YouTube’s real threat isn’t TikTok – it’s an AI you’ve never heard of

The video showed a giant snake in the Amazon being viewed from a helicopter.
It looked real. It could have been real. Sadly, it wasn’t.

But I did have to check the Sky News app just to confirm the world’s largest snake hadn’t been captured on film. Distinguishing between human and AI-generated content, then, has become staggeringly difficult. And with that difficulty will come opportunity.

So, in typical AI-era fashion, here’s a bold prediction that has no evidence to support it: YouTube, TikTok and even TV are under threat from AI

However, that’s good news for brands. And I’ll explain why.

There’s nothing on TV

I subscribe to Amazon Prime, Disney+, Paramount+, Apple TV, Netflix, and Sky TV.

Call it excessive, but I’m a big fan of home entertainment. Yet somehow, I still find myself constantly saying, “There’s nothing on.” We’re living in an era of content abundance and quality scarcity.

And it’s not just the streamers who are struggling as Hollywood is suffering with it too.

AI is going to eat your search traffic – don’t let it eat your brandI’ve lost count of how many Jurassic Park films we’ve had, and the same goes for Fast and Furious. They stick to the tried and trusted frameworks over anything risky. And even when they get it right, they manage to mess it up. I still have nightmares about how bad the Game of Thrones ending was.

So, we already know there’s a huge gap for AI content to enter the economy. After all, TikTok’s rise is in part due to how crap film and TV can be. But AI content is likely to be seeded by creator platforms where going beyond ‘snakes in rivers’ is the entry fee to AI video fame.

Models vs Platforms

Google might be late to the AI party – but they bring impressive gifts when they arrive.

Their recent Video3 (VO3) model and Flow Creator Platform are producing staggeringly realistic content. Meanwhile, OpenAI’s Sora is more than just a video generation tool, it’s a social platform with a creative gallery where users can explore, like, and upvote others’ creations.

This social sharing element is crucial because it’s where we’ll discover our earliest AI video pioneers. Tomorrow’s most talented AI content creators are already experimenting on these platforms.

There are models, and there are platforms. Models like VO3 are the engines, while platforms like Sora and Flow provide the interface and community.

Success will come to the platform that combines the best models with a superior user experience, intuitive creation tools and a social feedback loop.

When these winning platforms emerge, we’ll witness an explosion of long-form content creation.

Currently, creators are working with shorter formats, stitching them together into longer narratives. However, as AI capabilities expand, enabling longer videos and faster creation times, we’ll see content creators unbound by traditional constraints. Whether those restraints were technical, financial, or imaginative.

Which brings us to the story of Philip K. Dick.

The cost of discovery is about to plummet

You might not know Philip K. Dick’s name but you’ve almost certainly watched his masterpieces on the big screen. Think Blade Runner or Minority Report or The Adjustment Bureau. Even something more recent like The Man in the High Castle.

These blockbusters all sprouted from the mind of a science fiction writer who achieved mainstream recognition only after his death. Dick spent years publishing countless books and short stories in science fiction magazines, but his genius was largely undiscovered during his lifetime.

This obscurity-to-prominence pattern still exists today.

Thousands of fantastic books languish on Amazon Kindle, read by only a handful of people. The problem isn’t quality, it’s discovery.

Unlike TikTok or YouTube’s sophisticated recommendation engines, Amazon’s algorithmic promotion of books remains relatively primitive. Authors need significant marketing muscle to gain visibility, a barrier that keeps many brilliant stories hidden.

‘Avoid reinventing the wheel’: How marketers are approaching AI searchThis is where AI video platforms, such as those from OpenAI and Google, face a crucial challenge. If they want to nurture a new generation of creators and help imaginative content spread, they need to build discovery models as sophisticated as their creation tools. Currently, they’re focused on enabling incredible AI content creation, which makes sense. But the real revolution will come when they crack the discovery algorithm.

Imagine if Philip K. Dick hadn’t needed permission or resources to turn his stories into visual narratives. If he could have transformed his ideas directly into compelling videos, reaching audiences without traditional gatekeepers. This is the power AI video tools are about to unleash, democratising not just creation, but potentially distribution too.

And here’s why that matters for brands.

For brands, the cost of advertising will become cheaper

Google’s recent launch of AI Mode in the US is causing concern among publishers and businesses. Essentially, they’ve shoved a ChatGPT-style interface into search, with seemingly little thought about how ads will appear, be displayed or indeed be chosen.

And yes, much like when YouTube introduced the short video format that made TikTok a hit, Google has done the same with AI.

While I’m sure that they’ll figure out a way for brands to advertise, it certainly seems that the era of the traditional SERP is coming to an end, and possibly along with it, the Google cash cow that is paid search.

My gut tells me that paid search costs will skyrocket as more people use AI/LLM search. And brands will need to seek other ways to advertise. But this is good timing.

As AI video platforms will need monetisation strategies beyond subscription fees to scale. The solution is a hybrid model where creation tools might require payment, but viewing galleries remain free to maximise audience reach.

This is where the opportunity for brands emerges:

● Collaborate with successful AI creators (think Nike’s partnership with Casey Neistat on YouTube, but at scale)
● Feature products naturally within AI-generated narratives
● Insert advertising breaks within AI-generated content streams
● Commission custom brand stories from top AI creators

The mathematics of attention is simple: more platforms mean more content, which means more viewing hours to monetise.

As audiences fragment across these new platforms, advertising opportunities will multiply, potentially driving down costs while increasing reach. All avenues point to new platforms emerging that separate AI content from regular content.

But there is another way for brands.

Brand-powered AI platforms (or the Dulex effect)

When I first walked into a DIY shop as a homeowner, the geek in me loved the Dulux paint machine. It’s simple enough: a machine that makes any colour of paint you like.

Brands need to start thinking similarly of AI. Imagine B&Q developing an AI-powered platform that transforms photos of your house and garden, letting you visualise renovations in real-time.

Or picture Cadbury revolutionising chocolate with a custom bar creator. An AI platform where customers design their dream chocolate combinations and receive their creations through the post.

Instead of merely advertising on AI platforms, brands can become platforms themselves, offering unique, interactive experiences that blend utility with entertainment.

Brands don’t need to wait for AI video platforms to make them famous; they can build their own AI-powered experiences that serve genuine customer needs. Perhaps that’s the key question for brands.

It’s not about how they’ll leverage AI to attract more customers. Instead, it’s about how they can utilise AI to create environments that draw buyers in.