Who Will Create the Content of the Future and What Will Replace Reels

Content formats are constantly changing. Once, people spent hours on forums. Then personal blogs, video hosting, social networks, and short vertical videos appeared. Now, feeds are gradually filling up with videos, images, and music created using artificial intelligence.

But I think AI videos are still not a new big format. For now, this is just a familiar clip made in a different way. We still press a button and watch a pre-prepared recording.

The real change will occur when the content ceases to be a finished file. It will start to be created right at the moment of viewing and tailored to a specific individual.

You will be able to ask for a more detailed explanation of a complex point, change the protagonist of the story, show another variant of events, or compile a review based only on the features of interest. Each user will have their own version of the same material.

This raises an interesting question: who will create such content? If the text, voice, and video are generated by the system, do we even need authors?

In my opinion, authors will not disappear. Instead of finished publications, they will begin to provide ideas, experiences, facts, characters, and source materials. And the artificial intelligence will piece together the necessary format from all of this.

The future content will not be the same for everyone

Currently, an author writes one article or creates one video, which then thousands of people watch. The difference only lies in whom the algorithm will show it to.

In a few years, the publication itself could also become personal.

For example, a review of a new smartphone is released. One person is interested in camera quality. Another needs performance in games. A third wants to know only about battery life and the difference from the previous model.

Instead of three separate videos, the platform will be able to compile each person's version. It will cut unnecessary parts, add comparisons, show relevant examples, and answer questions right during the viewing.

This is no longer quite a written article or a typical video. Rather, it is a living publication that changes depending on the reader's interests.

However, the system won't be able to create good material from nothing. It will still need source information. And it will be provided by several participants at once.

Regular people will provide real experiences

The most valuable raw material will remain what happens in real life.

People will travel, buy equipment, renovate, assemble gadgets, participate in events, and share personal experiences. They will no longer necessarily need to write a long article or spend several days editing a video themselves.

Imagine someone took a trip to Turkey. They uploaded photos, short videos, an itinerary, expenses, and a few voice memos.

From this set, the platform could create different materials:

• a short video about the trip;
• a detailed guide;
• a multi-day itinerary;
• a list of affordable restaurants;
• a first-person narrative;
• a virtual guide that you can ask questions.

The source materials are the same, but the result will be unique for each user.

In practice, this will greatly simplify content creation. Not everyone likes to write, record voiceovers, and understand editing. However, almost everyone has experiences that can be useful to others.

Therefore, a regular person will become not only the author of a publication but also a provider of real data for it.

Authors will create not separate stories, but entire worlds

The work of writers, screenwriters, and directors will also change.

Currently, an author typically invents a story from beginning to end. The reader or viewer can only follow a pre-established plot.

In the future, the author will create a foundation for the world:

• characters and their traits;
• biographies and relationships;
• rules of the universe;
• settings;
• main conflicts;
• visual style;
• boundaries of permissible plots.

Then, artificial intelligence will create individual stories for each person.

One viewer will follow a detective line. Another will choose adventures. A third will try to negotiate with the main antagonist. A fourth will not interfere at all and will watch the story like a regular series.

At the same time, all options will remain part of a single authored universe.

I believe this is where a new profession will emerge. Such an author will be something between a writer, screenwriter, and game developer. They won’t write out every scene but will create a world capable of continuing to exist without a pre-prepared ending.

The media will become suppliers of verified facts

The situation with the news will be similar.

Currently, a journalist gathers information and turns it into an article or story. In the future, a user may not even open the original publication.

They will simply ask:

“Show me what happened today. Leave only confirmed events, mark them on the map, and separately explain how they are related.”

The system will compile a personal summary. It might show text, a map, video, a timeline, or provide answers to questions right away.

But the events themselves won’t appear out of nowhere. Someone still needs to go to the scene, obtain documents, find eyewitnesses, verify photographs, and compare different versions.

Therefore, journalism will not disappear. Rather, good editorial teams will stop being mere article producers and will become suppliers of reliable data.

Instead of regular text, the media will be able to relay the structure of an event to platforms:

• what happened;
• where and when;
• who was involved;
• what confirmations exist;
• which details are still questioned;
• what other events it is connected to.

From one such set, it can produce news, a map, a podcast, a short video, or a detailed analysis.

The main value of the editorial team will be not the number of published texts, but the trust in its data.

Experts will create digital versions of themselves

Another potential provider of future content will be specialists with their own knowledge and approach to work.

For example, a teacher can upload their lectures, books, answers to questions, and teaching materials. Based on these, a digital assistant will emerge that explains the topic similarly to how the author does.

The same can be done by:

• engineers;
• doctors;
• lawyers;
• analysts;
• coaches;
• journalists;
• creators of educational courses.

A live expert cannot respond to thousands of people around the clock. But their digital version can.

Of course, it shouldn't pretend to be a real person. The user should understand that they are conversing with a program based on a specific specialist's materials.

However, for regular tasks, such a format may be more convenient than a recorded course. You can immediately ask a question, request another example, or skip a familiar part.

In this case, the expert sells not just one consultation or a separate video course. They provide access to their knowledge system.

Users will become co-authors

Interactive content is hard to divide into authored and user-generated parts. A person does not simply watch the material; they constantly influence it.

They ask questions, add arguments, choose the direction of the story, vote, and correct mistakes.

This is especially noticeable in the context of forums and discussion platforms.

Currently, a useful topic often looks like several hundred comments. To find a decent answer, one has to read everything, click on links, and separate facts from repetitions themselves.

In the future, the system will be able to gather the discussion into a clear structure:

• main positions of participants;
• arguments from each side;
• facts that everyone agrees on;
• disputed statements;
• results of voting;
• questions that have no answers yet.

A new user will see not a jumble of messages but an accurate picture of the discussion. They will also have the option to open the original comments and continue any thread.

This will result in something like a new forum. The topic does not die after a few days but is constantly updated and becomes more useful as new participants join.

For projects like QRAZY, this could become a separate direction. Users create opinions and arguments, while the platform turns them into a lively discussion, article, podcast, or video.

Some content will be supplied by cameras and sensors

Not all future materials will be created manually by humans. A massive flow of information will begin to come from devices.

Sources could include:

• cameras;
• drones;
• satellites;
• cars;
• weather stations;
• smart glasses;
• home robots;
• fitness trackers;
• industrial sensors.

For instance, a camera records the construction of a house over several months. The system can automatically compile a work diary, a time-lapse video, a progress report, and a virtual tour from these recordings.

A fitness bracelet, along with a camera, will create a breakdown of a workout. A car will capture interesting moments from a trip. Weather stations and satellites will provide data for interactive maps.

The device itself doesn’t narrate anything. It simply records what is happening. But this flow of data will become the basis for new materials.

AI companies will be not authors, but content factories

Companies that develop language, video, and audio models will occupy an important place in this entire system.

Their technologies will simultaneously fulfill the roles of an editor, translator, host, editor, designer, and programmer.

However, I would not call artificial intelligence the main author.

The model has not been on the scene. It has no personal experience of the trip, its own teaching methodology, or rights to an invented character. It merely compiles results from available materials.

Therefore, AI companies will likely become factories. They will receive raw materials from other participants and turn them into text, video, dialogue, games, or virtual worlds.

The main competition will go in two directions:

• who owns the best raw materials;
• who can better assemble personalized content from them.

Platforms will hold the most power

The most advantageous position will be held by platforms that can integrate everything at once.

They will have:

• user-generated materials;
• news and documents;
• expert knowledge;
• licenses from studios;
• data from devices;
• generative models;
• history of each person's interests.

The future equivalent of YouTube may not even display the usual video feed.

The user might say:

“Show me a Raspberry Pi project that can be assembled over the weekend. No basic explanations. All parts must be available in Germany.”

The platform will find several projects, documentation, reviews, schematics, and assembly videos. It will then compile all of this into one material.

During the viewing, one could request to replace Arduino with Raspberry Pi, show the connections in more detail, or find cheaper components.

Essentially, the user will receive not a found publication but material specifically assembled for their task.

Who will be paid for such content

The most complex problem will arise with payment.

A single personalized video might use an article from a journalist, a video from an eyewitness, an expert’s commentary, an actor's voice, music, a map, and several user questions.

All these materials belong to someone.

Most likely, platforms will need to automatically calculate the contribution of each source. Even a small payment for viewing could be divided among several authors.

Without a clear licensing system, it will quickly fill up with stolen videos, foreign voices, and digital copies of well-known individuals.

Technically, it is not so difficult to create personalized content. Much harder is to understand who owns it and who should get paid for it.

What will become valuable in the era of AI content

When a beautiful video can be made in a minute, the generation itself will cease to amaze.

The value will shift towards what cannot be obtained by one team:

• real experience;
• access to events;
• rare knowledge;
• strong ideas;
• recognizable character;
• trust from the audience;
• verified data;
• a vibrant community.

I believe authentic human content will particularly increase in value. Not a perfectly polished video, but a real story, observation, or opinion from a person who is trusted.

AI will be able to beautifully format such material, translate it into other languages, and adapt it for different audiences. But it cannot replace the experience itself.

What will come to replace reels

Short videos are unlikely to simply disappear. Rather, they will become a gateway to a more complex format.

A person will see a short clip, become interested, and be able to immediately continue the story. Ask questions to the protagonist, open details, jump into discussions, or change the plot.

Content will no longer end at the last second of the video.

Instead of separate publications, there will be living topics, digital characters, and constantly evolving worlds. They will remember the user's actions and change along with them.

Therefore, the next big format after reels may not be new videos but interactive personalized content.

Who will ultimately create the content of the future

This type of content will not have a single author.

One person will provide the idea. Another will provide the facts. A third will share personal experiences. An expert will add their knowledge, users will continue the discussion, and artificial intelligence will put everything together into a finished result.

The main supplier will be whoever has unique raw materials. This could be a real event, a rare document, useful experience, a strong character, or a community of people.

The role of the author will not disappear in this process. It will simply change.

Instead of a single finished publication, the author will create a foundation from which the platform can assemble thousands of different materials.

I believe this is how the next phase of the internet's evolution will look. Content will cease to be a thing that is published once and forgotten. It will become a living system that changes, responds to questions, and continues to evolve alongside its audience.

Frequently Asked Questions

What type of content will be popular in five years?

Most likely, personal and interactive formats will grow. Content will start to change according to user interests and respond to their actions.

What will replace short videos and reels?

Regular clips may be replaced by live stories in which the viewer asks questions, chooses the next steps, and influences the events.

Will artificial intelligence replace authors?

AI is unlikely to be able to completely replace authors. It still needs ideas, experiences, facts, knowledge, and original materials.

Who will provide content for artificial intelligence?

Source materials will come from regular people, journalists, experts, studios, communities, and various devices.

What will be the main advantage of the author?

The most valuable aspect will be what is hard to copy: personal experience, audience trust, access to events, rare knowledge, and individual style.