Is AI the New CGI?

Is AI heading for the same fate as CGI? Time will tell

In 2023, the world is on fire over AI. Now, before I go on, I want to be clear: We’re calling this AI, but it’s not “technically” AI (cue the “askshully” meme.) Yes, it is artificial, and yes, it seems intelligent, but we’re not actually dealing with a thinking entity that can create original thoughts on its own. Just something I want to get out of the way up front.

So, with all of the AI buzz lately, it got me thinking: As a creative professional, I approach creative content from a different perspective compared to someone who is only consuming content. I can completely understand why people are blown away by the likes of ChatGPT and Midjourney. It really is neat stuff, and it works well when it works (emphasis on “when”.) If you don’t look any deeper than surface level, it seems like it does the truck beautifully. So, what’s the harm?

There’s a Certain “Feel” to AI Content

I’ve spent a lot of time with ChatGPT to test its functionality in terms of content writing, and I use it regularly for preliminary research on topics when I need to gather resources from a large pool of ideas. Research-wise, it does ok, but I always find errors, and its ability to follow instructions is like working with a toddler sometimes. More importantly, its writing capabilities are pretty bland, and I’ve reached a point where I feel like I can spot written AI content from a mile away.

The same with Midjourney, Dall-E, and the rest of the generative AI art content. It looks nice, yes, but there’s a certain feel to it. And that’s what got me thinking. I grew up in an era when CGI was gaining a foothold in mainstream movies. I still vividly remember being taken to see Terminator 2 in the theaters, and the audience was blown away by the visual effects. When the T-1000 liquefied and reformed on-screen, it was something the likes of which no one had seen before.

The same too for Jurrasic Park. Watching that in the theater around 1993, it was incredible that there seemed to be real dinos walking around on screen in front of everyone. The CGI was so unbelievable, and everyone had the same thought:

If CGI can do all of this now, imagine what it will look like in 30 years!

I was promised flying cars. Where are the flying cars?

We’re Living in the Future, and I’m Not Impressed

Well, here we are, 30 years later, and I have to say – I’m tired of CGI. And I’m not alone in this sentiment. Do a quick search for “tired of CGI,” and you’ll get back results from all corners of the web full of people echoing this sentiment. It’s overdone, it’s poorly done, it’s lazy, it’s easy to spot, it distracts from the story. All these complaints and more tell a tale of technology that didn’t know when to say when.

These days, no movie is complete without CGI, and audiences are in a CGI malaise. Even the once-unstoppable comic book movies have lost their appeal, and the hardcore adherents of Marvel-movie fandom have turned away from the CGI-fest of the last decade. Do people still watch these flicks? Sure, but they don’t draw nearly the same praise as they once did.

So how does this compare to AI? What’s the connection? It goes back to the chorus, “Imagine what it will look like in 30 years.” I completely agree that what we have now is the tip of the iceberg. I also agree that we’ll see some wild tech in the coming decades; however, when it comes to producing content, we’re at an unfortunate tipping point already.

Will the Internet devolve into meaninglessness?

The Dead Internet Theory in Real Time

AI is poised to spew garbage all over the Internet. In fact, it’s already doing this. And I think this is much akin to digital music production. Quality production tools suddenly became affordable and available for every bedroom producer under the sun in the last decade. What happened? Did we suddenly introduce a slew of new and incredible music to the world? No. If anything, music has become bland, dull, lifeless, and devalued. Why? Because it’s too easy for talentless people to make it these days.

Say what you will about the old model of the music industry, but at least the gatekeepers made it somewhat easy to find good artists. Nowadays, everybody and their mom is putting out Soundcloud mixtapes and Tiktok flows. And this isn’t “old-man-yells-at-cloud” either. There was a time when I longed for this kind of thing. Finally, everyone has the ability to create and introduce their art to the world. Unfortunately, I grossly overestimated the amount of true talent out there, and apparently, the world did too. When something becomes too easy to produce, it tends to lose value and people stop caring about artistry and the “work”.

AI creates a problem of data that cascades in time

AI and the Problem of Overabundance

This is the unfortunate reality we face with the rise of AI-generated content. Just like CGI in movies, which was once groundbreaking and awe-inspiring but has now become overused and predictable, AI-generated content risks becoming a mental and emotional drain on society.

As someone who works in the creative industry, I value authenticity and originality in content. I know authentic content gets views, shares, and affinity. It’s also what ultimately converts people into customers for businesses. The human touch, unique perspectives, nuance that comes with genuine human creativity and life experience – those are the things people want. AI can’t deliver that, but even if it could, it would be forced. Just like CGI is now. And people will be tired of it. People are tired of it.

For many years, the content and digital marketing industries have been obsessed with the algorithm. I can’t blame them because I am them. We look to Google and ask, “How do you want us to structure content to gain visibility?” This is a valid question, as it’s our job to develop content marketing strategies and produce content that achieves these goals.

The future is now, and it’s looking pretty boring

This is Your Future on AI

But with AI on the scene, the Internet is poised to be hit with a deluge of trash content that people will have to wade through to find what they want. Not only does this cause the Internet and information and data and the social web experience to diminish, but it also wastes your time. You know, the most precious commodity you own? One of the few things you can spend but never earn any more of?

So, where does this leave us? I think it leaves us in a place where, after the AI high has worn off and people come back down to Earth, we’re going to see a backlash. People will look for human content like never before, and it’s a good idea to get ready for this now. Begin planning how you will create in the coming months and years. If you’re an artist, keep refining your craft. If you’re a business owner, now is the time to think about building your content strategy so you can greet returning fans with arms wide open when the inevitable AI hangover takes effect.

To learn more about fortifying your content marketing strategy, contact Charlotte Content Marketing. We only develop content strategies for humans, by humans. That has been our stance since 2010, and it will continue to be our stance until Skynet takes over.