How creator hardware companies can adapt to AI’s new creative lane

Companies building creator hardware are used to disruption. The last seismic shift came in the shape of the smartphone. Mass market point-and-shoot cameras were met with an existential crisis when lenses and microphones capable of capturing high-quality video footage began making their way into mobile devices. A similar scenario is about to play out with AI and creator hardware. 

AI video generators are making it easy for beginner creators to produce quality content far beyond their skill without even using a camera. This poses significant questions about how competitive non-smartphone cameras and other equipment can remain among creators, given the rise of generative AI. 

This not only poses significant questions about the impact of the total addressable market for point-and-shoot cameras but for the equipment that supports shooting video footage more generally. 

What this all boils down to is whether AI will usher in a new breed of creators who will turn to AI-only workflows to produce content without investing in hardware beyond a computer and a smartphone. The part of the creator hardware market that should brace for serious turbulence is those targeting beginners producing recorded footage. Meanwhile, the companies selling equipment to intermediate and advanced creators, and serving the live streamers, are on much safer ground. Both have implications for how creator hardware companies think about future strategy. 

In our latest report, “The future of creator hardware | AI’s new creative lane”, MIDiA unpacks how creator hardware companies should pivot to meet this challenge. This includes actionable takeaways on why selling a product based on the quality of their features may prove tricky when AI enables high-grade output with a just few prompts. Instead, creator hardware companies should concentrate on how they can deliver content values that drive audience engagement, such as personality, authenticity, and distinctiveness. But no matter what the approach, all hardware companies must consider how they can swim with the tide of AI tools coming their way rather than against them. 

The report includes: 

·      How AI tools are redefining video creator workflows – video hardware workflow and AI and software only workflow

·      The biggest threats and opportunities that AI tools pose to video creator hardware, by sophistication

·      Differentiators between the way in which beginner, intermediate, and advanced creators feel towards using generative AI tools 

·      How AI tools are going to disrupt video creators’ careers, by sophistication

More information on our “The future of creator hardware” report can be found here. This report is the first of a two-part series, with “The future of creator software” being published later this month (November, 2024).