Image source: Generated by Unbounded AI

Two years after the release of ChatGPT, few people have mentioned whether the era of AGI will come. On social networks, the questions that more and more ordinary people are concerned about have become - "Has anyone successfully used AI to make money?" "Is there any AI sideline business to share ideas for making money?"

In the face of artificial intelligence with powerful computing and reasoning capabilities, ordinary people now hope to seize the technological wave as soon as possible and use AI to empower them to become super individuals.

Yan Finance’s interview and survey found that at present, ordinary people who use AI to make money are mainly concentrated in the fields of AIGC (AI-generated content), digital marketing, software development, self-media and knowledge payment.

Self-media bloggers are the “AI super individuals” with the lowest threshold and the largest number. But on the other hand, this reflects from the side that AI still has limitations when facing various practical tasks. As Chen Kun, a film and television practitioner and current AI entrepreneur, said, although AI tools have shown strong assistance in script creation, soundtrack, etc., they are still inseparable from human input in many aspects, such as character creation and post-production. judge.

But no matter what, in 2024, the number of ordinary people investing in the AI ​​field to make money is still growing, and more and more "AI one-person companies" are emerging. Most of them do not want to seize the dividends of the times, and they also believe in the motto - "The era of AI has arrived, and there will be only two types of people in the future. One type is super individuals who can use AI, and the other type is ordinary people." < /p>

In this wave of AI, some people have been "harvested" by AI tutors in their anxiety, and have become leek in the limelight, and then turned around and become people selling courses to harvest. Some people have successfully used AI as a side job, while others have transformed on the spot and seized the dividends of the times brought by a wave of technological progress.

Under the spotlight, we want to know, in addition to becoming AI mentors such as Li Yizhou, what qualities do people who make money in this AI wave possess.

They took the initiative to approach AI

In December, AI creator Lin Chen (screen name: Potato Man) just finished a lawsuit , regarding whether his AIGC works enjoy copyright.

The result was good, Lin Chen was found to have won the case.

Now, he positions himself as a "digital artist", and major luxury brands, high-end car companies, and new consumer brands are his partners. When publishing pictures on new media, he will watermark his name (Tudou man) and add the prefix "AIGC Artist".

But looking back more than a year ago, when Lin Chen, who had spent 7 years in an advertising company, chose to leave his job and "go it alone" to jump into the AI ​​wave, everyone was surprised - he was the director of the company's creative department at the time. , have a relatively comfortable workplace environment and status. However, facing the impact of AI, he cannot sit back and ignore it.

He remembers the first time he used AI drawing tools such as Midjourney at the end of 2022.At that time, "the impact was too great, and many of the previously believed contents were completely overturned by AI."

In the past, it would take advertisers and designers a week or even half a month to draw visual drawings that AI can generate in just a few seconds. At this time, he couldn't help but think, "What are all the late nights I stayed up before?"

Because he believed that technology would continue to advance, Lin Chen chose to resign from the traditional advertising industry and join the ranks of AI creators. The AIGC track is the first stop for many people to join the AI ​​wave. This is not only due to the rapid development of AI mapping technology in recent years, but also because of the high fault tolerance rate of the content creative industry, which coincides with the unconstrained AI.

Variety show director Chen Kun, who chose to transform into AI more than a year ago, was first and foremost based on this belief. His wife works in a major Internet company, so he took the lead in trying many AI tools.

More than 20 years of experience in the industry have made him sensitive to the fact that AI imaging has more efficient output and lower cost than traditional film and television. One detail particularly impressed him.

After attending the premiere of the movie "The Great Wall" with director Zhang Yimou, he asked "Lao Mouzi" why not make Taotie more intelligent and similar to Alien?

Zhang Yimou told him: "After our discussion, it is not supported under the existing budget conditions. Every special effects shot is accurate. If Taotie is smarter, he will definitely need more special effects." Lens."

This answer made Chen Kun realize that the high cost of special effects puts great pressure on film practitioners, even famous directors.

AI platforms such as Midjourney, Pika and Keling AI have emerged one after another, which surprised Chen Kun. He told Salt Finance that AI-generated CG special effects is the biggest advantage of AI film and television, and it is expected to reduce the original cost to one-tenth. Therefore, in the second half of 2023, Chen Kun decided to transform into an AI film and television creator, "All in AI".

For Lin Chen, Chen Kun and others to be willing to leave the past behind and devote themselves to the AI ​​​​track, there is a big background of the times: the platform's support for AI content and technology.

Under the wave of AI, many major Internet companies hope that innovation will take the lead in their own "turf".

As early as January this year, Douyin announced that it would cooperate with Bona Pictures to establish AIGC Studio to jointly produce AI short dramas.

Poster of the AIGC science fiction short series "Sanxingdui: Future Apocalypse" jointly produced by Bona Pictures and Douyin

In September this year, another short video giant Kuaishou also launched The "Keling AI" film co-creation project has teamed up with 9 well-known directors including Li Shaohong, Jia Ke, and Tim Yip to launch 9 AIGC short films, with the content completely generated by AI.

Why does Kuaishou make an AI short play? Chen Yiyi, head of Kuaishou Entertainment, once explained to the media that one of the reasons is that the industry has insufficient production capacity. She mentioned that Kuaishou has 400 million daily active users, among whichThere are a lot of users who love watching short dramas, with 270 million users consuming short dramas every day. But on Kuaishou, there are only about 300 short dramas with over 100 million views. "In this case, the supply of short drama content is insufficient."

When the market demand for short dramas is so great, Chen Yiyi proposed: "The common solution is to let more people do it This matter, and having better technology will make the people who do it more productive.”

A way to make money, a carnival for ordinary people

At the end of 2022, after leaving the advertising company, Lin Chen quickly began to explore AI tools on his own and published AI-generated works one after another. on social platforms.

Unlike working in the middle of a bustling office building in the past, he is a team by himself. Work partners have also become simpler and smarter: 5 computers equipped with NVIDIA 4090 graphics cards.

Before becoming a one-person company, he had already thought about the commercialization path.

He told Yan Finance that he chose to do digital art because the track itself has KOL attributes. In other words, the head effect is significant. "Digital art, business, AI, as long as (I) stand in such a triangular relationship, the business model will work."

Next, with the unconstrained creation of AI and Lin Chen's With creativity and art skills, Lin Chen gradually found his own style on the AIGC track in half a year, a "utopian dream creation" combined with Chinese aesthetics.

In early 2023, he created a series of McDonald's AIGC works, such as bronze burgers, heirloom jade French fries, blue and white porcelain Coke, etc. This series of works gained him a lot of attention and made him famous in the advertising industry.

A series of AIGC works created by Lin Chen/Photo source: Mad Men

Even McDonald’s officials saw it and proposed to cooperate with Lin Chen for joint promotion. "This also announces that in China's marketing circle, a brand has officially accepted AIGC content, which has a great impact on me."

At the end of 2024, looking back on the process of becoming a one-person company, Lin Chen will One incident ranks as a turning point for him.

Since then, he has cooperated with commercial brands as an AI artist, and has his own reputation and IP in the marketing circle. Compared with being limited to flat 2D works, Lin Chen is good at combining three-dimensional architecture with AI creativity, vision, and branding, such as the LV version of the Christmas gingerbread man building, the Overlord Chaji milk tea standing in the desert, and the Kenyan sunset. Dior perfume... With the help of AI, "Potato Man" has become more and more famous, and the advertising quotation has increased 10 times compared with a year ago.

As the end of the year approaches, Lin Chen has taken on several "major collaborations" and has become even busier. He told Salt Finance: “Although I don’t want to disclose my income, I can clearly say that there is a qualitative leap (compared to the past). You have to know that when you work as a creative director in a super first-tier advertising company, your income is Not low……”

Like Lin Chen, after noticing the general trend of AI drawing, in early 2023, ZayG, a junior student with a background in design, also joined in, using AI tools to draw pictures and make music.

He would not disclose the specific income, but after he started releasing AI works in 2023, his social media backend has received requests for AI graphic design from brands such as Coca-Cola, Lenovo Computer and ByteDance.

“AI GC image creation is linked to the original creative industry and advertising industry. During the transformation process, many companies want to combine the new AI technology to produce some print advertisements or promote their brands. "ZayG told Yan Finance. Under the wave of generative AI, brands want to try new things and embrace AI in brand marketing. This is where the monetization opportunities for AI creators such as ZayG lie.

Another A traditional advertiser, Ami also started learning AI software in early 2023. In February this year, he released the AIGC short film for the first time on social media, a dark and suspenseful short film "Pandora's Red Lantern". .

The AIGC short film released by Ami on social media - "Pandora's Red Lantern" / Source: Video number @Amir

is similar to the above-mentioned AI creator, followed immediately , Ami received advertising requests from brands for her works, and earned the first pot of gold in the transformation to AI.

“There is definitely some income growth through AI, and it will probably increase from tens of thousands of yuan every month. to about 100,000 yuan. "Ami told Yan Finance candidly.

He then added, "The business situation is not yet stable. Domestically, the market demand is not that large. (I) At present, it may be more limited to the G-side, that is, there is more demand for cultural and tourism films at the government level. ”

In addition to cooperating with advertising brands and governments, ZayG told Salt Finance that another common way to make money in the AIGC field is to sell AI models, which industry insiders call “alchemy.”

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He explained that in AI drawing software, the creator's style is usually made into a model. Many "alchemists" will use Stable. Diffusion trains the model and then provides it to others for continued use, and charges based on the number of times the model is used. “Creators who use it a lot can earn several thousand yuan a month; most creators may earn a few hundred yuan a month. ”ZayG said.

Fast ways to make money also come from those who sell poor information. Many AI creators interviewed found that AI belongs to a field with large information gaps and barriers to learning, so , in this industry, many people who made money first sold anxiety while selling knowledge, courses and poor information.

“I don’t think it is a false proposition that you can make money by learning AI. But in addition to (having) knowledge, there is another very important thing to make money, the ability to execute. "Ami concluded. Action itself is also a way to make money.

Becoming an increasingly expensive person

In 2024, AI seems to bring many opportunities to ordinary people.

Recently, an employee of a large factory named Chen Yunfei used the AI ​​programming software Cursor AI to create a self-made APP called "Kitten Fill Light" because of his girlfriend's need to take photos. In November this year, this APP, which took only one hour to make, entered the top 20 apps in the Apple App Store. The Pro version launched in December successfully topped the paid APP list.

The "Kitten Fill Light Pro" APP launched by Chen Yunfei in December successfully topped the paid APP list

According to media reports, this person has been working as a The young digital nomad has independently developed 4 apps through AI programming in the past year or so. His annual income is close to one million, making him one of the first batch of young people to make one million a year through AI.

At the same time, he opened up a new track with the help of AI-in order to own copyright, he established a "one company". He is not only a boss, but also a self-media blogger, developer, job search platform contracted lecturer and corporate consultant.

There is no doubt that the trend of AI is still approaching with great momentum. Everyone who lives in it feels the undercurrent in the industry. Lin Chen recalled that in just two years in the AIGC field, the industry has experienced a process of rising enthusiasm, falling back and rising again.

Taking the Xiaohongshu platform he is familiar with as an example, Lin Chen said, "Xiaohongshu received a lot of traffic dividends early last year due to the explosion of AI content. But at that time, because there was no mature platform In terms of business form, major brands don’t know how to utilize it, so (AI bloggers) just accumulate fans.”

“In the second half of last year, we found a clear decline. Both the platform and the country had some control over (the AIGC field), and the overall traffic dropped.” He recalled: “But with Sora this year ( AI-generated video software launched by OpenAI) The emergence of "Sora" has attracted the attention of brands. The platform also provides certain traffic support to AI creators."

Sora generates videos based on relevant semantic information

In 2024, Lin Chen found that the number of people joining AI entrepreneurship has increased instead of decreasing.

Chen Kun chose this year to launch his first AI short drama, with the theme of the Chinese mythology "The Classic of Mountains and Seas", which received 50 million views. He told Salt Finance that the reason for this choice was based on his judgment of the market and technology over more than 20 years in the industry - AI can make up for the shortcomings of traditional film and television special effects, so it is especially suitable for using AI to shoot fantasy and science fiction themes.

However, because there is a barrier to viewing science fiction films, he chose a fantasy theme for his first work. In addition, he carefully selected which works to shoot.

"There are undoubtedly several traditional Chinese fantasy themes, such as "The Classic of Mountains and Seas", "Feng Shen" and "Journey to the West". The latter two have too many adaptations of successful film and television works. AgainIn addition, the unique temperament of "The Classic of Mountains and Seas" is more like an encyclopedia - these can become ideal sources of AI creation materials. ”

In January 2024, with a company and team of 10 people, the filming of "Mountains and Seas: Strange Mirrors: Cutting the Waves" "started."

Chen Kun introduced that this short drama team is directed by , screenwriting, post-production, dubbing and soundtrack, AI Production team, etc. Traditional tasks in the crew, such as photography, lighting and sound, stage design, makeup, costumes and props, are no longer needed, and the number of team members has been suddenly reduced from 100 to 10 people.

At the beginning of 2024, " After the release of the trailer of "Strange Mirrors of Mountains and Seas", Chen Kun immediately transformed his 10-person film and television studio into an "AI-native film and television company". This is because he believes in the magic of traditional film and television with the blessing of AI technology. Also trust an IP Long-term compound interest after formation

Kunpeng and Water God Gonggong in "The Strange Mirror of Mountains and Seas"

"It doesn't matter whether you earn more or less, the long-term value of an IP. It is difficult to measure it with short-term gains at once. "Chen Kun told Yan Finance. In his opinion, the more AI content creation explodes in the era, the greater the value of high-quality AIGC films and IP.

There is no doubt that with the market share of AIGC Increasing, involution is bound to happen. “At least in the image generation circuit, it can easily reach a bottleneck and saturation state. Because most images have no transaction value or demand. "ZayG told Yan Finance: "As more and more creators enter, it can only become a personal creation, but there is no way to (realize it into) value. ”

But from another perspective, there is another saying in the AI ​​art circle called “super creator”, which specifically refers to a person who knows many things and has the ability to cross industries.

"If ordinary people make money by learning AI, it means that they themselves have a skill in a certain aspect. If they have this expertise, they can make money regardless of whether they have AI or not; and those who have this expertise are no longer ordinary people. . "ZayG summarizes the characteristics of "AI one-man company" this way.

Lin Chen thinks so too. Compared with spending time waiting for AI to generate a large number of pictures in his creation a year ago, he now allows himself to be the main subject of creation. , will spend more time on post-production and adjustment. Creative implementation tools like Photoshop.

“Because of the blessing of so many AI tools, sometimes I feel like an aircraft carrier and can do things that I never thought of before. Like in the past (in an advertising agency), doing one thing required a crowd tactic. "Lin Chen told Yan Finance.

In August 2023, because the business volume was too large, he established a studio and hired an assistant. As for the studio's legal and other positions, they were all undertaken by AI .

Lin Chen calls AIGC the number one employee of his company/Source: Mad Men

The consensus formed by the above-mentioned AI entrepreneurs is: The value of IP is becoming more and more important in the AIGC era.

“This industry has become more and more complicated, but it has not affected me, because everyone can get cheaper and cheaper, but I have become more and more expensive.” Lin Chen said.