Photography’s Dead. The Creator Economy’s Dead. AI’s going to replace you tomorrow. And other clickbait lies…
Ok, we need to have a real conversation today about what’s actually happening in the creative industries right now — what’s real, and what’s just fear wrapped up in clickbait. Because with AI advancing at lightning speed, a lot of people in the creative sectors are genuinely having these conversations of “is it even worth it anymore?”
Is it worth starting a photography biz?
Why bother launching a new YouTube channel when AI can do it all and it seems to be flooding the industry?
Should I still become an actor when AI tools like Google’s Veo 3 are coming?
Or an artist, when AI can whip up a painting in seconds that might take me a week?
Why step into ANY of the creative industries right now — especially if you’re not 22, living on instant noodles, and basically have the internet plugged directly into your veins?
And this fear isn’t just limited to the creative industries — people in every industry are wrestling with this right now — and there’s a lot of headlines designed specifically to scare you, just to get clicks.
So today we’re going to dive deep on the question: Are the creative industries collapsing for creatives, and should you be concerned about losing your career? There are a few points that have actual merit, but I’ll tell you why I think most of them are just making a mountain out of a molehill.
Question 1: Will AI Replace Me?
So let’s talk about the fear that’s on EVERYONE’S mind right now — AI is just going to replace me and I’ll be out of a job.
Here’s how this is being articulated around the internet at the momemt:
“Clients will stop hiring photographers, filmmakers, artists, graphic designers — and just AI-generate everything because it’s faster and cheaper.”
“Even the tools I use are training to replace me.”
“Why bother learning anything new if AI will always be ahead?”
“My skills won’t matter anymore.”
“AI’s going to flood the market and devalue human skills.”
“People will stop being able to tell what’s real and what’s fake, so companies will just stop hiring real people.”
Look, the world is changing at lightning speed right now.
But - and it's a BIG but: here’s the reframe I want you to understand: This happens all the time.
Just look at the last 100 years or so - we’ve been through the industrial revolution, 2 world wars and a great depression that changed the way we did everything, then the technological revolution and now living in the age of information…
I’m not a historian, but I would say that the curve of advancement is getting pretty steep these days.
But there’s a beauty in being older - because you have real-life examples to pull from to see these situations in action and how we, as the human species, ACTUALLY responded.
For instance, when I was about 5 - so back in the mid 80’s, y’know, when the dinosaurs still roamed the earth - my Mum worked at the Telecom Exchange. And I remember the big cone shaped mouth pieces on the headsets and the giant stereo plugs and what looked like a giant wall of battleship holes where all the cords were plugged in.
And people rang in, and were greeted with “Telecom exchange, how may I direct your call?” and plugs were plugged and people were connected manually. That was only 40 years ago. Now that job doesn’t exist. Rotary phones are extinct. Telegrams are relics.
But today, in my small town, there are a dozen stores selling cell phones. The job my Mum had disappeared, but a whole new bigger industry was being birthed.
The point is - things evolved and mutated in a lot of ways - but they didn't just stop altogether. So the question isn’t “Will AI replace us?” It’s “How will we evolve with AI?”
Question 2: Aren't the tools we’re using training to replace us?
Some people say even the tools we use — Lightroom, Photoshop, AI editing features — are training themselves to replace us by learning from our work. So why should we even use AI tools if we’re helping build the system that might replace us?
Well, think of it like this: it’s the difference between a hammer and a nail gun.
Before, we had to carefully hammer every nail one by one. Now, with a nail gun, the job gets done faster and more efficiently. The house still stands strong — it just took less time to build. And the client on the other end of the project - all they know is that you can build houses 3 times faster than anyone else. And your only difference? Using power tools instead of manual tools.
I mean, when was the last time you heard a builder say “nope - the power tools are getting too good, I’m not going to use them anymore I’m going back to an axe and a saw and a regular hammer”.
Adobe Lightroom’s auto-masking, sky replacement, bulk presets, and AI denoise tools are making our workflow faster and, from our training, doing it more accurately - but they’re not replacing the photographer.
Just like autofocus on our camera's - we're not manually focusing anymore unless we want to. That doesn't make us worse photographers - it means that we're actually able to capture more because we're not having to take the extra time to focus, AND it means that we're getting more tack sharp photos than blurry ones - and as someone who's eyesight has officially started deteriorating - it's certainly a feature I'm grateful for.
These tools make your time more valuable, not obsolete. And as a solo creator in a world hungry for content? I’ll take the power tools, thanks. Cos I don’t have the time to do everything manually.
The bottom line is, the tools might be getting smarter, but they still can’t pick up a camera, find the light, connect with a person, or press the shutter at just the right moment. AI might help speed up the edit, but it can’t be there. Only you can do that.
Question 3: Are Creative Jobs Disappearing?
There’s a lot of fear-mongering right now around the idea that the creative industries are collapsing. That there won’t be any photography jobs, acting gigs, or creative work left because AI will flood the market and take over.
But again, let's take a step back in history and see what’s actually happened when we’ve had some really big game-changers in the past.
My mother-in-law was an international award-winning potter and artist back in the 90s. But when The Warehouse arrived in town selling cheap mugs for $2, her sales plummeted, and her business ultimately went under. By the way, for my overseas viewers, The Warehouse is our national big bulk retailer that sells everything super cheap, like K-mart.
But the turning point was clear: adapt or go under.
She was an incredible artist - but had very little business sense. There was no change in her marketing, no pivoting to a different market sector, no difference in what she was creating - she was brilliant at what she knew, but had no ability to see what was happening, and adapt and change.
But I want to give you a positive story in this same industry — a few years ago, I bought a $60 handmade coffee mug from a potter as a Christmas gift for my other half. He’s not a “things” person, but he saw this one mug in a shop window, and loved it. (Excuse the language)
In fact, the first one got broken and I actually went SEARCHING for the potter to get a second one. It wasn’t just about function — it was about uniqueness, personality, and story. I was willing to pay the premium price because it wasn’t GENERIC, AND take the time to actually hunt down the potter because the original store that I'd bought it from didn't have any more of those pieces of her work in shop. (I cannot for the life of me find her details again - but if I ever do, I’ll link them up - cos supporting other creatives is important!)
And that’s the key.
Commodity items are cheap and everywhere (like what AI can create). But humans still crave the unique, the handcrafted, the authentic.
The cheap Chinese imports to the dollar stores have been affecting us for YEARS, but we know full well that if we want quality, we don’t go there. People will learn this with AI too - they’ll turn to AI for some things, but not all. And the novelty will wear off too.
So yes — some parts of the creative industries will shift. Probably fast. But that doesn’t mean the human creative touch is going away. People will pay a premium for authenticity.
AND, as at the time of producing this video in July of 2025, YouTube is in the process of demonetising channels that are mass-produced, repetitive, low-effort content, and AI content without the human touch. YouTube is not banning AI or automatic tools—but it’s demonetizing content that lacks human authenticity or value.
So - there is a clap-back happening. And I'm pretty sure I saw that there's something similar happening over on Etsy. So you don't need to feel like the earth is going to open up and swallow you. Just know there's a shift happening right now, but it will find it's equalibrium.
Question 4 - Will People Stop Valuing Real Art?
One fear is that with AI flooding us with fake photos, videos, and art, people won’t care about real creativity anymore.
But think about weddings: if I wanted a wedding album, I wouldn’t trust AI to generate memories of my real day. You’ll still need a real photographer with a creative eye.
Same with branding - you’re still dealing with real people and real experiences.
On social media, real photos and videos still matter because people connect with people.
And there's been faceless channels for years - like those hand drawn ones, or people just using photos in the video or stock footage - AI video, is just another tool in your creative case.
I have creators on YouTube that I watch, that couldn’t be replaced by AI, because they’re almost like friends. I don’t watch them just for the sake of the information - it’s not simply a transactional process - I watch them because they’re the friend I turn to when I want to talk about photography, or YouTube, or the creator economy. I COULD get the information just by talking to my ChatGPT, but I WANT to get the information from my YouTube “friends”. Just like a real friend, I enjoy catching up with them, and I trust them.
Think about the audience too - how many of us enjoy watching AI generated content? I can tell in the first minute or two of a video that somethings been AI generated, and I click off and go searching for a real person. I even struggle with faceless channels - there's only a few I watch. So, while the industry might be making tools available - not all your clients and consumers are going to want those tools.
And as a good example, we’ve had CGI for years. And while it’s been pretty amazing for things like making Arnold Schwarzneger look like he’s 20 again for the Terminator series - I get WAY more excited about watching The Expendables, when they’re all old. Or RED - Retired, Extreemly Dangerous. They're great! I’m love watching all these cool old action heroes still being awesome. And in fact, I think some of their performances are better when they're older.
And as much as I enjoyed the x-men movie series - my favourite by far was Logan, the final installment, because it felt raw and real - and even though it was still fantasy, they made it feel like that was part of our real world. It was the fact that they stepped out of massive CGI bright colours and came into an almost dirty apolcalptic version of our world, that made me feel connected to it.
And it's quite interesting, cos the day and age of Instagram beauty filters seems to be passing, we’re all kind of getting sick of them. They were a novelty, but now we’re asking our creators to stop using them and just be authentic. Like, we’re happy to have fun and try a fun filter - but after a while, we’re craving to see the real person, and you can absolutely see the pendulum swinging back.
Authenticity is the “it” word running around in the creator economy - the trend is less editing, less big and flashy intros, and not feeling like you’re going to have a fit every time you watch something cos it’s so “busy” and moving so fast!
So no, I think people will always appreciate “real” art and human connection. You can’t replace the brilliance and creativity of actors like Jim Carey, Johnny Depp’s Captain Jack Sparrow and Jack Nicholson's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest performance - and that’s like 50 years old now.
Question 5: Am I Too Late to Start?
The statement: AI is moving so fast you’re already behind.
You were already behind when someone else did it first. I was already behind when Peter McKinnon cornered the photography world on YouTube - and yet I've still gathered over 1200 subscribers in 18 months. I was behind because I was 43 when I finally got my YouTube channel going.
Trust me - it's just another excuse.
And remember: every new wave of technology feels like this. Phone cameras didn’t kill filmmakers. Canva didn’t kill designers. Blogging didn’t kill authors.
In fact, tools like Unreal Engine in the gaming community lowered barriers and increased the number of game developers.
And yes, industry saturation is a real thing in every area of life these days, but that mix of quality and perseverance and knowledge and enthusiasm - still rises to the top.
And I don't know what it is about my content that's resonating with people - but just by hitting that 1000 subscriber mark - that puts me in the top 9% of youtube creators. If you WANT something badly enough, you'll work towards it. That's always been the case, and that will always BE the case.
So, you’re not behind. You'll only ever be "behind" if you never start.
7. How to Support Real Creators
If we want human creatives to continue to thrive, we need to show up for them.
That means buying real art, supporting photographers, artists, potters — not just going into Kmart and choosing the cheapest option to make OUR YouTube backgrounds look better, while complaining that our viewers are getting their information from AI.
It also means supporting YouTubers and creators through memberships or SuperThanks. It might only cost the price of a coffee, but it makes a huge difference.
We can’t complain that people aren't supporting us as creators financially, while getting YouTube completely for free, but paying for Netflix.
Your dollars and your viewing habits are creating the future - maybe consider going out and joining a few creators memberships for a few dollars a month. Or having a $10 weekly budget for superthanks for videos that you really enjoyed.
Even something as simple as giving another creator a shoutout on your socials could make difference - cos then it's reminding YOUR viewers, or YOUR clients that there's real people behind these small online brands.
Shout out the etsy sellers you buy from, your local florist, some kid you bought something from at your local market that has an Instagram page... We, the Creator Economy need to lead the way of responsible AI use and be advocates for each other through this process.
Someone's always going to "hack" / abuse the system - but it doesn't mean everyone's going to - so support your other creative buddies any way you can.
8. Closing Thoughts – Adapting vs Extinction
The world is changing fast, and we don’t have full control over where AI goes next.
Maybe AI takes over the world Terminator-style, or big tech uses it for control (already partly happening), or maybe we just keep adapting like humans always do.
Either way, I’d rather adapt than become a dinosaur. I’d rather spend my life finding a way to do what I love than complaining about change.
And there's one thing YouTubers have over most other creatives - they've learned to diversify their income streams - not just what they do for clients, but youtube adsense, affiliate referrals, selling their own products online, brand deals...
I definitely think micro one-to-many transactions are going to be the way moving forward for many creatives - you need to look at adapting for the future, rather than trying to hang onto the way you've always done it. What worked on social media 10 years ago, doesn't now. What worked on social media a year ago, doesn't always work now - so the biggest asset you can actually possess these days, is adaptability.
Not everything is as it was even just 40 years ago. But there are businesses - and even new businesses - that have thrived or are thriving by adapting thoughtfully - so instead of spending your time worrying - why not put all that effort into learning something new or diversifying your offerings.
Or finally charging what you're actually worth.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on AI - so drop me a comment either below or over on the YouTube episode.
