#05: Consumption + AI
What am I even watching?
Just came up for air from a 15-minute doom-scroll on TikTok. Similar to Netflix’s “Are you still watching?” pop-up, TikTok should have a message appear after 15 minutes that says, “Do you realize you’re in a trance?”. Sheesh, I don’t remember the specific moment I went into the trance, but here’s what I do recall.
Late morning on Sunday, I took an unassuming trip to the social media sub-folder on my phone. Context: I group all social media apps in one spot, which has helped reduce watch time vs. having social media scattered throughout each app page. There’s something about ringfencing the apps in one place that makes me hesitate when I click the subfolder (I feel like I’m going somewhere I shouldn’t). That extra step before I dive into what is usually mind-numbing entertainment has me pause and bounce at times. That’s by design.
I opened TikTok. As I got to scrolling, it hit me that every other video was AI-generated. Some blatantly obvious while others showed subtleties.
But oh boy, the clearly AI-generated videos were something else.
The structure was consistent: in my case, templatized format of some single-player video game (Fortnite or racecars in this binge, but it’s varies each time I open the app) with an AI-generated narrator voice telling a story that became more engaging each second. You’re locked in as the suspense continues to build. And as you see the duration tracker almost reaches the right-hand of your screen, the punchline hits and the video is over.
Hook, line, and sinker on viewer retention. You’re not closing the TikTok app in the middle of the story; the algorithm has you hostage. These AI-generated videos tend to run similar playbooks. Shock factor at the start with a crazy one-liner of what the story is about, a familiar video game background, and a bizarre narrator voice. As the suspense in the story climbs, so does the action of the video game, heightening both your sight and hearing. And then boom, the punchline hits. You don’t know what just happened and then the next video, quite like the one you just watched, pops up. What do you do? You continue watching.
The algorithm learns super quickly. It notices that you watched this specific video in its entirety and then serves up similar-format videos to keep you glued to the app.
Now, there are plenty of videos on TikTok that are true user-generated content (UGC), starring real humans (and only real humans). These videos can be engaging too; however, the AI-generated slop knows how to suck you in ever so perfectly. It’s playing to your pleasure centers and puts you in a trance that is reminiscent of sitting at a casino slot machine. If the video is designed to manipulate your behavior, is it as innocuous as it may seem?
AI-generated content has reached an escape velocity. Many AI tools/applications are free or offer low-price paid options that allow you to create images, videos, and voices in seconds. Pair a video and a voice together and you may have the next viral TikTok in your hands.
There are a few forces at play here that I believe are tailwinds for the creator, but headwinds for the consumer. On the creation side, you can quickly spin up a high-retention-designed video with AI, post it on a platform (social media) that favors higher retention/engagement videos, and receive compensation based on view count (calling out TikTok in this case). In Creation + AI, I commented on whether this type of process is really “creating”. But hey, if you are looking to make a quick buck on social media, I can’t fault you for trying this out. Don’t hate the player, hate the game.
It's the consumers that are in a tough spot. It’s not difficult to discern a blatantly AI-generated video vs. a real person telling you about their day, however the algorithms know to keep us engaged. And from what I’ve seen, the AI-generated videos play the algorithms better than humans.
As consumers, we have the choice to consume more content than has ever been available at a very low barrier to entry. But the weighted-average quality has been diluted by AI garbage. Calling out TikTok here, their business is predicated on selling your ability to be addicted to content consumption. The monetization model comes in the way of selling advertisements or selling products (TikTok Shop). They have no financial incentive to change their algorithms to favor authentic UGC if this does not increase revenue.
I’ll leave you with this: as content velocity explodes, the quality of content we consume will likely decrease. Maybe you enjoy the AI-generated videos (I do at times!) but be wary of doom-scrolling. The creation vs. consumption equation is out of whack, as a growing portion of content is meant to benefit the platform more than you. It may behoove you to ask yourself sometimes, “What am I even watching?”.