Why TikTok s***s on AI’s parade

Oh, it’s the buzzwords everyone’s sick to the tonsils of. Good news for those who’d rather stick pins in their eyes than read another editorial on the subject, this isn’t one. 

No doomful predictions or patronising how-to-dos here. Just a rundown on why I think (hope) that a people’s platform will always win out over great pretenders. 

So, I’ll take no glee in sharing my thoughts on why cat videos and Gen Z-ers dancing to Ed Sheeran hits are far superior to a bot regurgitating piffle in 0.2 seconds. 

OGs only

Apparently, authentic (ick) is now king. Apparently, Jason Derulo flogging burgers, ice creams and his own ‘organic’ water to his music counts as authentic. (Each to their own). 

Seriously though, TikTok has been built off the backs of people who love to make their own, original videos. As some businesses are learning the hard way, you’ve got to be genuinely genuine to be a success there. 

Letting creators have free rein on your brief, using real team members on your videos and putting salesy stuff to the back of your mind are ways you can ‘do’ TikTok effectively. In short, by putting originality first.

AI is, by its very nature, unoriginal. Though the general vibes are positive, 66% of Gen Z and Millenials said they’d be worried if art or writing was created with AI. That’s not a stat to be sniffed at.

What’s that noise? 

It’s the sound of Holly H opening a packet of jellyfish in her kitchen and gaining 25K views. It might be weird. It might be random. But by god it resonates. 

AI doesn’t create content that resonates. Not on the same level as seeing cute little jellyfish being evacuated from a FedEx-chucked package into a lit tank via a Dunelm coffee mug. 

Anyone who’s used Grammarly’s new bot to write their emails might disagree, but AI also doesn’t add value. When it’s not getting facts wrong, it’s repeating stuff we already know. 

It might be a handy tool, yes. But it doesn’t make people feel energised, motivated, confident and entertained. The exact reasons why TikTok users said they spend time there. 

Oi, bot boy!

You’re so boring, mate. Honestly, you need to work on your personality. Oh wait. 

No person equals no personality. If you log on to TikTok for two or three seconds (which counts as a view, mind you), you’ll see that 99.9% of content has a face. A face that’s telling them what they think and feel. 

Though it might (literally) threaten human-like intelligence, AI has no face and no feelings. This means its creations will never be able to connect on the same level. Except for Wall-E, maybe. 

Search me

As YouTube before it. These days, ‘kids’ are now heading to TikTok to search. 

Forget Maps, 40% of younger users use TikTok to find a tasty lunch spot. More use it to discover new products, find bed-making hacks or how to make ice cream from cottage cheese. 

TikTok may be a threat to Google’s slice of the search engine pie, but the Big G’s clamping down on AI even harder. 

With Bard as the only non-competitive AI tool, Google’s algorithm updates are actively downgrading crap content generated by robots. In short, watch out chap (GPT), Prabhakar is coming for you. 

AI will owe you

TikTok gets good ROI. Particularly for small businesses. 

Your mum’s aunty is as likely (if not more) to go viral as Cartier and Dior. TikTok’s algorithm prides itself on prioritising ‘good’ over ‘big budget’ content. So even if you’ve only got 50p to put in the TikTok machine, you might hit the jackpot (or at least make some cashback). 

Cheap AI content is equally easy to find. You don’t even need to subscribe to get a final output. Yes, just two seconds after entering a brief, you’ll have an article returned to you. 

Then you’ll have to spend an hour fact-checking it. 

Then another adding in a missed section. 

Then two hours turning it into your tone of voice. 

Then it’ll sit on your site or in another’s inbox, covered in metaphysical dust while your leads turn sad and cold. 

AI creators might only cost $20 a month to create 1,202 emails, but if you get any valuable return on this (low-quality, inexpert, humanless) content, I’ll buy you a pint myself.