Using AI to create is just fine for creating content that only needs to be “good enough.” I recently used a tool that automatically assembles stock video clips based on keywords in a given script. Clips are well-rendered, transitions are smooth, the background music and automated voiceover are fine. A videographer or professional editor would be horrified, but it met my needs sufficiently at a very low cost.
It worked well, but only because the video quality was ancillary to the words. It’s content in the sense of something that exists to fill a container. The nuances of video production weren’t relevant to the intent. If someone showed me a written message generated the same way, I would tear it apart, but only because I’m passionate about written language. I look at writing through the lens of intent rather than content, so craft matters. For me, writing choices have aesthetic and ethical impacts in a way that stuff moving around on screen just doesn’t.
I think that’s how AI’s going to play out in general. It’s fine for content that only exists in order to be content. It’s anaesthetic. But when it comes to communication, people will realize they still prefer to be awake and engaged.
