1. Development of the era of self-media#
If there are any professions in this era that people envy, most people's first impression would be respected teachers, doctors, and lawyers. Which professions make money? Many people would immediately think of finance and the IT industry. Nowadays, if you ask a young boy or girl on the street about their desired profession, they are likely to say being an internet celebrity through self-media. Indeed, we live in an era of the internet, where everyone is inseparable from their phones or computers, and most of our work can only be efficiently completed through them. The popularity of the internet has driven the development of many industries and created one wealth myth after another, while also shifting people's focus from shining male and female stars on screens to ordinary people's ordinary life scenes. The popularity of social media platforms like Douyin and Kuaishou allows everyone to catch a glimpse of the lives of ordinary people. This is an observation driven by curiosity, as people naturally enjoy learning about others' private information. However, the era of self-media is a mixed bag, with an abundance of crude jokes and jaw-dropping performances, as well as tedious content. This can be seen from how Chinese parents strictly guard against their children getting addicted to Douyin and video streaming. In the later stage of the internet era, people are waiting for high-quality content to emerge. In the future, it will not only be teams with professional equipment and talent who can produce excellent content. The development of AI technology has greatly lowered the threshold for everyone to produce outstanding content: if you don't know how to edit? No problem, AI assistants can help you; if you don't know how to dub, it's also not a problem, AI can provide hundreds of audio sources, and even generate vibrant audio based on your voice through sampling; if you don't know how to write copy, it's also not a problem, AI assistants can generate copy that meets the video's needs based on your outline. All of this has emerged with the proliferation of AI language models like ChatGpt and has received positive feedback.
2. The future of the internet is no longer a platform economy, but a decentralized distribution led by content.#
The emergence of cryptocurrencies has shown people another possibility in life: if a system no longer has a center, content can still exist without relying on platforms, and it can be even more reliable and stable. The "Blank Paper Revolution" that took place in China in November last year marked the first time that the country's new generation of young people participated in a social movement with intense emotional release. It also validated the necessity of the "decentralized movement." If a movement is spontaneous and has no organizers, it will be difficult to suppress and even impossible to erase. Each person participating in the movement is a node in the encrypted network, bearing the task and responsibility of remembering the content. Unless everyone is brainwashed, any means of suppression will be ineffective. The flourishing development of cryptocurrencies confirms this point. Who could have imagined that the invention of Bitcoin could lead the world to another possibility? Even Bitcoin's creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, could not have foreseen it. Similarly, the development of AI technology has given everyone a tool to communicate their views and thoughts. Everyone can easily use these tools to express their opinions and knowledge and earn profits through their content. This is something that traditional industries find difficult to achieve: the barrier to entry is so low, but the potential is so high. The internet can connect almost the entire human population.
3. Individual-based self-media communication is the direction of the future internet, and the tools paving the way are increasing day by day.#
Microsoft's Azure provides a very convenient text-to-speech tool, and it is also very cheap. The emergence of AI voice actors, AI singers, and AI virtual anchors also confirms the future trend. For people with certain writing skills, making text more vivid and convenient to listen to has become very easy. Personal opinions and ideas can easily be transformed into content with AI voice enhancement. This content can be easily disseminated through personal podcasts and videos, allowing people to acquire knowledge during their leisure and commuting time. I myself am a very loyal podcast user and have a strong attachment to the intimacy brought by voices. The development of AI technology has brought about excellent "AI voice actors." The previously popular "AI Stefanie Sun" on major platforms successfully subverted people's stereotypical impressions of AI voice actors. AI voices are no longer "pale and accompanied by severe robotic articulation." Although people still worry about whether the voice behind a phone call is from a real person or AI. As for the future, whether the pros outweigh the cons or vice versa, no one can say for sure now. Time will give us the answer. All I know is that once a technological development trend forms, it is unstoppable. Any company or empire afraid of being disrupted by new technologies has already failed. Kodak and Nokia failed to catch up with emerging technological trends, and even the mighty commercial empire can collapse and disintegrate. The Qing Dynasty was the same. The technological development brought about by advanced ships and cannons by Western countries shattered the illusion of the decaying empire as the celestial kingdom. Technological revolution has more destructive power than political revolution.
4. Embracing emerging things is the key to unlocking future wealth.#
When Bitcoin broke the $60,000 mark, many people regretted missing an opportunity for financial freedom. Then, the sudden emergence of virtual currencies created wealth freedom for many people. Now, as the virtual currency market gradually matures, the frenzy of the feast is difficult to reproduce. Where is the future wealth carnival? The development of AI technology allows everyone to have the ability to share themselves. Platforms cannot control content creators because they can do without platforms or even create their own platforms. I believe that high-quality content is the future trend and a potential wealth code, although it is only a possibility. The only thing I can be sure of is that embracing emerging things is definitely the key to unlocking future wealth.