"If your work's average, you're screwed. It's over for you"

AI isn't just coming, it's here. It's not just some hypothetical thing that one day in the future might render your work redundant - it exists, now, and is on course to make 99% of what creators create extinct. 

That's according to Casey Neistat, the divisive but undisputed godfather of what we now understand to be content creation - a label that is increasingly used pejoratively. At the same time, though, it increasingly represents not just a subgenre of media but the entire way in which media is produced. 

Like all content creators, Neistat is a filmmaker. And as someone who hasn't just observed the changing landscape, but has actually helped change it, he knows whereof he speaks. So, when asked about his take on AI's impact on the creator economy and the future of filmmaking, his words carry a lot of weight. 

"I think the freakout is necessary and warranted, and I think it's going to have huge impact on the landscape," he told the crowd on the Main Stage at the 2024 NAB Show in Las Vegas. 

"To get really hyperspecific, if you've ever been on a big [movie] set, there's always reshoots… I think all reshoots are going to be able to be done with AI. Not all, but most. Those are the low-hanging fruit that AI is going to chip away at, to begin with. I think the influencer marketing stuff that's done, with AI, that's going to get chipped away at pretty quickly [too]."

"But I think the thing that AI is going to have an impossible job of achieving is that last 1% that stands between everything [else] and what's great. I think that that last 1%, only a human can impart that.

"And the examples I like to give are, like, most Netflix movies that are made by Netflix are perfectly mediocre… because that's creativity by committee. They have all of this data showing what their audience likes; we're going to apply all that data, we're going to apply this formula, we're going to make this movie that's purely mediocre, to have as broad an appeal as possible. 

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"But when you have truly great films, movies that really stand out, it's because there's typically one, or a small group of sociopaths heading that movie to make it exactly what they want it to be. I think of the Wes Andersons of the world. Francis Ford Coppola mortgaging his house to pay for Apocalypse Now, cause he believed in his movie that much, he believed in his creativity that much.

"So I think that last bit - AI will get you right to where you can see the finish line, but if you stop there you've got something that's mush, and to get across that finish line requires greatness that I think only a human can [create]. What it's going to do is, if your work's average, you're screwed. It's over for you. Be great, because AI is going to have a really hard time being great itself."

And when asked if he uses AI tools himself? "No, I ain't got time for that shit."

The video of the entire talk is embedded below, and there's a whole host of great content from other top minds in media available on the NAB website. And of course, you can check out Casey's channel on YouTube. 

If you're feeling inspired, take a look at the best cameras for vlogging along with the best cameras for filmmaking. 

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The editor of Digital Camera World, James has 21 years experience as a journalist and started working in the photographic industry in 2014 (as an assistant to Damian McGillicuddy, who succeeded David Bailey as Principal Photographer for Olympus). In this time he shot for clients like Aston Martin Racing, Elinchrom and L'Oréal, in addition to shooting campaigns and product testing for Olympus, and providing training for professionals. This has led him to being a go-to expert for camera and lens reviews, photo and lighting tutorials, as well as industry news, rumors and analysis for publications like Digital Camera Magazine, PhotoPlus: The Canon Magazine, N-Photo: The Nikon Magazine, Digital Photographer and Professional Imagemaker, as well as hosting workshops and talks at The Photography Show. He also serves as a judge for the Red Bull Illume Photo Contest. An Olympus and Canon shooter, he has a wealth of knowledge on cameras of all makes - and a fondness for vintage lenses and instant cameras.