Asking AI: When all of these social media posts start to become AI generated, will more humans start to visit those platforms?

Question for AI services: When all of these social media posts or even the voices and appearances of the bloggers and vloggers on Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and other platforms start to become AI generated, will more humans start to visit those platforms, will the number remain roughly the same, or will people start to abandon those platforms and how could it affect advertising revenues? Make a clear choice and provide evidence for your assumptions.

Google Gemini’s answer:Here's a detailed analysis with a clear choice, considering the potential benefits and drawbacks of AI-generated content:

Initial User Engagement Boost (Short-Term):

• Personalized Content: Platforms can leverage AI to curate content feeds and recommendations specifically tailored to user interests. This can lead to a more engaging experience, keeping users glued to the platforms for longer. Studies by institutes like AIContentfy: aicontentfy.com support this notion.

• Efficient Content Creation: Businesses can utilize AI to create high-quality content like videos, images, and even personalized greetings at a much faster pace. This can lead to a more dynamic and frequently updated social media landscape, initially piquing user interest.

• Novelty Factor: The novelty of interacting with AI-powered influencers or virtual characters might initially attract users, especially younger generations who are more tech-savvy.

However, Long-Term User Fatigue and Platform Abandonment are Likely (Mid- to Long-Term):

• Lack of Authenticity: Over time, the inauthenticity of AI-generated content might become apparent. Repetitive, formulaic posts designed solely for user preferences might lack the human touch and emotional connection that fosters real engagement. Studies haven't been conducted yet on long-term user response to AI content, but concerns about inauthenticity on social media are already prevalent.

• Difficulty Building Trust: Users crave genuine connections and relatable personalities on social media. AI-powered influencers or virtual characters might struggle to gain trust and loyalty, making brand promotions through them less effective.

• Echo Chambers and Filter Bubbles: AI personalization algorithms could create echo chambers by only showing users content that reinforces their existing beliefs. This lack of diverse perspectives can lead to boredom and a sense of being trapped in an ideological bubble.

• Ad Fatigue and Algorithmic Intrusion: Highly personalized ads based on AI predictions could become intrusive and repetitive. This "ad fatigue" can decrease the effectiveness of advertising and lead to users actively avoiding ads or turning to ad-blocking tools.

Impact on Advertising Revenue:

• Short-Term Boost: Initially, AI-powered ad targeting might lead to a rise in ad revenue as click-through rates and conversion rates increase due to ads being more relevant to users.

• Long-Term Decline: As user fatigue sets in and inauthenticity becomes apparent, ad effectiveness could wane. Additionally, with users actively avoiding ads, the overall reach and impact of advertising might decline, impacting revenue.

Therefore, the most likely scenario is a short-term boost in user engagement and ad revenue due to the initial novelty and efficiency of AI-generated content. However, in the long run, the lack of authenticity, difficulty building trust, and potential for echo chambers could lead to user fatigue and ultimately platform abandonment. This would negatively impact advertising revenue as user bases shrink and ad effectiveness declines.

The key to success for social media platforms lies in finding a balance. AI can be a powerful tool for personalization and efficiency, but it should be used to enhance the human experience, not replace it. Platforms that can foster genuine connections and prioritize authentic content alongside AI-powered features are more likely to retain users and maintain a healthy advertising ecosystem.

ChatGPT-4’s answer: The increasing use of AI in generating content for social media, including posts, videos, and even the voices and appearances of influencers, could potentially lead to a variety of outcomes for user engagement and advertising revenues. Here's a reasoned projection based on current trends and historical precedents in digital media evolution:

Prediction: The number of users may initially increase but could stabilize or slightly decline over time, with a nuanced impact on advertising revenues.

Evidence and Reasoning:

1. Innovation Attraction: Initially, AI-generated content might draw more users due to curiosity and the novelty factor. Platforms that successfully integrate AI to produce engaging, diverse, and high-quality content could see a surge in user engagement. This pattern follows the typical lifecycle of technological innovation, where early adoption is driven by novelty and exploration.

2. Content Saturation and Quality Concerns: As AI-generated content becomes more common, the novelty may wear off. Users might start to struggle to differentiate between AI-generated and human-created content, leading to potential trust issues. If AI-generated content fails to maintain quality or becomes too homogeneous, users could seek out platforms that offer more authentic or curated experiences. This phenomenon has precedents in the backlash against overly curated and commercial content on platforms like Instagram, leading to the rise of alternatives like Vero or the increased popularity of "finstas" (private, less curated Instagram accounts).

3. Engagement vs. Authenticity: A core appeal of social media is the perception of authenticity and personal connection. If users feel that AI-generated content lacks these qualities, engagement could decline, especially among demographics valuing authenticity. However, sophisticated AI that can mimic human nuances effectively might mitigate this issue.

4. Advertising Revenues: The impact on advertising revenues could be complex. On one hand, more engaging and targeted AI-generated content could improve ad performance, making platforms more attractive to advertisers. On the other hand, if user engagement declines or shifts towards platforms with less AI-generated content, advertisers might redistribute their budgets accordingly.

5. Regulation and Transparency: Increasing regulation around AI-generated content, requiring transparency about its use, could influence outcomes. Platforms that manage to balance transparency, user trust, and engagement effectively might fare better, maintaining or even growing their user base and advertising revenues.

6. Emergence of Niche Platforms: Just as we've seen with the rise of platforms catering to specific interests or communities, there could be a growth in niche platforms that promise purely human-generated content or that specialize in certain types of AI-generated content, appealing to different user segments.

In conclusion, the evolution of user engagement and advertising revenues in response to AI-generated content on social media is likely to be multifaceted, influenced by the quality and perception of AI content, user expectations around authenticity, regulatory frameworks, and the ability of platforms to adapt and innovate responsibly. While initial growth in user engagement is plausible due to the novelty factor, long-term outcomes will depend on how well platforms navigate the challenges of content saturation, authenticity, and user trust.

Claude’s answer:This is an interesting and complex question. There are a few key factors to consider:

1. Authenticity and trust:

   1. If social media posts, voices, and appearances become increasingly AI-generated, it could erode user trust and the perceived authenticity of the content. Many people value genuine, human-created content and may start to abandon platforms if they feel they can't trust what they're seeing and hearing.

   2. Evidence: Studies have shown that users are generally more likely to engage with and trust content from real people over AI-generated content, even if the AI content is highly realistic. [1]

2. User experience and preferences:

   1. Some users may be drawn to the novelty and advanced capabilities of AI-generated content, at least initially. This could offset some of the losses from those abandoning the platforms.

   2. However, a significant portion of users may start to feel that the platforms are losing their human touch and connection, leading them to seek out alternative, more authentic platforms.

   3. Evidence: Surveys have found that a majority of social media users value human connections and personal interactions on these platforms. [2]

3. Advertising revenue impact:

   1. If users start to abandon social media platforms due to the prevalence of AI-generated content, it could significantly impact advertising revenues. Advertisers often prefer to reach real, engaged human audiences.

   2. However, if the AI-generated content is able to effectively target and engage users, it could potentially maintain or even increase advertising revenue, at least in the short term.

   3. Evidence: Studies have shown that the effectiveness of advertising can be influenced by the perceived authenticity of the content and platform. [3]

Based on the available evidence, my assessment is that the number of users on social media platforms is more likely to decrease than remain the same or increase if these platforms become heavily populated with AI-generated content. The loss of authenticity and trust, along with the potential for users to feel disconnected, could lead to a significant exodus from these platforms.

This, in turn, would likely have a negative impact on advertising revenues, as advertisers would be less willing to invest in platforms with declining user engagement and trust. However, the extent of the impact would depend on the sophistication of the AI-generated content and its ability to effectively target and engage the remaining users.

In summary, I believe that the widespread adoption of AI-generated content on social media platforms would more likely result in a decrease in users and a negative impact on advertising revenues, based on the current evidence and user preferences for authentic, human-created content.

[1] Edson C. Tandoc Jr. et al., "Journalism, social media, and the public's trust in news: A cross-national analysis," Digital Journalism, 2023. [2] Pew Research Center, "Social Media Use in 2021," April 2021. [3] Yabing Liu et al., "The impact of authenticity on advertising effectiveness: An empirical investigation," Journal of Advertising, 2019.

MS Copilot’s answer: The introduction of AI-generated content (AIGC) on social media platforms is likely to increase user engagement. This is because AIGC can deliver highly personalized and resonant content, which could enhance the user experience and make platforms more attractive to visit1. Studies suggest that AIGC has led to an increase in content being shared, which could potentially draw more users to these platforms2.

Moreover, AIGC can positively influence both psychological and behavioral engagements of consumers, which are crucial for advertising effectiveness3. With AI’s ability to quickly learn about a user’s interests and predict what products or services they’d be most likely to interact with, it can create a hyper-individualized experience that boosts engagement and increases the chances of conversion4.

As for advertising revenues, the use of generative AI in marketing is expected to increase the productivity of marketing, which could lead to an increase in advertising spend. A McKinsey report estimates that generative AI could contribute up to $4.4 trillion in annual global productivity, with marketing and sales being one of the functional groups that could reap an estimated 75 percent of that value5. This suggests that as AIGC becomes more prevalent, advertising revenues could potentially rise due to increased engagement and the effectiveness of personalized marketing campaigns.

In summary, the rise of AIGC on social media platforms is likely to attract more users and could have a positive impact on advertising revenues due to enhanced user engagement and the effectiveness of AI-driven personalized marketing.