Social Media is Changing + AI Video & Vision Pro

Welcome back to the Signal, a weekly letter where I share tech stories and valuable insight that helps you become a better, smarter creator and entrepreneur.

Today’s topics:

• My Plan with the Vision Pro

• The Progress in AI Video

• Social Media is Changing

Getting my Hands on the Vision Pro

Next Friday (Feb 2nd) I am picking up the Vision Pro. Why would I drop $4K on an item that even Apple doesn’t seem to be too confident in?

Well, I want to experiment and explore. Specifically, I want to identify arbitrage opportunities.

As a creator, are there any mixed reality content formats that Vision Pro might bring mainstream? Does spatial video present new ways to tell stories on social media? Maybe new XR platforms will emerge that would be of value to be on early? Maybe we will record the WKNDS podcast using spatial FaceTime?

These are the opportunities I will be seeking, and of course – I will keep you updated with early mover opportunities.

In the meantime, I will definitely do the cookie-cutter unboxing videos and look forward to doing my first ever brutally honest deep-dive product review on YouTube.

As a designer/developer who spent 8 of the last 10 years building creativity software for iOS, I am really eager to get back in the game. What tools or experiences can I build for the Vision Pro, so I’m in good position when a future iteration of the device goes mainstream in a few years?

If you have any good ideas here, as always feel free to reply directly to this email.

AI Video has Taken a Massive Step Forward

Today I want to talk about the insane progress AI video has been making over the last few months.

Specifically, I want to show you real use-cases on how businesses and brands have been incorporating AI video into their marketing.

Let’s first run through some of the big updates in the AI video space.

• Google has announced Lumiere - which is arguably best-in-class already.

• SonicVisionLM automatically generates sound effects for video. It identifies every event within a video and generates a sound to match.

• LumaLabs released Genie, a text-to-3D image model capable of creating any 3D object you can dream of.

Kanye West Goes AI

AI video has gone mainstream before. Kid Cudi and Linkin Park have released AI-generated videos using Kaiber.

But now Kanye West has released a music video using a different method – generating imagery and then using AI models to animate them.

Branding & Website Visuals

If there is a really specific visual that you need for your marketing collateral, I think that AI video has matured enough for this to be a very viable option for you.

Fabdream, an AI artist, tweeted recent work of his showing the power of AI video for website visuals.

You can check the video live on the website now.

Right now, the best process for creating rich AI videos is to first start with an existing image, or by creating the visual in Midjourney. You then import that image into one of the existing text-to-video models, like Runway.

You can also use models like Runway or Pika to generate a video from scratch with a prompt, but the output isn’t as good as the first way yet.

But I think that Midjourney, when they release their video tools and move off of Discord (both which will happen this year), will eventually be the winner in this category.

Social Media is Changing

Things are changing… the days of the crackhead hyper-editing retention style are coming to an end as audiences are fatigued to it.

And everyone is talking about. Search “YouTube is changing” on YouTube and you’ll see hundreds of creators covering this idea.

But let’s take this one step further

Of course the raw, slower-paced, minimally edited and authentic style has re-emerged. Trends come and go. Audience fatigue is real. Everything is cyclical.

Sam Sulek is widely attributed as the creator who kick-started this new trend. He is one of the fastest growing creators on the planet, and his meteoric rise has been complimented with an absolutely cult following.

But he did everything opposite of what the gurus would suggest. No catchy titles or thumbnail, no editing, no retention or story hacks… just simply… turning on a camera, and going about his day.

The problem is this. Millions of creators are now rushing to create “Sam Sulek” style videos. And most will fail.

Because Sam isn’t successful due to the format.

See, an elephant isn’t that interesting by itself. A unicycle isn’t all that interesting on its own. But an elephant riding a unicycle – now that’s must-see TV. That’s an enigma.

Sam Sulek is an elephant riding a unicycle. A 21-year-old beast of a bodybuilder who also happens to be an incredible poetic speaker, wise philosopher yet highly relatable.

Sam Sulek is successful because he’s Sam Sulek.

So before you rush to hop on a trend, understand that the real gold is in being the trendsetter. Innovating, instead of imitating.

The creator that wins, is the one that never stops experimenting.

Quick Hits

This section includes things I have found interesting and helpful this week.

‣ John showcases a brilliant use-case for mixed reality + sports.

‣ Pat shared his thoughts on why being a creator on YouTube is so much more valuable than platforms like TikTok.

Have a great week y’all.

Roberto