1、SnapshotGlobal Digital SubscriptionQ1 Update20232Is the rise of AI the clincher for a paid content strategy?Over the last few years,weve seen the rise of a number of new technologies that have promised to change not only our industry but the wider world.Not all of those have delivered on that promis

2、e blockchain,anyone?but the latest in that chain,AI,does seem to be capable of living up to the hype.Whether its in writing marketing copy or coding an app,improving diagnosis in healthcare or,as happened recently,enabling the discovery of a new antibiotic,AI does promise revolution in large areas o

3、f industry and society.There are plenty who believe it will have a similarly revolutionary impact in media.Im not quite sure we should believe Jonah Perettis prediction that generative AI tools“will kill the majority of new static content.”Given Buzzfeeds strategy relies on precisely this,Im not sur

4、e thats necessarily an entirely unbiased view.It might be more accurate,however,to say that AI might prove the final nail in the coffin of the advertiser-funded content business model.The potential for institutions and individuals to create vast quantities of content,effectively at zero marginal cos

5、t,means that search results and SEO have the potential to be rapidly overwhelmed.Content navigation might become even harder.The expectation is that this might result in a new“flight to quality”,as consumers flock to brands they trust to deliver reliable content.In such a situation,it will also make

6、 little sense for publishers to effectively provide AI tools with the fuel they need to operate our content for free.Not a case of biting the hand that feeds you but rather cutting off its circulation.The combination of these two circumstances means that we can expect a rapid adoption of paid conten