Yep, it really was that long ago. Classic FPS Quake turned 30 years old as of late June and to mark the occasion its 2021 enhanced version has gotten a free expansion dubbed Dawn of the Machine. Developed by both Id Software and MachineGames, it's all about hunting down a Nightmare Machine across new levels stocked with fresh enemies and weapons.
"Ranger is trapped in a dimension of endless illusion—reliving the same violent cycles for what feels like lifetimes, dying thousands of times in a futile attempt to escape. Wearied but unbroken, he has heard rumor of The Nightmare Machine," Id and Machine wrote in the notes for the update, which was revealed at this year's QuakeCon. "Beyond the hordes of monsters—twisted by an eternity in the Elder realms—lies the Machine. It is believed its destruction will shatter the illusion, finally breaking the loop."
Dawn of the Machine adds 19 new maps as part of its campaign, with a fresh soundtrack and a new deathmatch map tagging along. In terms of the new enemies, you can expect "deadly new twists on familiar foes, including the Rocket Ogre, Demo Dog, Blood Shambler" with the potential to challenge your killing abilities by leaning into overwhelming you with fire or setting explosive traps. Weapons-wise, there's a Super Axe that shoots lightning and a Laser Cannon with ricocheting projectiles.
Id and Machine are pushing the new episodes' replayability, with hidden secrets to find and plenty of ways the action can be shaken up on a second or third run through a section. Beyond the extra levels, there's a vault of development art and assets from back in the day to browse, a new cheat menu, and a couple of tweaks to how localisation is handled which are relevant to modders.
As of right now, Dawn of the Machine's only available for Steam or Microsoft Store/Game Pass copies of 2021 Quake. "If you’re playing Quake on GOG or the Epic Games Store, you may see a 'Disconnected from servers' message when accepting an invitation from a Steam or console player for Dawn of the Machine episode or maps," Id warned, though the fact they went on to say "the GOG and Epic Games Store versions do not yet include this content" seems to suggest the update'll arrive on those iterations down the line.
Of course, this anniversary and update come as Id Software are in a tough place, having just lost a bunch of staff to Xbox's mass layoffs. Doom: The Dark Ages director Hugo Martin subsequently denied the studio have been "nerfed into the ground" and said that they'll share more about what they're now working on "when it is appropriate and approved". %!s()
The "Fine" Dining Podcast is a comedy show hosted by Michael Ornelas where every fast-food joint and casual chain restaurant is humorously compared to Chili's—the ultimate bar of American mediocrity. How do people find a show like this using the new discovery tools available today?
… %!s()
Fine dining Podcast
"There’s nothing on TV," was, and for some still hooked to cable, a common refrain despite our 400-channel universe. Of course, on TV we were subject to "bundles" which force us to consider channels on topics we have no interest in.
Radio has dials, buttons or touchscreens. You go up the dials and back down for your music or other content. If you go to AM radio, you can listen to angry white men rant about wokeness, books that turn people gay, and the specter of socialism. On FM, you can listen to almost any genre of music and a bunch of ads.
Books have libraries, Amazon, and independent bookstores. Movies have theaters, streaming channels, and TV.
What about podcasts? How do people find podcasts? Since podcasting began in the early 2000s, the discovery channels have been standard yet limited. Before the advent of video podcasting, audio podcasters marketed their shows via podcast apps and websites that played their RSS feeds. For a long time, the prime real estate for podcast discovery was Apple’s iTunes, where new podcasts were allotted their own row for a week.
In this article, we will review and examine new avenues for podcast discovery and how those newer processes are impacting the podcasting industry.
Needle meet Haystack
When you ask indie podcasters how listeners and viewers find their excellent podcasts, they express righteous indignation.
As one indie podcaster explained, "It's so much worse than finding a needle in a haystack. It's more like finding one needle among 1,000 haystacks."
MORE FOR YOU
Podcast networks have the funds, resources, and connections to advertise their new podcasts. iHeart, for example, lets listeners know a new podcast is being released, especially in a genre in which they've shown past interest.
iHeart has a sophisticated architecture in place to market their large slate of podcasts.
iHeart
It's good business that networks like iHeart advertise and market their podcasts. After all, the company has invested a significant amount of money to start and maintain the podcast. If it's a celebrity, then an expensive contract has already been sealed in legal blood.
For a decade, indie podcasters used social media, podcast marketing companies with modest budgets, and podcast review sites. It’s a difficult process trying to build an audience to a point that the podcast can: 1. cover its costs 2. make money for the indie podcaster 3. make so much money that the indie podcaster can quit their current job and do podcasting full-time.
New Research, New Avenues
Recent research from Sounds Profitable and JAR Podcast Solutions highlights how audiences find and listen to new shows. First, the study identified key discovery channels, such as YouTube, which the study found dominates as the leading single platform for finding and consuming podcasts.
There this is Social Media, and these accounts for a massive share of organic recommendations, especially through content shared by followed accounts. Finally, there is still Word of Mouth, which constitutes traditional recommendations from friends, family, and colleagues remain a powerful driver when people act on suggestions.
What's interesting in this graph is that not all social media has the same impact on podcast discovery. Facebook, for all its lack of trust on accuracy, stills scores high as a legitimate discovery method.
Sounds Profitable
Podcast discovery is dominated by YouTube and social media, with YouTube alone accounting for 40% of show discoveries. Together, YouTube and social platforms drive 61% of how listeners find new audio programs
Social media, and podcast feeds (especially Apple) help listeners locate podcasts via a genre list, and legacy media are now much more likely to have a podcast review section.
This graph, which reveals where consumers look for their next podcast, is remarkably similar to the first graph, although podcast host recommendations trended much higher.
Sounds Profitable
The research also found that discovery is increasingly driven by organic content rather than paid promotion. Among listeners who discovered a favorite podcast through social media, 60% found it through content shared by someone they follow, compared to 33% who discovered it through sponsored content.
“Podcasting has spent years optimizing for podcast apps while audience behavior has been shifting elsewhere,” said Tom Webster, Partner at Sounds Profitable. “What this research makes clear is that discovery is happening where people already spend their time. YouTube, social feeds, search, and personal recommendations have become the front door to podcasting. If you’re relying primarily on trailers, chart positions, or cross-promotion within podcast apps, you’re missing where most new listeners are actually entering the medium.”
The study revealed that podcast discovery was a monthly habit. Because of the sheer number of podcasts available, consumers always have that feeling of FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out).
Sounds Profitable
One area where this study can help indie podcasters, who produce the bulk of the limited-series, usually narrative, podcasts, is for these independent creators to have a new podcast option ready to go, or to recommend, as their current limited series is ending.
Suspicious Minds investigates issues around AI-fueled delusions, and aims to understand where it fits into humanity’s history of delusional thinking.
Suspicious Minds
For example, a show such as Suspicious Minds asks key questions about AI. Are we delusional for trusting AI technology? Or has AI already warped our thinking patterns? The podcast documentary was made by Agoric Media and Wondermind, and, given this new data, perhaps these two companies should have another limited-series podcast ready to go.
The study also revealed significant differences between discovery channels, demonstrating that platforms function not only as distribution channels but also as audience segments.
These findings include TikTok discovery is nearly seven times more common among listeners ages 18–34 than among those 55 and older. Spotify-discovered listeners represent one of podcasting’s most engaged and brand-responsive audiences, with 61% listening weekly. Apple Podcasts browsing remains a key discovery mechanism among affluent, audio-first listeners, particularly in news and technology categories. TikTok-discovered audiences are among the youngest and most diverse listener groups.
Host recommendations continue to deliver highly engaged “super-fan” audiences, despite representing a smaller share of overall discovery. The report also revealed the powerful role that personal recommendations continue to play in podcasting. Nearly two-thirds (64%) of podcast listeners receive recommendations from friends, family members, or colleagues, while 72% say they are likely to act on those recommendations.
“Discovery isn’t one challenge anymore, it’s many different challenges depending on who you’re trying to reach,” said Roger Nairn, Co-Founder and CEO of JAR Podcast Solutions. “What excites us about these findings is that they give brands and creators a much clearer roadmap. The audience discovering podcasts on TikTok behaves differently than the audience discovering them through Apple Podcasts, YouTube search, or host recommendations. Understanding those differences allows marketers to build smarter strategies and invest in the channels that actually align with their goals.”
For advertisers, the study found that listeners are increasingly receptive to branded podcast content. Brand-produced podcasts generated a 27-point net lift in trial intent overall, with significantly higher performance among highly engaged podcast audiences.
The full report explores how discovery channels shape audience behavior, which platforms deliver scale versus engagement, and what publishers, creators, and brands should prioritize when launching and growing podcasts in today’s fragmented media environment.
Are there podcast couch potatoes?
Recent industry studies and data reports from firms like Amplifi Media, Edison Research, Signal Hill Insights, and YouTube show that smart TVs have rapidly emerged as a primary screen for watching podcasts, transforming the living room into a major hub for video podcast consumption.
How does this trend relate t0 podcast discovery?
“Cable and broadcast TV have always been successful at promoting their own shows on TV, “ says digital media expert Carl Wickensham. ”People now watching podcasts on smart TVs are very accustomed to receiving recommendations on other podcasts to watch."
According to DigiDay, Amplifi Media, viewers in 2025 watched over 400 million hours of podcasts per month on YouTube’s TV app, according to a February YouTube blog post. Those figures continue to track upwards in 2025, individual podcasters and podcast production companies anecdotally told Digiday.
Pocket Casts has over 1.5 million active users every month, according to official data shared by its parent company Automattic. The platform also accounts for roughly 1.5% to 3% of total global podcast app market share and streams over 10 million hours of listening content every week.
Pocket Casts
In another interesting announcement that happened last week, Pocket Casts reported that it would be on Apple TV. A presence on Android TV is coming soon, the company also announced in a press release.
In its press release, Pocket Casts said, “Your podcasts, your Up Next, your place in every episode, right on the screen in front of you. Start something on your phone at the bus stop. Finish it on the couch that night, exactly where you left it. Nothing to re-find. Nothing to sync by hand.”
A new landscape?
The report from Sounds Profitable and JAR Podcast Solutions posits why “podcasting” is no longer one channel, one behavior, or one creative format, and why that single shift reorders almost everything about how a podcast is launched and then marketed.
“Everything we thought we knew on podcast discovery has been thrown into flux,” notes digital media expert Carl Wickensham. “It isn’t simply the advent of video podcasting and inclusion, or intrusion, of YouTube, it’s the evolution of formats such as social media clips.”
According to Command Your Brand, short-form video clips are essential for modern podcast marketing, acting as a primary discovery engine on platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts. They capture attention with visual and auditory hooks, build personal connection through human emotion, and drive long-term brand growth.
Social platforms favor short, vertical video formats, giving your content much higher organic reach than text or static images. A 15-to-60-second clip bypasses the friction of asking someone to commit to a full one-hour episode. Clips account for a large percentage of new listener discovery, acting as the front door to your broader ecosystem. Higher follower counts and active social engagement attract major brand sponsors, even if a viewer consumes clips rather than full episodes.
We began this article discussing the relative stability of podcast marketing since its inception. Then, we reviewed several studies on the impact of new tools for podcast discovery, such as YouTube and smart TVs.
There is no doubt that the large podcast networks are embracing the new methods. What we cannot forget is the impact these new discovery tools will have on independent podcasters, who do not have the resources of these corporate giants.
However, the battle is not lost. Independent, often niche, podcasts have their specialized set of skills, as Liam Nesson might say. Rather than competing for mass audiences, specialized shows build deeply loyal communities, yield higher listener intent, and attract targeted monetization that broad shows miss. Moreover, listeners of targeted shows report stronger personal connections and trust the host’s recommendations more than general listeners do.
According to Cue Productions, niche podcasts have smaller, focused audiences are often actively trying to solve specific problems, making their attention more valuable to precise advertisers. Listeners of these niche podcasts report stronger personal connections and trust the host’s recommendations more than general listeners do.
Despite all the latest methods for podcast discovery, I personally still use the old-fashioned method. I ask people who listen to a lot of podcasts. In fact, I’ve been given podcast recommendations by Wil Williams and Devin Andrade for several years, and they have yet to be wrong. %!s()
You're currently following this author!
Want to unfollow? Unsubscribe via the link in your email.
…
YouTuber Jimmy Donaldson once aimed to build a burger empire.
Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images for MrBeast Burger
MrBeast has had grand ambitions to build a media empire for years — but they have changed considerably.
New court docs filed as part of an ongoing lawsuit between MrBeast founder Jimmy Donaldson and his burger business partner reveal that he once explored avenues like podcasts and NFTs before pivoting to other areas, including fintech and creator services.
The docs demonstrate how YouTube's top creator pivoted as he sought to capitalize on his social clout.
It's common for startups, and especially creator-led ones, to begin with one idea and then shift gears, said Megan Lightcap, a partner at the VC firm Slow Ventures, where she leads its Creator Fund. Unlike consumer brands launching with a specific product, it's easier for creators to move into entirely new categories.
"Because their popularity is centered on their personal brand, they have even more opportunities," she said.
A 2021 investor fundraising deck included in the court documents labels "Beast Games, Netflix Beast Studios, Beast NFT, Beast Podcasting" as coming in 2023. His company has not launched significant businesses focused on games, Netflix, NFTs, or podcasts.
A 2021 investor fundraising deck references plans for an NFT, podcasts, and more.
Beast Industries
The 2021 deck also talks about launching a "subscription fan platform" called "Beast World" in 2022. At the time, MrBeast envisioned a $9.95 a month platform featuring "exclusive content, merchandise, community, and experiences."
By 2024, the company was talking about opportunities in theme parks, theatrical releases, and a vast array of consumer products, according to a July 2024 board meeting presentation.
The company was also mindful of the need to diversify away from having Donaldson on camera. The presentation called for animated series and associated toys and consumer products, which manifested in the MrBeast Lab YouTube channel and products.
A 2024 board meeting deck laid out a MrBeast "multiverse."
Beast Industries
By 2025, with new CEO Jeffrey Housenbold at the helm, MrBeast's ambitions had changed further.
In a February investor deck that year, MrBeast presented the company as built on three pillars: media, consumer packaged goods, and software, with a "comprehensive" video game portfolio and a loyalty program earmarked for 2026. A creator platform, fintech, and pro sports were being explored. The company also hinted at a mobile phone service.
Here's how MrBeast is currently moving forward on some of those fronts:
Fintech: This year, the company acquired Step, a digital banking platform offering savings accounts, a credit-building Visa card that functions similarly to a debit card, and a cash-advance program. Step, which is geared toward young people, hasn't posted any new videos on its YouTube channel since the deal closed.
Creator platform: MrBeast recently hired a team from the Andreessen Horowitz-backed startup Pietra, including its CEO and cofounder Ronak Trivedi, who's playing a key role in developing the platform.
Membership: At a breakfast for advertisers in May, MrBeast revealed plans for the "largest membership service in the world," with a philanthropic element, early access to content, exclusive content, and member challenges.
CPG: Feastables, a "better for you snack brand," launched in 2022 with a chocolate bar. The MrBeast Burger business continues, even if Donaldson stopped promoting it after getting embroiled in a legal dispute with his partner.
Media: MrBeast has expanded his spectacle-style video offerings and launched the "Beast Games" competition show on Amazon's Prime Video. His company is planning new verticals centered on food, entertainment, fitness, and gaming that aren't meant to rely on Donaldson's on-screen presence.
Mobile phone: The company plans to launch a phone business called "Beast Mobile," Housenbold said at The New York Times' DealBook Summit in December. According to the 2025 investor deck, it's likely to take the form of an MVNO, which uses a major carrier's infrastructure and is a model other celebrities have adopted.
Experiential: MrBeast tested the theme park concept in November with a 45-day pop-up in Saudi Arabia, where visitors could participate in challenges inspired by his videos.
Read next
Lucia Moses
You're currently following this author!
Want to unfollow? Unsubscribe via the link in your email.
Lucia Moses covers the media and entertainment business, with a focus on creators. She's broken stories about MrBeast's business ambitions, Google's movie initiative, and Netflix's push into podcasts.Her reporting has won the Los Angeles Press Club's National Entertainment Journalism Awards.She previously worked at Digiday and Adweek and graduated from Cornell University.Reach her at [email protected], X at @lmoses, LinkedIn, or via phone/text/Signal at (917) 209-8549.Popular articles
MrBeast tries to cut down on his massive spending without killing the magic
TikToker Khaby Lame's $975 million deal is riding on a crashing stock
Actors speak out against AI-generated promos that put them in fake sex scenes
Rob McElhenney is betting on himself
Disney has a kid crisis
Why Hollywood should be terrified of YouTube, not Netflix
Amazon Studios is growing fast and spending big on shows like 'Citadel,' but insiders say unclear creative direction, leadership shifts, and tech bureaucracy threaten to drive away staff and talent
BBC Sport NI has agreed a new three-year broadcast deal with the Irish FA and Northern Ireland Football League to ensure the continuation of extensive free-to-air coverage of international and domestic football across BBC iPlayer, online, radio and TV.
… %!s()
The new deal means BBC Sport NI will show 30 live Boyle Sports Premiership streams per season - starting with Friday night's north Belfast derby between Cliftonville and Crusaders - as well as 10 senior Women's Northern Ireland international matches and action from domestic cup competitions.
Finals of the Clearer Water Irish Cup and BetMcLean Cup will be shown live on BBC television and BBC iPlayer, as well as streamed coverage of games in the former competition from the fifth round onwards.
Live coverage of the Irish Premiership will also continue on BBC Radio Ulster and BBC Sounds, while highlights from NIFL and Irish Cup games will be available across BBC platforms.
This follows confirmation that BBC Sport NI will broadcast every Northern Ireland senior men's international until June 2028.
"This new agreement strengthens our longstanding commitment to bringing audiences the very best coverage of the game in Northern Ireland, from national teams to domestic league and cup competitions," said Neil Brittain, the executive editor of BBC Sport NI.
"Through BBC iPlayer, digital platforms, television, radio and BBC Sounds, we will continue to make local football available to the widest possible audience."
Steven Mills, NIFL Chief Operations Officer, said: "We are delighted to extend our contract with BBC Sport NI and sincerely thank them for their continued commitment and significant investment in our game.
"Their coverage has played a major role in raising the profile of the Premiership, increasing its reach and supporting the continued growth of the league."
Colin McKendry, Irish Football Association President said: "We are delighted that the Clearer Water Irish Cup, our flagship domestic cup competition, and Northern Ireland senior women's international matches will continue to be showcased on BBC Sport NI.
"Their coverage has played a significant role in raising their profile reaching new audiences and inspiring more people to engage with football across Northern Ireland.
"Alongside them and our partners at NIFL, this agreement will ensure supporters have even more opportunities to watch, follow and enjoy the game, while helping to grow the sport at every level." %!s()
Ashton McGrady was horrified to discover that TikTok had slapped an "AI-generated" label on a post she'd made for Disability Pride Month.
The creator had spent hours making a collage of images, stickers, and advice.
"It was really jarring to me, because that's not something that I personally align with, and neither does my audience," McGrady told Business Insider. "The whole point of being a creator is to create myself." The post later had its AI note removed without explanation.
McGrady's upload was one of the billions that TikTok says it has flagged using a mix of human labeling and automated tools. McGrady said she had a similar experience with a different post on Meta-owned Instagram, too.
To Ashton McGrady's surprise, Instagram and TikTok have added AI labels to her posts.
Screenshot/Instagram/BI
Platforms like TikTok and Instagram say AI labeling offers more transparency to viewers, but the inexact processes have led to misclassifications, seven creators say. Some platforms acknowledge they're not always accurate at spotting AI, using phrases like Meta's "likely created or modified with AI" to hedge. For creators, even the suggestion that they've published AI content can feel damaging to their reputations.
Gregory Littley, who frequently posts photography to his Instagram, said several of his posts — which include scans of physical Polaroids — say that the "content in this post may have been modified with AI."
"I cringe when I see that label," Littley said. "I cringe even more when I know it's not true."
These labels could have real consequences for creators in a time of intense AI backlash. It's particularly relevant in the $12 billion US influencer marketing industry, where authenticity and human connection are paramount. An AI hiccup can turn an audience against an influencer. YouTuber Hank Green, for example, recently apologized after coming under fire for using ChatGPT to help research a script.
"It's literally the Scarlet Letter," creator Lissette Calveiro said about AI labels and accusations of producing AI-assisted work. Some brands have begun adding stipulations in campaign briefs that creators can't use generative AI.
In recent weeks, AI has been thrust into the center of the creator conversation. Substack's CEO took a shot at AI-generated LinkedIn posts while debuting a new AI detection partnership. Days later, LinkedIn announced a button to flag suspected "AI slop." YouTube has been pulling down channels that host "low-quality" AI content, and Snapchat has made videos wholly generated by AI ineligible for recommendation in its short-form video feed, Spotlight.
Both openly using AI and promoting AI companies are increasingly seen as risky in creator economy circles. The concern is warranted. Influencers who attended a recent luxury retreat hosted by OpenAI faced immediate online backlash.
Several of Gregory Littley's Instagram posts with scans of physical Polaroids or photobooth strips have been labeled by Meta.
Screenshot/Instagram/BI
"There's a PR issue with AI as it relates to taking people's jobs and environmental concerns around data centers," said Eric Bogard, CEO of the talent firm UnderCurrent Management. "Creators are hesitant to promote AI companies as a result."
At the same time, there's no real path of purity as an influencer traversing content creation in 2026. Nearly every platform automatically uses or pushes AI tools, from Adobe Photoshop to TikTok's CapCut. In many ways, AI tools have helped creators balance the workload of managing their social media accounts and brand deals, as well as brainstorming.
Companies like OpenAI want creators to be more open about their use of AI.
Charles Porch, who OpenAI poached from Meta this year to lead creative partnerships, recently told Business Insider that part of his job is getting creators to "come out of the closet" about using AI.
"Whether creators choose to share how they use AI publicly is entirely up to them," an OpenAI spokesperson said.
AI's 'PR issue'
AI is infiltrating many aspects of modern life — and content creation is no exception.
A May survey of 16,000 creators conducted by Adobe, in partnership with The Harris Poll, found that 75% of creators who had used or tried creative AI described it as "integrated or essential to how they work."
Not all creators want to admit that publicly, though, lest they wear the AI "Scarlet Letter" on their chest.
YouTube creator Billy Yue, who goes by 8illy, isn't shying away from AI. He even made a promotional video for Anthropic's Claude in November. Still, the creator, who regularly features hand-drawn animation in his videos, added a disclosure at the end of his most recent YouTube upload that "no AI was used" in the production. He wanted fans to know that he'd drawn 1,800 illustrations for the project.
Broader public opinion is shifting, and creators feel it.
The influencer marketing agency Billion Dollar Boy found that the share of consumers who viewed generative AI as a "negative disruptor" increased from 18% in 2023 to 32% in 2025. Those who saw it as a "positive disruptor" declined from 34% to 31%. The firm surveyed 4,000 consumers ages 16 or older in the UK and the US.
"Part of this backlash is every platform is filled with slop," said Max Spero, CEO of AI detection startup Pangram. "It feels like the algorithms are shoving it in your face. It feels like it's harder and harder to find things made with craft by real people." Pangram recently partnered with Substack on an integration that detects whether — and how much — AI was used in writing newsletters and comments.
Concerns about "AI slop" have become a focus on platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, which all have automated AI detection tools that help identify content that is either entirely AI-generated or substantially edited with AI.
Lawmakers have also gotten in the mix. The European Union and New York state recently developed laws requiring brands to inform viewers when AI-generated characters appear in ads.
AI labels aren't foolproof
As platforms have rushed to ramp up their AI labeling, creators like McGrady say they have become the victims of false positives.
Lindsey Lee Lugrin, a content creator and model, recently posted some paintings she had made by hand. However, her Instagram posts included a label that said they were "likely created or modified with AI."
In some instances, using popular editing tools like Canva or Adobe's Lightroom resulted in content on Instagram, Threads, and TikTok being flagged as potentially AI-generated.
Lindsey Lee Lugrin, a content creator and model, shared paintings she had made herself — by hand. Meta added a label that said it was "likely created or modified with AI."
Screenshot/Instagram/BI
While third-party platforms like Pangram can assist with AI identification, none are completely accurate. (Substack added options in its AI detection feature for creators to dispute a Pangram assessment, explain how and why they used AI, and even disable the tool altogether.)
Slip-ups can be a risk for both creators and brands.
McGrady said that if a post made in partnership with a brand was flagged as AI, it could "harm your relationship with the brand."
Advertisers are well aware of the public backlash an AI-heavy ad can bring.
Brands are taking proactive action to prevent this. Five creators and talent managers said there had been an increase in clauses in partnership briefs and contracts that explicitly state that creators cannot use AI in parts of the content process — particularly in scriptwriting, captions, and visual edits.
"If you're a brand, you obviously don't want to see an influencer you hire have a 100% negative comment section," said Jack Appleby, a relatively AI-positive creator and social media strategist. "If you're not an AI brand, you probably avoid AI right now, just because there's no reason to risk it."
There is no escaping the AI era
Despite the blowback, AI pervades many aspects of content creation.
Photo and video editing apps use it, whether loudly or under the hood. If you use Instagram's fancy font tools when making a Story post, it will trigger a tag that says the text has been "restyled with AI."
"It's really difficult to have a fully AI-free experience right now, no matter what line of work you're in," Calveiro said. "I think a lot more people are using it than they want to admit."
There are real benefits to some tools, too.
"I very frequently tell my audience that there are ethical and moral reasons to use AI. When I do, it's from an accessibility perspective," McGrady said. "But I am a person who proudly says that I do not use generative AI."
The backlash against creators' use of AI may ease in the coming months as AI-powered creative tools become ubiquitous. Labeling efforts could shift toward flagging only fully AI-generated posts.
More transparency about how AI is used could reduce headaches for creators and platforms alike, making room for them to explore how the tech can expand their creativity.
"I'm very honest about how I use AI," Appleby said. "I don't really run from it. If a piece of content entertains or educates or provides value to somebody, for the most part, they shouldn't really care."
AI
Artificial Intelligence
TikTok
More
Meta
Influencers
Most popular
Business Insider tells the stories you want to know about the world of business, technology, and finance
Business Insider tells the stories you want to know about the world of business, technology, and finance
Business Insider tells the stories you want to know about the world of business, technology, and finance
Business Insider tells the stories you want to know about the world of business, technology, and finance
Business Insider tells the stories you want to know about the world of business, technology, and finance
Business Insider tells the stories you want to know about the world of business, technology, and finance
Sydney Bradley
You're currently following this author!
Want to unfollow? Unsubscribe via the link in your email.
Sydney Bradley has been covering media and tech for Business Insider since 2020. She breaks news and writes extensively about Instagram and Facebook, as well as new social media startups, dating apps, the creator economy, venture capital, and tech culture.She regularly contributes to BI's "After Hours" series, where our reporters dive into the social scenes shaping tech, media, and finance.Sydney's reporting on Instagram was nominated as a finalist for the 2021 Los Angeles Press Club National Entertainment Journalism Awards.She graduated from the University of Virginia with a degree in American Studies. You can follow Sydney's work on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram at @sydneykbradley.Have a tip? You can also contact her via encrypted messaging app Signal (@sydneykbradley.123), encrypted email ([email protected]), or standard email ([email protected]). Use a personal email address, a nonwork WiFi network, and a nonwork device; here’s our guide to sharing information securely.Selected stories:
Young founders are going viral mode
Death isn't the end: Meta patented an AI that lets you keep posting from beyond the grave
Dating apps are betting millions that AI will convince you to fall back in love with them
Hitting the social media jackpot is harder than ever — and it's changing the creator economy
Big Tech's AI obsession is rattling creators
New startups race to bring back the 'old internet' vibes of the 2000s
The mysterious demise of a $1 billion social shopping app
The loneliness epidemic has given rise to a new crop of startups aiming to help people connect in real life
It's not just you — no one is posting on social media anymore
How Instagram's unpredictable changes are giving influencers whiplash
Why YouTube subscriber counts have become an unreliable 'vanity metric' in the era of short video
Inside the week that changed Facebook forever
Dan Whateley
You're currently following this author!
Want to unfollow? Unsubscribe via the link in your email.
