AI ruined my life.

Summary

In "AI Ruined My Life," Andrew Cole candidly discusses his struggles as a creative professional in a rapidly changing world dominated by artificial intelligence. Despite his background in video production and success on platforms like TikTok, Cole finds himself disillusioned by the ease AI provides in content creation, thus devaluing his hard-earned skills. He shares personal anecdotes and reflections on how automation has diminished the appreciation for craftsmanship and creativity, leading to a saturated market where genuine talent gets lost amidst quick, mass-produced content. The narrative explores Cole's attempts at adapting, from TikTok to YouTube writing, and finally to Amazon KDP, only to feel overshadowed by AI-generated slop. Ultimately, Cole ponders the future of creativity in an AI-driven landscape, contemplating whether traditional artistry still has value or a place in today's digital economy.

Highlights

• Video production skills are increasingly undervalued due to AI advancements, leading to a saturated market. 📉
• Automation has democratized content creation, making high-quality production achievable with little effort. 🤖
• The competitive nature of content has shifted towards quantity over quality, sidelining dedicated creators. ⚔️
• Andrew’s TikTok experience reveals a struggle between quality content and viral, low-effort productions. 😤
• AI tools have made self-publishing on platforms like Amazon a daunting landscape for authentic writers. 📚

Key Takeaways

• The rise of AI and automation has made content creation accessible to all, diminishing the value of traditional skills. 🎥
• Platforms like TikTok and CapCut have lowered barriers to entry, resulting in oversaturation and reduced quality of content. 📱
• Creative individualism struggles under industrialized content practices, where speed and quantity trump craft. ⚙️
• Andrew Cole’s journey highlights the emotional toll of competing with AI in creative fields. 💔
• Despite challenges, there is a persistent desire to produce meaningful, human-centered content. 🖋️

Overview

Andrew Cole's story is a compelling narrative about the intersection between human creativity and technological progress. As he navigates through his career in video production and content creation, Andrew voices a common frustration felt by many artists today: the fast-paced changes brought by AI have made it difficult for traditional skills to stand out. His early passion for video production and ambition to perfect his craft was met with the harsh reality of a market now flooded with AI-assisted content, where appreciation for finely tuned craftsmanship is waning.

With the rise of TikTok, Andrew found a creative outlet that allowed him to grow a significant following. Yet, as AI tools like CapCut made content creation more accessible and less skill-dependent, Andrew noticed a shift in the cultural landscape—artistry was falling by the wayside in favor of quick, viral hits. This phenomenon extended to his writing endeavors on YouTube and Amazon KDP, where he confronted the challenge of competing against automated, mass-produced content, further questioning the sustainability of traditional creative roles.

Despite these frustrations, Andrew’s journey is also tinged with resilience and a quest for authenticity. He grapples with the notion of what it means to be a creator in an age where AI easily churns out material with little regard for quality. His steadfast desire to produce impactful, human-centric work reflects a broader question faced by artists: can meaningful artistry survive in an AI-dominated landscape? Andrew remains hopeful, seeking new ways to adapt while holding onto the soul of his creative spirit.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 03:00: AI's Impact on Creative Industries AI has significantly influenced various aspects of creative industries.
• 03:00 - 09:00: Transition to TikTok and the Rise of Automation The chapter explores the shift towards TikTok and the increasing role of automation in creative industries, touching on the commercial motivations behind content creation. It delves into personal experiences of the author, who has pursued various creative professions, including making music videos and aspiring to become a director of photography. The discussion highlights the importance of human connection in the age of digital media.
• 09:00 - 15:00: Challenges with AI in Content Creation The chapter discusses the speaker's background in video production, highlighting their passion for creative projects. They had experience in video production, found some success, but eventually transitioned after working with three clients in succession. The narrative might delve into specific challenges faced within AI in content creation, although the provided transcript focuses more on personal experiences and less on AI-specific details.
• 15:00 - 19:00: Writing for YouTube and AI Replacement The chapter discusses the challenges faced by a content creator who felt undervalued despite having significant experience and high-quality equipment. The creator shares their experience of being paid less than minimum wage and their decision to stop pursuing this path due to recurring dissatisfaction.
• 19:00 - 26:00: Exploring Amazon KDP and AI-Driven Competition The chapter explores the onset of competition in the creative industry due to the rise of automation tools. About three years ago, a noticeable shift occurred where clients began to question the necessity of using traditional editing tools like Premiere when alternatives like Cap Cut were available. This highlights the growing impact of AI-driven tools in the market.
• 26:00 - 33:00: Reflections on AI and Creative Value The speaker begins by discussing their use of an iPhone camera, suggesting it is almost on par with professional equipment. They emphasize their love for perfecting their work to a professional standard, focusing on fine-tuning and craftsmanship to achieve perfection.
• 33:00 - 37:00: Conclusion: Seeking Solutions and Support The chapter "Conclusion: Seeking Solutions and Support" discusses the decline in the appreciation for craftsmanship in the content production industry. It emphasizes the pressures of meeting production quotas and the focus on quantity over quality. The narrator expresses frustration with the current state of video production and mentions a transition to TikTok, suggesting a search for a platform that aligns better with their values or creative goals.

AI ruined my life. Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 ai has ruined my life Now I know that might sound dramatic but uh let me tell you why Um first of all I want to say the reason people watch videos where it's just a person talking to a camera and the reason that's made a big comeback on YouTube is that everything is synthetic artificial
• 00:30 - 01:00 manufactured and only made in order to make money on social media nowadays Um so this is all we got left Me having a human to human conversation to talk about this So all throughout my life uh I've done many creative professions I used to make music videos I wanted to be a director of photography which if you don't know is pretty much
• 01:00 - 01:30 like the head of the cameraman in a video production Um I used to be very into video production Um but the common theme of my life is that I've always loved creative endeavors and projects Um I made some money with video production It was all right Um but then after I had about three clients in a row
• 01:30 - 02:00 that ended up paying me less than minimum wage for the hours I put into it doing the best work I could with 6 years of experience and a camera that is Netflix certified Um I had enough I couldn't do it anymore Um it was a something that just kept happening to
• 02:00 - 02:30 me and that's when the competition with automation started So even back then um this was only about 3 years ago I noticed that people started to make comments uh clients started to make comments you know I can just do that with this tool Um you don't need to edit with Premiere I I can do this in Cap Cut
• 02:30 - 03:00 Um I have an iPhone camera It's pretty much just as good Um basically as a professional I've always loved to make things perfect to the level of quality that I wanted Uh that's professional And that means fine-tuning very little things uh in a form of craftsmanship uh to make it perfect And the problem
• 03:00 - 03:30 is a lot of people don't notice that stuff and they don't care They just don't they don't care about craftsmanship anymore It's about production It's about produce produce produce meet the damn quota Get this content out Um and so I had enough with video production A little before then I started on Tik Tok Uh don't click out okay I'm not a
• 03:30 - 04:00 cringey Tik Tocker I just made videos that were creative It was my creative outlet and I really enjoyed it Um I did that for start Tik Tok in at the December of 2018 So that's been about 6 years now And I got success on Tik Tok Uh I got about 430,000 followers from that
• 04:00 - 04:30 Um but there's something that happened around 2022 that just made Tik Tok stop being fun to me and that was that AI tools and things like Cap Cut started to become mainstream which made it so everybody can do this You know it doesn't matter if it low-key looks like crap and I'm
• 04:30 - 05:00 not judging people but that like if it's 80% there it's good enough post it You know for example there are a lot of examples Um so basically I've been trying to run for the last 3 years from the mass acquisition of skills lowering the bars for skill sets to the point where your skill set suddenly becomes
• 05:00 - 05:30 useless And AI has been central to doing that to me Um and that's the main theme of this video and that's the problem that has basically been messing me up for 3 years Um so what used to
• 05:30 - 06:00 be skills and a great example of this is Vine Back then not everybody could be a Viner If you remember the Vine days believe it or not there was actually a lot of skill that went into making Vine videos and even Instagram videos Um you had to know how to edit Not everybody could make good videos on social media But then once cap cap cut became mainstream with all of its AI tools everything became you know
• 06:00 - 06:30 completely easy You know anyone can do the same things So now that everybody is on the same level and editing is easy making a video is easy buying equipment's easy all of the sudden the competition increases so much that there's no barrier to entry
• 06:30 - 07:00 And I know that having a low barrier to entry might be a good thing but if you think about it I think there should be barriers to entry because it makes you put a stake in the game Beforehand if you wanted to be good at video production you had to learn a lot or social media like videos you had to learn a lot of skills and spend a lot of hours to get those
• 07:00 - 07:30 uh skills that set you apart from other people And any old hack that wanted to join again I'm not judging people but you know any person that just wanted to grab some money they couldn't just quickly do that They had to learn those skills And because people that want money quick are not willing to put in the time to learn those skills it
• 07:30 - 08:00 weeded all of those people out So the people that made it to that level of knowing all of these skills required to make good content and good videos and any good creative output There's a lower amount of them and it was easier to get attention because you earned it You deserved the attention because you worked hard to get the skills required to get that
• 08:00 - 08:30 attention So now what happens when everybody is a hero No one will be to quote the Incredibles Basically when everybody can make content to almost the same level Now people are going to compete on a much dirtier in a much dirtier way in a much more scammy way They'll go to different lows
• 08:30 - 09:00 One way that this manifests is people on social media that are willing to do stupid things like eat a tide pod as an outdated example or whatever stupid whatever stupid thing they can think of In a way I respect that because at least you're still putting some skin in the game You're doing something that most people don't want to do But the problem is when Tik Tok came out
• 09:00 - 09:30 with its monetization as you know a video cannot be monetized until it reaches a minute So now all of the sudden with all these AI tools that have leveled the playing field 100% Um now people are willing to just repost content It all just goes to the lowest level
• 09:30 - 10:00 Um and what's upsetting for me is that on Tik Tok I would be trying to put some good work into my videos and effort and um basically you post something you put a lot of hard work into and it it gets treated the same as something that's more
• 10:00 - 10:30 entertaining but was stolen Now people don't care about hard work which is actually fine I'm not here to say hard work is if if someone makes a crappy video but they worked hard on it It is a crappy video But what I am saying is that you can't compete with people that don't make
• 10:30 - 11:00 anything Like you can't as a creator it's not very easy to compete with someone else that just reposts clips of other people that worked hard and steals their content like clips from TV shows or this or that All that stuff took tons of uh skill and and skilled people running the cameras writers
• 11:00 - 11:30 um all types of skills money investment you know years of hard work And then you got a person that comes along takes the clip makes a couple of al alterations just so they can barely monetize it and then they make thousands of dollars from it And the truth is if those people were not present and behaving in such a way all the people
• 11:30 - 12:00 with all the people that wanted to put hard work into their their um videos would actually get a lot more success because again once again we'd be in a smaller group of hardworking people and the supply and demand would be different So then I I I pretty much quit Tik Tok because I realized I can't compete with all of this
• 12:00 - 12:30 automation You know these people are essentially some of them have have automation processes that make videos for them and they've made thousands of dollars And um basically you can't really compete with that can you Uh if you're if you if you want to make your own content at least it's going to be a lot
• 12:30 - 13:00 harder So then I worked for a YouTube channel as a writer I'm not going to go into the specifics of what channel it is but they're at about 600,000 followers now When I joined they were at 200,000 followers I worked for them for about two months and when I worked at them they jumped up about 200,000 followers more
• 13:00 - 13:30 Um I I wrote scripts for these animated videos and basically to this day the script I wrote for a series that I I'd been wanting to make in some way or another for the last four years Um it really took off It got 3 million views We made a second video and that
• 13:30 - 14:00 became the second most viewed vid uh video on the channel or at least the top like four Um I got paid the same flat rate based on the math Those two videos alone that I wrote the script for made with the sponsor at least $80,000 and I got paid $280 for each of [Music] them
• 14:00 - 14:30 Um although I did get a I did negotiate a bonus for $200 per million views although the guy hasn't paid me for the 3 millionth view Uh I guess he owes me $200 So a and the second video um he didn't give me the bonus So for the first video that got 2 million views I got a bonus of $400
• 14:30 - 15:00 which was cool Uh haven't been paid for the 3 millionth on the first video that's happened since And the second one he hasn't paid me any bonus Now why do I say that AI ruined my life Because this was a great job Um then my grandpa died and I took a week off because it really messed me
• 15:00 - 15:30 up When I came back he fired me Um the reason AI [ __ ] messed me up though is that this guy then used AI based on the scripts I already wrote to make more lower quality videos keeping the same series going He's gotten millions of views ever
• 15:30 - 16:00 since making maybe hundreds of thousands of dollars based on the brand that I originally helped to make with the scripts and my idea for it Um it's a series and uh he replaced me with AI no cost to
• 16:00 - 16:30 him So then I thought well I'll do Amazon KDP Amazon KDP is um publishing books on Amazon because it looks like I have a knack for writing Um and that's where I am right now But the more I watch these tutorial
• 16:30 - 17:00 videos the more I realize that you just need to make essentially All right here's what messes me up These people on YouTube or whatever are using AI to write books That's just not something I want to do I don't want my portfolio to just be full of AI slop I want to write
• 17:00 - 17:30 things that mean something I want my words to be relatable to humans and I want it to come from the soul And the more I watch these videos the more I realized that these gurus on YouTube got rich from searching keywords and generating a book
• 17:30 - 18:00 I can't compete I just simply can't compete I can't write that fast Um I published my first book and it's got zero sales And that's fine That's fine I'm not here to complain right But it's just dawning on me that I can't compete with this AI dude I don't want to contribute to making the internet a
• 18:00 - 18:30 worse place I actually like the internet a lot I think the internet that was filled with things made by humans was great And I think that if we project where this is going the internet's going to look like a pretty crappy place soon full of all AI and probably bots Um and uh so I don't know what to do
• 18:30 - 19:00 Every time I uh I think I have a valuable skill that would have been valuable 30 years ago that 10 years ago would have been a career for me It gets replaced with AI and it makes my skill useless Um so I guess I could do keyword research and try to write the book fast
• 19:00 - 19:30 before the trend dies or something but I can't do that without AI and I don't want to to use it So I feel like I uh can't compete here I wonder if anyone else feels like uh they can't escape their skill set being completely devalued by whatever new AI technology
• 19:30 - 20:00 comes out next Let me know in the comments Uh but yeah I mean these people say that they made tens of thousands of dollars within a couple of months and they do But any author throughout history would tell you that that's not realistic
• 20:00 - 20:30 and that's not possible But it is possible now because of AI The only difference is one is using their soul to create something that that they actually want to have a meaning to another person and another is just generating slop [Music] Um you could do it the hard way you know
• 20:30 - 21:00 just say "I'm going to do it the hard way I'm going to do it the right way But is it even worth it when a carpenter gets replaced by a factory in China Does he just keep doing it the hard way I guess so I It becomes something else entirely It just gets boiled down to art Whereas before I used to I would have been able to compete in the corporate landscape in our in our our economy I
• 21:00 - 21:30 would have been to able to contribute and be part of it but now I'm just a carpenter that makes art pieces with words So I don't know what to say I'm not complaining I just I feel like whatever new skill I learn will probably just be replaced by AI eventually So what's the point It's
• 21:30 - 22:00 happened about three times now So yeah I sometimes I wish I was born 30 years ago when people actually cared about marketing copy When there wasn't social media when people wanted to write clever commercials when people wanted to write clever movies when people wanted to make art that had a
• 22:00 - 22:30 deeper meaning to it but could also make money It was a beautiful time but now we live in 2025 I guess there's no point in moping but if anyone has any answers or ideas I'm all ears Um so I hope you guys have a good day and thanks for listening to my rant