 influencers found they’d also been using platforms like MidJourney, for text-to-image generation, and Google Bard, Google’s chatbot, among others.
Read more about the most used AI tools by creators, and other key findings from a survey from startup Creator Now.
AI has been particularly helpful for categories of creators like podcasters, who deal with time-consuming tasks like cutting long tapes of audio and editing text scripts. Tools like live-transcription service Otter.ai and audio-editing platform Descript have helped podcasters significantly cut production time.
Read more about 6 ways podcasters have been using AI, and their favorite tools.
Some creators, like OnlyFans star Riley Reid, have gone so far as to create an alternate version of themselves using AI. Reid created a chatbot based on herself with her company Clona, which she says will be a way for fans to interact with her for years to come, without limitations.
Read more about how Reid plans to ‘immortalize’ herself with AI, and how her chatbot works.
AI-powered creator-economy startups
As AI becomes more accessible and people grow accustomed to the idea of integrating it into their work, a slew of startups has emerged using the technology to simplify and streamline tasks, like Eleven Labs, that helps with dubbing content in multiple languages, and DALL-E, which generates images from text prompts.
Read a list of 12 AI-powered startups and tools that have been transforming how creators work.
One of the buzziest startups is Runway, a platform that aims to simplify video editing and filmmaking, from removing backgrounds to generating scenes from text prompts. Its tools have been used by creators and filmmakers, including the VFX artists behind Oscar-winning movie “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”
Read more about Runway’s mission and the tools it provides from one of its cofounders.
Another company that focuses on streamlining storytelling is Lore Machine, founded by Vice’s former head of publishing. The platform creates visual “storyboards” based on text, and its goal is to simplify the process of turning novels and poems into movies and videos.
Read more about how Lore Machine works and how it aims to shake up Hollywood.
To support creators with community management, Glystn uses AI to collect and distill information from comments and messages across a creator’s different social-media platforms. It helps identify trending topics among the creator’s community, and reply and interact with audiences faster.
Read about Glystn’s mission and the pitch deck it used to raise $4 million.
Hour One, which most recently raised a $20 million Series A funding round in 2022, allows users to make avatars, or “virtual humans.” Their clients have used the service to generate avatar-led videos like language lessons, product tutorials, or HR and recruiting videos.
Read the 11-page pitch deck Hour One used to raise $20 million in 2022.
How existing creator-economy companies are investing in AI
It’s not only new companies and startups that are implementing AI. Existing companies within the creator economy have been capitalizing on the growth of artificial intelligence in different ways.
Fanvue, a platform for subscription content similar to OnlyFans, is bullish on AI-generated influencers, particularly when it comes to adult content. The company’s founder told Business Insider he believes AI influencers “will thrive,” and several adult-content creators on Fanvue have already found success.
Read more about the success of AI-generated adult-content models on Fanvue, and how much one of them makes.
Influencer-marketing firms have also been thinking about what role AI can play in advertising and marketing campaigns. Influencer-marketing agency Billion Dollar Boy has launched an innovation unit to help brands experiment with AI content.
Read more about how Billion Dollar Boy is partnering with brands to explore AI with a new innovation unit.
And while the development of AI has generated excitement and opened a trove of opportunities, some are worried about the repercussions its use can have on trust in creators and brands. Ad agency Ogilvy, for example, introduced an “AI Accountability Act” to encourage clear labeling of AI-generated influencer content.
Read more about why some industry insiders think the use of AI in influencer content should be disclosed.
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