|
Photo: Meta
Breaking down his thinking
(To improve readability I use the term “image” rather than “image and/or video”)
“Just as AI makes polish cheap, phone cameras have made professional-looking images ubiquitous – both trends cheapen the aesthetic.”
Smartphone cameras democratized professional imagery, and GenAI is now accelerating that trend; together, they “cheapen the aesthetic”. The traditional Instagram aesthetic of polished feeds (“lots of make up, skin smoothing, high contrast photography, beautiful landscapes”) “is dead”. Even portrait mode, which artificially blurs backgrounds to mimic the shallow depth of field of a fixed lens, has become commonplace. “It looks good, and we like to look good,” says Mosseri.
“But flattering images are cheap to produce and boring to consume. People want content that feels real.”
We are entering an era of the "raw aesthetic". Savvy creators are leaning into unproduced, explicitly unflattering imagery. In a world of digital perfection, imperfection serves as a vital signal. Rawness is no longer just a stylistic choice – it is a defensive way of signaling: this is real because it is imperfect.
However, GenAI is evolving rapidly “to create any aesthetic you like, including an imperfect one that presents as authentic”.
“Authenticity is fast becoming a scarce resource, which will in turn drive more demand for creator content, not less.”
Successful creators will be those who maintain their essence regardless of the technology they adopt. The barrier to entry has shifted: the question is no longer "can you create?" but rather "can you make something that only you could create?".
Mosseri's Solution: “Shift our focus to who says something instead of what is being said.”
Social media platforms face increasing pressure to identify and label AI-generated content. “We, as an industry, are going to need to surface much more context about not only the media on our platforms, but the accounts that are sharing it in order for people to be able to make informed decisions about what to believe”.
You’re confused too? What is it?
- We want to view images that look good vs. we prefer images to be raw and imperfect?
- Image authenticity is infinitely reproducible vs. image authenticity is becoming scarce?
- Image imperfection proves the visual is authentic vs. GenAI could also create imperfect images?
- To serve creators, Instagram must build "the best creative tools, AI-driven and traditional" vs. creators compete with content created by AI tools?
| 
