While Gen AI increases production, it will break consumption into small pieces

Generative AI (Gen AI), a subfield of artificial intelligence, defines systems capable of producing original content based on human input. Text, images, video, software, music… Whatever you want can be produced with a few-word command. More importantly, this production is much faster than before. Jobs that used to take hours are reduced to minutes, and projects that took days are now done in hours. Production is no longer a problem; it is an almost infinite resource.

But the real question is: will consumption increase at the same rate?

THE EXPLOSION OF PRODUCTION, THE FRAGMENTATION OF CONSUMPTION

In the past, developing software took months; now it is measured in hours. While it used to require a team to prepare video content, it is now possible to create a video with a single command. This means countless software, videos, and content. But when will people find the time to consume all of this?

The truth is: consumption will not increase; it will disperse.

There will not be more software, but more personalized software. There will not be more content watched, but more instant and niche content consumed.

FROM SHARED EXPERIENCE TO PERSONAL ECHO CHAMBERS

In the past, the whole country would watch the same TV series and read the same magazine. Today, everyone is alone on their own screen, at their own pace, with their own filter. Gen AI is accelerating this fragmentation.

• Thousands of WhatsApp groups have replaced Facebook.

• Thousands of Substack publications have replaced Time magazine.

• Even Netflix lists are being personalized.

Everyone is consuming different things at the same time.

WE ARE NO LONGER CONSUMERS, BUT FILTERS

There is no time to choose. There is no time to filter either. Algorithms now choose for us. Consumption is becoming a flow, not an act of will. While Gen AI causes production to explode, the human brain cannot cope with the consumption. This makes consumption smaller, more instant, and more superficial.

ACCESS IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN OWNERSHIP

Instead of buying software, it is enough to call it with a "prompt." Instead of installing an application on your device, it is possible to run it instantly in the browser. This shows that consumption is no longer fixed, but temporary. We are in the age of flow, not the library.

CONSUMPTION IS NO LONGER SOCIAL, BUT ISOLATED

This extreme individualization of consumption is also melting away common cultures. People are fed not by shared experiences, but by personal algorithms. This redefines both sociality and culture. Production is becoming unifying, while consumption is becoming divisive.

CONCLUSION: A WORLD THAT PRODUCES A LOT, PEOPLE WHO SHARE LITTLE

Generative AI offers us everything, but we do not have the time to consume everything at once. The issue is no longer how much is produced, but what is noticed. Consumption is no longer an economy, but a struggle for attention.

In this new era, the winner will not be the one who offers the most content, but the one who can build the most relationships.

Because consumption is no longer measured by quantity, but by the ability to build connections.