Zach's Blog for Digital Media Class

Every time I scroll on Instagram or TikTok I always hear a new song or find a new artist that I've never heard of before. I think social media has played a crucial role in the success of these new artists and songs. Nowadays, it's not enough to just have great music, you need to have a strong online presence too. Social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok allow artists to connect with their fans in real-time, and create a loyal following. This also allows fans to feel closer to the artist, making the relationship more personal. We've seen plenty of artists over the past 5-10 years become famous strictly through social media. The power of social media can make or break an artist's career, and it's exciting to see how it's changed the music industry.

I'm fascinated by the potential of VR in the sports industry. VR technology can allow fans to experience games and events in an entirely new way, giving them a more immersive and interactive experience. It can also provide athletes with unique training opportunities, allowing them to simulate different scenarios and improve their skills. Teams can also use VR technology for game planning and strategy development. Similar to my discussion about how VR can effect concerts, it can have a similar effect with sporting events as fans can have front row seats to watch their favorite teams play. Overall, VR has the potential to revolutionize the way we watch, play, and experience sports, and I'm excited to see how it continues to develop in the future.

In the last few days Snapchat has announced and released their own AI bot. Now every Snapchat user has access to their own personal chat bot. This has gone viral on social media as people are now learning a lot about the capabilities of AI and how it can be used. Many people are posting videos and screenshots of their conversations with their bot. I thought this was interesting because this could be the future of social media. This has certainly created a lot of buzz around the capabilities of AI.

As someone who is constantly on TikTok, I've seen firsthand how this app has completely transformed the way music is promoted and produced. With its short, catchy videos and the ability to easily share and discover new music, TikTok has become a powerful tool for up-and-coming artists to get their music heard. Because of the speed at which things go viral on the app, it's possible for an unknown artist to blow up overnight. On the flip side, TikTok can also put a lot of pressure on artists to constantly produce new and catchy content that will keep their audience engaged. On the production side, there is now a whole new market for music producers to create catchy remixes to popular songs/sounds and make them go just as viral. Ultimately, I think TikTok's impact on music promotion has been largely positive, allowing for greater accessibility and faster exposure to a wider audience.

The other day I watched a video made by one of my favorite YouTuber's, Casey Neistat. The premise of the vlog was that he used an AI to make a vlog in the style of himself. Throughout the video he follows a script of what the AI said including camera angles, dialogue, and imagery. The entire vlog felt very stale and almost as if someone who has only seen a couple Casey Neistat videos wanted to try and recreate one. At the end, Casey talks about how AI doesn’t have any personality or human emotion behind it, therefore art made by humans will (at least for the time being) prevail. I thought this was an awesome message and a really cool video idea. I also felt it related a lot to what we have done in this class as a lot of it has been AI related. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ygj9vBF_WUk 

With the NFL draft coming up,  I've been thinking a lot about how AI can help NFL teams scout players during the draft. AI technology could analyze countless data points, including a player's performance metrics, biometrics, and even social media activity to predict their potential success in the league. This could make the scouting process more efficient and effective, allowing teams to make smarter decisions when it comes to drafting players. For example, what if a team could use AI technology to help watch film on a high rated prospect like CJ Stroud, or provide statistics on a very low ranked draft prospect in order to have an edge on other teams. Additionally, AI could be used to simulate the combine and predict how well a player might perform in various drills, giving teams an even better understanding of their potential. The biggest downside with this is that it could take away human instinct when drafting a player which is important. Too much reliance on AI technology c