Some are sprinting into the future, using AI to produce, edit and post at a speed that would\u2019ve been unthinkable even a year ago. Others are digging deeper into what makes them human \u2014 voice, vulnerability and imperfection.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For now, both are probably right.<\/p>\n
But the split is getting sharper. The recent arrivals of Meta\u2019s Vibes tab and OpenAI\u2019s Sora app are the reason. Meta because it\u2019s building a scrollable stream of AI-created video. OpenAI for taking that one step further, making it possible for anyone to generate AI video on demand, no camera required. Together, they\u2019ve condensed every hope, fear and argument about AI\u2019s role in creativity into two infinite scrolls. And in doing so, they\u2019ve carved a clear line through the debate.\u00a0<\/p>\n
According to the creators speaking to Thobey Campion, founder of Lore Machine, this moment is less an existential threat and more a creative reckoning. \u201cThe next bit is going to be a bumpy ride for many of them. But it\u2019s also an opportunity for them to stop and think about how they thoughtfully employ these tools, with demarcation, copyright, and originality, he continued.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Others are less optimistic.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be honest, many creators aren\u2019t thrilled about Sora,\u201d said Leslie Morgan, owner of digital agency and consultancy Every Problem Solved. \u201cI\u2019ve also had conversations with creators deeply embedded in AI, like Taryn Southern, who are expressing real concern. It\u2019s one thing to use AI as a tool to enhance creativity, and it\u2019s another when it starts eroding our ability to discern what\u2019s real, what\u2019s historically accurate, or what\u2019s civically responsible.\u201d<\/p>\n
That tension over whether AI fuels slop or substance is redefining how creators see themselves.<\/p>\n
\u201cCreators are really starting to splinter into whether they are adopting it or rejecting it, depending on their background and how they\u2019ve built their platform,\u201d said Becky Owen, CMO of Billion Dollar Boy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The divide came into sharp focus at a recent event in London hosted by the creator agency.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On one side of the conversation was Danae Mercer, the journalist-turned-creator who\u2019s built a following of more than 2.2 million on Instagram by celebrating honesty and vulnerability.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On the other was Omar Karim, a creator and AI image maker pushing the boundaries of what \u201cauthorship\u201d even means.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The irony is that both creators are responding to the same instinct: giving their audiences what they come for. Mercer\u2019s followers want her unfiltered perspective, not a synthetic version of it. Karim\u2019s fans, meanwhile, crave the surreal, fantastical \u2014 stories only possible because of AI.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not hard to see how OpenAI\u2019s Sora, and to a lesser extent Meta\u2019s Vibes, could accelerate that split. Not overnight, of course. After all, it\u2019s still unclear how close either platform is to defining the next phase of social media. But even now, it\u2019s hard to imagine they\u2019re far from it \u2014 a future where creators will have to choose whether they\u2019re building new worlds or staying grounded in their own.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In some ways, that\u2019s just a hyperextension of what creators already do: turning identity into craft, and craft into currency. They did it in the early days of YouTube, again through the rise of Instagram and then TikTok. The difference now is that so much of that craft has been hard-won, built sweat, skill and lived experience. To many, these tools, more than AI itself, threaten to cheapen that.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAI should empower creators to create better, it allows them to be faster, smarter, more efficient in their creations,\u201d said Morgan. \u201cSora feels less like that and more like a social media construct built for how to go viral and lacking integrity. It\u2019s turning creation into memes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Or, as the current discourse goes, into AI slop \u2014 low quality, mass-produced content generated by AI.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re always on the cusp of a new era for creators and brand social,\u201d said Greg Swan, a senior partner at independent marketing agency FINN Partners. \u201cBut if we continue to see AI slop hitting mainstream feeds, I think the next era is going to swing back into community and offer tangible value for a follower or subscribe.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fault lines<\/strong><\/p>\n None of this is fixed. Most creators are still figuring out where they stand in this moment, torn between curiosity and caution. But the hesitation has limits. These creations are already reaching out to those who are using Sora and other AI tools, said Jamie Gutfreund, founder of consultancy Creative Vision.<\/p>\n \u201cThe learners are the most interesting because they\u2019re not going it alone, they\u2019re seeking out creators who already understand both the tools and the craft,\u201d said Gutfreund. \u201cMany of these experts come from advertising backgrounds and have deep experience in industries like beauty, lifestyle, travel, or food. They understand the fundamentals of what makes content successful, and they\u2019re using AI tools like Sora to build on that foundation.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n What\u2019s unfolding isn\u2019t a clash so much as a recalibration. AI is reshaping what it means to create \u2014 not in one direction but along a widening spectrum. For every creator who sees tools like Sora as a breakthrough, a way to turn imagination into cinematic expression, another sees them as the moment authenticity begins to fray.<\/p>\n The next era of the creator economy won\u2019t hinge on access to technology but on the intent. Those who thrive will use these tools to deepen their voice, not dilute it, while those who chase efficiency for its own sake may find that automation doesn\u2019t save time so much as flatten meaning. In the end, AI hasn\u2019t divided the creator class \u2014 it\u2019s revealed its fault lines: between makers who chase possibility and those who protect presence. Together, they\u2019re shaping a future that\u2019s neither utopian nor dystopian, just more complex, more crowded and unmistakably human.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe short-term algo fuckery is real,\u201d said Campion. \u201cNoise is going to drown out the signal for a minute. But us humans happen to sport evolution\u2019s most finely tuned bullshit detector. As AI becomes more convincing, our detectors adapt. Auto-generated content with no human inside will eventually be organ rejected; stories driven by real humans, some of which will use generative tech thoughtfully, will flourish. The media companies and creators who stick to their guns will be a refuge from the numbness-inducing hellscape of half-baked slop.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n