It’s difficult to find an article about the media and entertainment industry’s future without an alarmist statement of how AI will change everything. Each headline brings fresh evidence of the AI flood: Amazon now limits the daily number of Kindle publications, music streaming platforms face an unprecedented number of fully AI-generated uploads, and social media offers avatar influencers.

But before we abandon creativity to serve our robot producer overlords, let’s remember that computer-generated images (CGI) “changed everything” for films, digital audio workstations “changed everything” in music production, and e-books “changed everything” for publishing. We won’t even start on what the Internet did.

Despite the revolutionary changes wrought by new tools—and that’s exactly what AI is, a tool—a lot hasn’t changed in media and entertainment since (probably) the printing press. Success still requires producing great content at a competitive cost, effectively engaging your audience so they consume that content, and monetizing that engagement (because this is business, kids).

None of those success factors will be diminished in the industry’s new “Flooded Era” (see Figure 1), but how media and entertainment companies achieve them needs a rethink. AI will accelerate a change we’re already seeing from democratized media platforms: There’s more content coming from more places, and both media and tech companies are vying to be the gatekeeper.

Figure 1

Here’s how each of those media success factors will evolve in the Flooded Era, starting with the one we’ve recently seen undergo a dramatic transformation: audience engagement. 

Engage your audience: Media is everywhere

We used to have lives outside of media. We hear some people still do, but you wouldn’t know it from Bain’s latest Media Consumption Survey: More than three-quarters of US respondents use social media, nearly half of US gamers socialize in-game while they play, and just under two-thirds of US live-event attendees post about it online (see Figure 2). That last number rises to about 80% among people younger than 35. 

Figure 2

Media is not only social but also participative. We’re increasingly becoming media, with about one-third of US consumers creating content that goes beyond posting personal photos or comments online. That number rises to nearly 60% among those younger than 18, according to our survey.

That might sound good for media, but we multitask constantly across our ever-present entertainment. Nearly 80% of US respondents consume multiple media formats simultaneously—for example, scrolling social media while streaming video—our survey found (see Figure 3). Apart from books, which most readers fully focus on (literacy for the win), our constant screens result in fragmented attention. Reduced attention means less engagement with media and, in turn, lower ad value. Live and location-based entertainment is possibly the only sector that actively benefits from this trend, as it’s both an escape from the tech and later gets replayed across it.

Figure 3

Media companies know this—and none of them want to be the second screen. If you aren’t the social media service with the best algorithm, the game where teens actually hang out, or the streaming service with content to justify your subscription, people aren’t giving you their precious attention. This has caused massive investment in platforms to “own” the consumer, including acquisitions beyond core content formats (e.g., Netflix gaming).

However, if we look longer term, there’s a realistic scenario in which personalized AI agents* are better than individual platforms at curating content to our tastes, in which case offering content that stands out in AI searches will eventually matter more than becoming the best content gatekeeper. Social and participative networks offer some protection against business model disruption, and platforms can erect barriers by not sharing data. But markets tend to eventually offer The Thing That Consumers Want. Agents could morph our increasingly prolific media choices into a focused stream, tailored for each consumer, which, let’s be honest, sounds better than searching “what’s new on Netflix,” “what’s new on HBO Max,” “what’s new on.…”

(*Not talent agents—though they’re also kind of a big deal.)

Do things efficiently: “Good enough” gets cheap

This is the buzzy one. Using AI makes it cheap and fast to create stuff that previously required a full crew. “But it makes terrible, janky, soulless stuff!” the creatives in the room counter. Yes, we’ve all read that metafiction story. But, like it or not, real, human creatives are about to guide AI with real craft experience. Japanese writer Rie Kudan won a prestigious award after using generative AI to help draft responses from the AI character in her future-set novel. The YouTube series StEvEn & Parker, made by experienced animators using AI-supported animation, has 30 million weekly viewers.

Challenges remain. Many AI models have real copyright issues, and artist compensation structures must be addressed to fairly value the creative labors upon which these models are trained. Nevertheless, Pandora’s AI box is open, and nothing’s going back in.

This has three big implications. First, the flood: Around 60% of today’s consumer creators (people who create a type of content they consume) told us that they would use AI to create content types they haven’t previously produced, which means the unending river of uploaded user-generated content (UGC) will become an ocean. Most of it will get few views, listens, or reads; it’s just going to make it harder for consumers to find what they like, forcing algorithms to adapt. However, a sliver of the flood will include undiscovered creatives making “good enough” content for which they previously lacked the tools. That sliver will compete with traditional media for consumers’ time, even if the rest doesn’t.

Second, the improvement in output per unit of cost from using AI will augment what smaller, independent studios, labels, and publishers can do, providing a meaningful boost to their craft training and expertise. They’ll be able to create premium content at a fraction of the cost, making indies competitive in segments they’ve never touched before.

This leads to the third point: Incumbent major studios, labels, and publishers must find efficiency gains to remain competitive. They can accomplish this with many back-end processes—for instance, our video clients are already using AI insights to inform distribution choices—without affecting core creative differentiation (i.e., your scriptwriters have a process; don’t mess it up.) Given the raised standards of indies, major media companies will need to make their content and experiences even more premium. Using new tech tools, such as virtual production in films or AI to expand massive gaming worlds, can enable them to innovate and push creative boundaries.

People are reluctant to consume fully AI-generated content—we’ll show some stats on that in a minute—but they do have some appetite when it expands creative possibility, our survey found (see Figure 4). 

Incorporating new tools will require meaningful operational change for traditional media companies, and that isn’t easy without clear strategic direction and cultural commitment. But they’ve adapted to new tech before—these are, after all, the creative industry giants.

Offer great content: Creativity cuts through

Content remains paramount in our flooded future, because media and entertainment, above all, are built on creating something people want to experience. No amount of half-baked AI videos will replace a traditional film that people want to watch, just as an engaging film made with AI tools will outshine a boring human-made one.

The upshot: Skilled people remain critical, and media companies can’t neglect talent investment in service of tech enablement. If a professional doesn’t understand lighting design, they can’t effectively prompt a large language model to adjust the lighting in their AI-made film. If a creator doesn’t understand character arcs, they won’t understand that their AI-developed novel didn’t earn that romantic moment for the protagonist. Creativity isn’t merely bestowed; it’s learned.

Talent pipelines and apprenticeship models in existing creative industries will continue to provide differentiation in the market, and professionals need to be nurtured in new ways as AI tools take on tasks previously relegated to entry-level rungs of the creative workforce ladder.

Furthermore, consumers still trust human-led content more, and there will be a place for actively promoting that. More than 70% of US readers in our survey say that they’re less likely to engage with a book that was fully AI generated; ditto for more than 60% of music listeners and nearly 60% of video viewers (see Figure 5). Media companies can use the phrase “human created” as a promotional tool,** the same way “fair trade” became a selling point on food packaging.

Although they’re not silver bullets, proven intellectual property, successful franchises, and established names give incumbents a significant advantage in this new era. Franchises predominate in box offices, on charts, and in “must-read” lists, and they offer revenue opportunities across media formats. Superman is almost 90 years old; AI won’t suddenly make him boring.*** Around 60% of US listeners ranked “artists I know” in their top three music selection criteria in our survey; emotional connections to pop stars aren’t going to disappear.

This is not, however, a license to stagnate. Franchises get boring if companies rely on churned-out reams of content without sufficient creative innovation. If established media companies use their talent pipelines, build on fan affection for existing intellectual property and brands, and innovate with tech to give fans more of what they want, they have a meaningful head start.

(**FYI, this article is 100% human written—in case you were wondering why it’s so deep and engaging. Even the top image is 100% human produced.)

(***Being human written, this article has strong opinions about people who think Superman is boring.)

Monetize effectively: Money is flowing to new places

While media has dramatically changed, monetization hasn’t morphed as quickly. Subscription models have simple tiers, and advertising has gone digital, but today’s revenue streams still look much like pre-streaming models: Intersperse ads with content or have celebrities show off your goods.

What’s changing? Access to AI-crunchable data expands possibilities for hyperpersonalization and can give fans more opportunities to buy exclusive things. With subscriptions, improved price menus can generate more revenue while giving more back to fans—for example, unlocking exclusive content for gamers or concert ticket offers for top listeners. Media fans are passionate, and a huge amount of “wraparound” content, from merch to special experiences, can open opportunities for engagement.

The blending of media with other consumer sectors also creates more possibilities for cobranded experiences. In gaming, Fortnite has struck many collaborations with brands such as LEGO and Ralph Lauren, as well as with celebrities, such as musical artist Travis Scott. Blending can delight fans of other media properties while opening new retail channels.

This retail and media blend increasingly extends to innovative ad formats. Shoppable content is already emerging. Examples include Prime Video’s “shop the show” tabs and (taking advantage of multitasking behavior) Netflix’s “pause ads” option, which lets viewers scan to shop looks from the show Emily in Paris. In our attention-scarce environment, more smoothly integrated ads will more likely get the attention companies want and improve the content experience for the consumer.

What does it all mean for industry executives? 

• Creative differentiation still matters, so companies can’t lose their edge chasing new tech. Traditional media has a head start on talent and know-how.
• At the same time, companies can’t ignore new tech. Competitors will use it for efficiency gains, and new creatives will cut through. A company’s cost base will be higher if it doesn’t adapt, including by training and hiring new types of talent.
• Today’s platforms are crucial for publishing content and attracting an audience, but media gatekeepers may change as AI agents grow more capable, making standout content even more critical.
• There’s untapped potential in how media and entertainment companies make money. Fans will pay more for the right offering, and there’s room for better integration of ads within the customer experience.

Who knows, maybe robots will destroy humanity one day. In the meantime, they won’t destroy human creativity.