Good morning everybody. This week, we unpack Lex Fridman's interview with Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI. They explore the exciting realm of artificial intelligence and its potential for creators to amplify their brand presence. Additionally, we discuss the growing appetite among audiences for authenticity and genuine human connections. Plus, we unravel the inspiring journey of Arshan Jawaid and his innovative media venture, "Kids Take Over".

How To Harness Artificial Intelligence In The Creator Economy

Learning from OpenAi CEO, Sam Altman’s interview with Lex Fridman

Many content creators are already integrating AI, particularly large language models like ChatGPT, and other generative AI tools, into their workflows. Creators utilise these tools for video or text creation, script writing, automatic editing, image touchups & even idea generation. Even here at STORY STREET, we love using AI for video ideation, revenue brainstorming and conceptualising future brand ventures. 

AI has big influence and bigger money in the creator space! Surveys done in 2023/24 revealed that:

• $104 billion is the approximate value of the Creator Economy. (Forbes)

• 94% of creators use at least one AI tool in their creation process. (Business Insider)

• 63% of brands use AI for their influencer marketing campaigns, which amassed a $6 billion spend in 2023 (CMS Wire)

The Special Space / What do the experts have to say about all this? In the most recent Lex Fridman podcast, Sam Altman (CEO of OpenAI – the company behind ChatGPT) explained how he uses GPT extensively as a brainstorming tool. Altman also refers to a ‘special moment’ that occurs in GPT brainstorming when we realise the platform is developing and challenging our ideas and deepening our understanding. This is where AI becomes most invaluable to us.

Altman emphasised these points about creators and their brands:

•  AI should be a facilitator in the creative process. It should push us to explore new concepts and refine one’s creation process.

•  AI tools should be used for a percentage of tasks in the work process allowing creators to focus less on mundane tasks and more on the substantial parts of their work.

•  AI should not replace the essence of the creative process or the creators themselves, but rather enhance their capabilities in their work.

What’s clear from Altman’s perspectives is that the creator remains at the forefront of the creativity process driving the AI towards brand productivity.

So…How Can You Actually Incorporate Ai Into Your Creator Journey?

1. ChatGPT: brainstorm 10 short-form ideas in my niche, discover alternative business models, create a weekly planner

2. Adobe Podcast Ai: automatically edit interviews by removing breaks in speech, remove video background noise, enhance your voice etc

3. Luminar Al: image editing software; remove objects in thumbnail photos, change the colour of the sky etc

4. Opus Clip: submit any video & automatically generate clips with customisable subtitles (used by Andrew Schulz, PBD Podcast & more)

Altman’s glimpse into the future of AI.

The ideal future, as Altman alludes to, is one where the AI becomes better at supporting creators at a meaningful level by challenging and collaborating with them beyond purely functional tasks.

Could this be something we see in the release of GPT-5?

OpenAI is already well underway in the development of Sora – a text to video AI tool that will be a game-changer in the creative space. (You can check out the prototypes of Sora on the OpenAI website). There is much to come and lots to be excited about…

The Inspiring Story of Arshan Jawaid & His Media Company “Kids Take Over”

Arshan Jawaid is the perfect example of having a passion and building a career around it. It’s not easy, but if you can figure out the monetisation puzzle, then the sky’s the limit.

Who is Arshan Jawaid? A modern media founder from Surrey, Canada. At 19 years old he started “Kids Take Over” - a production, event coordination and merchandising company covering hip-hop.

How did he build this culturally impactful creator start-up? After being overlooked by recruiters at Complex and Vice, Arshan said in an Chiefers Exclusive interview, “why don’t I start my own media company?”. After 5 years of hard-work, overcoming financial struggles, almost quitting and constantly evolving his strategy, KTO’s community has grown to over 320,000 across all platforms. But as fans know, it was very difficult. In the early years, Arshan balanced his university degree with late nights curating content. He had no money & just loved the world of hip-hop…but here’s the most fascinating part.

In today’s world, to be apart of the hip-hop culture - you don’t have to be a rapper, or a producer, work at a label, be an established media executive or songwriter. With the creator economy birthing start-ups every day, you can create content around your specific passion; find the audience & focus on giving them value. 

The Value Proposition of Kids Take Over

1. Hip-hop interviews: learn real insights from industry greats, showcase new talent, inspire the next young creative, allow rappers to promote their upcoming projects

2. Instagram blog: post an everyday pop-culture blog - from rappers to streamers, discovering new artists & curating relevant cultural news.

3. Event coordination: conduct live interviews, networking opportunities, reviewing upcoming talent, Q&As and pop-ups. (Last week Shopify sponsored KTO’s NYC Event, where Arshan interviewed Cole Bennett, music video director of famed Lyrical Lemonade)

4. Clothing brand: unique hoodies & t-shirts for KTO fans to wear collectively, creating a tribe.

By embracing the creator space brands can reach higher levels of cultural impact. Anyone can start anything. The key is to focus on your value proposition; how & what are you actually contributing to society? Something that I still think about everyday & I’m trying to figure out…

Arshan says he has “hopes of inspiring other young creators to take their career into their own hands.” & I think that’s a pretty good start.

How Will Genuine Connections Transform Content in 2024?

There is a growing segment in content creation where a noticeable shift is taking place…

Creators who value raw, unfiltered authenticity are building power-communities of high-value subscribers challenging the common trend of highly polished, manufactured videos. What could this mean for smaller creators looking to grow in 2024?

The marketing gurus at Hubspot revealed: 

• 69% of our consumption favoured authentic relatability. 

• 24% of people actively seek out content that relates to personal interests and learning around those interests. 

It is clear that audience’s crave for content that feels real, relatable & obtainable. YouTube strategists, ThinkMedia, ranked these concepts in their top 7 trends for creators in 2024.

“Raw and Authentic Creators will rise to the top.”

“Creators that last will focus on brand and community building.”

Modern example: “building in public” - audiences are naturally fascinated by creators building brands in the public eye. By showing behind the scenes of revenue streams, meetings, struggles & more, it creates anticipation for the viewer. They can either follow to see if the creator eventually overcomes everything, or just because they enjoy their content niche…Documenting vulnerabilities & any wins helps viewers attach to the people behind the projects. 

Harnessing community and collaboration to elevate, seems like the new essential elements of brand building.Creators who prioritise genuine engagement will not only survive but thrive in this evolving environment. 

Business moves in the creator space 💡

1. Hamish Blake is back on season 6 of Lego Masters - “Australia Vs The World”

2. Rising YouTube group, Sickos, launch “Sickos TV” - a monthly-paid membership for a community beyond YouTube. Extra videos, real BTS, giveaways, podcast episodes & more.

3. Jimmy Donaldson aka “Mr Beast” signed a $100M partnership with Prime Video to produce “Beast Games”. A 10-episode game show on the streaming platform, filled with challenges to take home the $5M winnings.

Top 3 Videos Of The Week 🌐

The STORY STREET spotlight 💫⭐

Up & Coming Creators To Watch

• Laundry Day - a pop-rock band from NYC. They’ve been creating hilarious sketches to promote their music & recently joined Teezo Touchdown’s Europe tour.

• Leo Olsson - a lifestyle creator documenting his efforts to build his dream career or potentially create his own startup.

• Dodford - Danny McMahon creates “pop-culture portraits” with YouTube documentaries about remarkable Hollywood actors

Latest on STORY STREET: vlog #3

Today, we are releasing our BTS vlog #3: “learning how to build a crew”. I was that kid who foolishly thought he could do everything by himself. I never could. Even starting STORY STREET, I’d stay up late editing, writing, planning etc to do it all by myself, when I should have been learning how to get others involved.

So this week…the vlog is all about the journey to now having 2 writers for our magazine & potential video creators soon too. It’s amazing and so much more fun working with other passionate people.