abundance of content and scarcity of trust!

We start 2026 with a different perspective. The truth is that artificial intelligence has been part of our daily lives for much longer than we realize, operating silently in our GPS or streaming recommendations. But it was the boom in generative AI that took the technology out of labs and into the hands of most people. If before 2024 the theme seemed restricted to enthusiasts, in 2025 we saw its applications invade the mainstream.

Now, the scenario has changed again: it is no longer just a tool you choose to use, but the invisible base where everything happens. Just like electricity or the internet, AI must be seen as infrastructure.

Unlike previous revolutions, which democratized distribution and gave a voice to millions of people, AI brought the democratization of creation. Today, anyone with an idea can materialize it. Technical barriers of design, editing or language have virtually disappeared. We live in a scenario of infinite supply, where average content has become a commodity.

In this new ecosystem, the most valuable asset is no longer just attention, but intention. We stumble upon an absurd amount of content every day, but how much of it was created to generate memories? To nurture confidence, which needs to be achieved one day at a time?

The new energy matrix of social

To understand how we got to this overabundance, it’s worth using a mental image. Think of the consumption of ads and content on networks as a giant engine that needs constant energy to run.

For a long time, the only energy matrix available for this engine was human creation. They were the creators producing videos, texts and photos in an artisanal way, as if they were “pushing the handle” of the machine.

At that time, the platforms’ corporate discourse was based on authenticity. This happened precisely because humanity was the only viable fuel.

With generative AI, the energy matrix has changed. The engine remains the same, as the need for retention and ad sales has not changed, but the fuel is now potentially inexhaustible and much cheaper. What happens when the “authenticity” discourse stops being convenient?

The layers of creation and the end of “seeing is believing”

It’s worth looking at this evolution not as separate boxes, but as a technological timeline. As the years progress, new tools emerge to simplify creation, breaking down barriers to entry and bringing more people into the game. The result is that these ways of creating do not replace each other; they pile up.

At the beginning, we only had Creator Solo, with its artisanal production. With the advancement of tools, we evolved into Creator with Copilot, where the human gains scale enhanced by the machine. As technology facilitated the process, depersonified content emerged, with humans simply supervising avatars. And now, what would be the last frontier? The one that sees the creator as a mere intermediary and eliminates him: 100% AI content, created and distributed autonomously by the platforms themselves. I hope we don’t get to that point? Yes, but I can’t help but raise the possibility.

This progression, intentionally or not, can naturalize the distance from what is human. And this creates an interesting paradox. Many people say that we are going to get tired of content made by AI. The problem with this statement is that it assumes that we will be able to identify the difference. That’s right: getting tired of AI can simply turn into getting tired of content as a whole.

Here comes a historical rupture: the death of “seeing is believing”. Video has always functioned as our final certificate of reality; if it was recorded, it had happened. AI has broken this social contract. With the ability to generate synthetic images and sounds indistinguishable from the real thing, we are pushed into a new digital etiquette: distrust by default.

If the digital file, whether video, photo or audio, has lost its intrinsic capacity to prove the truth, the credibility ballast migrates to the bearer. Either we learn to transfer our trust to those who have built a legacy of responsibility and curation, validating source before format, or we will lose the collective ability to distinguish fact from fiction.

Where scarcity lives

If the supply of content is infinite and visual proof has become questionable, scarcity has migrated to the only place the machine cannot reach: the authentically human. While AI is designed to seek optimization and the correct response, human connection is born from errors, difficulties, stories of failure, vulnerability, transforming the “defect” into a luxury item, where imperfection functions as the signature that validates the message.

We are heading towards a change in the geography of our consumption. The feed is becoming that busy and dangerous street to walk on, where noise is constant. The tendency is to seek refuge in the safety of “meetings at home”: smaller, closed communities of real and intentional exchanges. The feed may even become a commodity, but trust does not.

Practical guide for the creator in 2026

To navigate this new paradigm, where competing for volume becomes an increasingly impossible task, the strategy needs to change:

• Professionalism: The first step is to see creation as a business. The era of luck is over. If you don’t have a process, you don’t have scale. You need to structure your production seriously.

• Identity: It’s also critical to use AI without outsourcing your DNA. Use technology as a co-pilot to gain productivity in operational tasks, but keep a firm hand in editorial direction. Autopilot is tempting, but it dilutes your brand identity.

• Humanity: Another crucial point is to build what I call proofs of humanity. In a synthetic sea, show behind the scenes of your mind. Reveal how you think, how you make decisions, how you make mistakes and how you retrace your route. The real connection is in the process.

• Intentionality: It’s not about being deep all the time, which is tiring, nor living on shallow viral videos that don’t build a brand. Depth without width does not scale, but scale without depth is empty. The secret is in balance.

• Bond: Finally, invest in link formats. Don’t depend entirely on the algorithm’s mood. Build proprietary assets like newsletters, closed groups, and events. Create channels where distribution depends on people’s real interest, and not just on machine recommendations.

If you’ve read this far, you’ve noticed that there were a lot of thoughts shared, right? In fact, I invite you to compare the decision-making process that guided your reading so that get here. You, human being, in the pilot’s seat.

With each new word. Deciding to move on. Is understanding algorithms important? To a certain extent. But, if you allow me the advice: it is reading about how these changes affect culture and human beings that we should always focus on. We remain attentive!