AI-generated content risks saturating feeds with low-effort material engineered to maximize scrolling and engagement. Attention, rather than an abundance of content, functions as the primary scarcity in the media landscape. Many platforms are increasingly optimized for engagement, producing addictive dynamics amplified by AI-driven amplification. Conversely, AI can offer independent creators more creative leverage and tools to produce higher-quality work. Direct monetization models that let writers earn from subscribers can support sustainable cultural production. Significant investment has recently valued creator-focused platforms at over a billion dollars despite ongoing concerns about content quality.
"You could have a bunch of AI slop that kind of keeps dumb people clicking," Best said. But that the same technology could enable a very different outcome: a "future where there's way more creative leverage" for independent creators, he said. Best also said that the real bottleneck for media isn't content, but attention. "We've entered a world where attention is the scarce resource," he said. "We have won the war on boredom." "There's no scarcity of content, but there's a huge scarcity of good content," he added.
With tech advancing, Best said much of the internet is being optimized purely for engagement, which he compared to "drug addiction." "That side of the media is going to get supercharged," he said. "We have very sophisticated AI goon bots now." "The other purpose of media is culture," he said. "That is something that people really, really want as well."
Collection
[
|
...
]