Hello and good morning. In an ad for the upcoming movie Puss in Boots, Sean Evans interviewed the cat in Hot Ones style. If that means he's taking animated guests now, I'd lobby for a full 20-minute episode with Lil Miquela.

And about our giveaway: We’re announcing the winners Friday. Stay tuned!

–Hannah Doyle

Could AI-Generated Content Put Creators Out of a Job?

AI just replaced all of my human co-workers, and now the office is eerily quiet...except for the occasional robot laughter.

That intro was written using the prompt “write a witty hook for an article about AI” by ChatGPT, an AI-generated text tool that’s been dominating our feeds. Within the first five days of launch, ChatGPT surpassed 1 million users.

Over the weekend, Samir asked ChatGPT to write a TikTok script on the history of MrBeast:

Narrator: In this TikTok, we’re going to take a look at the history of MrBeast, one of the biggest creators of the internet.

[Opening shot: a clip of MrBeast standing in front of a camera wearing a bright green hoodie and holding up a stack of cash]...

Not too shabby for a brand new tech tool. It got us thinking: What other ways could this tech help creators? We asked the AI itself:

“AI can be used to automate tasks like editing and transcribing audio and video, which can free up creators to focus on more creative aspects of their work. AI can also be used to analyze data and provide insights into consumer preferences and trends, which can help creators to understand their audience and create content that resonates with them,” ChatGPT said.

But could AI ever replace creators entirely?

Probably not. In a recent video, MKBHD said he sees ChatGPT as “a really impressive tool” that he can use “[to] brainstorm earlier in the process” before using his “human touch on top of it later.”

Creators already use AI—like the subject selection tool in Photoshop or Adobe's video aspect ratio optimizing Auto Reframe—to make daily tasks easier. Creators can use this new AI from ChatGPT to kick off creative processes like brainstorming titles and fleshing out script ideas.

Our Take

ChatGPT still has some kinks—just look at its results for a creator’s YouTube titles or how it tackled a question on water mammals.

But still, ChatGPT could pose an opportunity to expedite some of the ho-hum elements of creators’ day-to-day, especially for solo creators without a team to bounce ideas off of. And FWIW, human creativity will always be a creator’s most valuable asset—after all, human connection is what our industry runs on.

Ludwig Hosts Record-Breaking Livestream Event

Over the weekend, the gaming creator aired Ludwig’s Chessboxing Championship, a 5+-hour livestream that included slap-fighting and—yes—simultaneous boxing and chess matches. In total, over 3 million people tuned in.

What made this livestream unique: Ludwig’s production team cut video clips of the event and uploaded them to his channel in real-time to maximize the stream’s impact.

By the numbers:

317,000 → peak concurrent viewers.

$1.5 million → how much Ludwig spent on the event.

339,000 → average views each video clip of the livestream has received.

Zoom out: YouTube, which has been investing heavily in livestreaming in an effort to cement itself as creators’ one-stop shop for connecting with their audiences, has been rewarding live streams like Ludwig’s—when a channel goes live, it pops up to the top of users’ feeds.

Our Take

As livestreaming becomes increasingly lucrative for platforms and creators alike, live events are becoming a category unto themselves. Whether Ludwig’s chess event, MrBeast’s rock paper scissors tournament, or the Sidemen charity match, the year was marked by these highly monetizable marquee events that bring a creator’s audience—in its entirety—to one place.

Sponsored by Spreadshop

5 Common Mistakes Creators Make with Merch

Launching merch is an exciting step toward diversifying your business as a creator and building a deeper relationship with your audience.

But, to execute merch successfully, it takes more strategic thought than slapping a logo on a t-shirt.

With their experience of over 20 years in the merch game, the team at Spreadshop put together the top 5 mistakes they see creators making.

Here’s a preview:

• Viewing merch as just a nice-to-have and not a true pillar of your business

• Launching merch too early — you have to know your value prop and deeply understand your audience before taking the leap

• Taking shortcuts on the design

For the full breakdown, watch Spreadshop’s video here.

The TikTok-ification of Amazon

Imagine your FYP—with product reviews, shopping hauls, and tech gadgets—but it’s only Amazon products.

Amazon sure does. That’s why the tech giant is launching Inspire, its new short-form video and photo feed available within the Amazon Shopping app.

Inspire will initially roll out to select customers this month and will become broadly available to U.S. customers in early 2023.

Our Take

Like Pinterest and Zillow, Amazon is looking to make content more scrollable and discoverable. As boring as tech ubiquity can be, creators could stand to benefit here. Every platform is going to need to make content at scale, and all signs point to more growth in e-commerce.

👀 Creator Moves

• Lex Fridman is hiring for six positions, including a researcher, video editor, and robotics engineer.

• Kara and Nate are looking for a full-time producer with experience in management, copywriting, and YouTube.

• Binge Central is hiring for a comedy script writer to work on their video compilations.

Have an opportunity you want to share in The Press? Send job details here.

🔥 Press Worthy

• Peet Montzingo releases a book and corresponding Shorts series.

• CoComelon partners with Cameo to launch Cameo Kids.

• The Green brothers make plans to leave Twitter.

• VTuber Nihmune challenges Kai Cenat’s Hype Train record.

• Kyle Vorbach fakes his life using AI.

• Great content deserves great music. Start customizing tracks in minutes and get 4 months free of Track Club here.*

• Future Social brings you top social media commentary each week from social maven Jack Appleby.

*This is sponsored advertising content.

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