- Karat Weekly
- Posts
- Recap of the White House Creator Economy Conference
Recap of the White House Creator Economy Conference
The govt's thoughts on AI, mental health, and fair pay
Hey.
ICYMI, the Office of Digital Strategy hosted the first-ever White House Creator Economy Conference.
From the outside, it might look like the conference was more of a hey, come here, let’s film a few TikToks for the clout and impressions—but it wasn’t.
Over 100 creators and executives came together to discuss creator mental health, AI, and fair pay—our co-founder Eric amongst this group.
our co-founder Eric Wei at the White House Creator Economy Conference
Today we’re recapping his 3 major takeaways that you need to know.
In today’s newsletter:
How the White House plans to support creator businesses
How the Administration views the role of creators in media
Creators’ thoughts on AI and mental health
Takeaway 1: The Govt. Knows Creators Are Key to the Economy
The White House views creators as a new type of small-to-medium-sized businesses that are deserving of the same protections as other businesses.
They acknowledged the challenge of finding insurance and accessing credit as a creator. Wally Adeyemo, the Deputy Secretary of the Treasury, shared a few of the steps the government’s already taken like:
Working to make health insurance more affordable
Investing in community banks that are more likely to provide loans to entrepreneurs
Launching the State Small Business Credit Initiative
Takeaway 2: Creators Are Replacing Traditional Media
President Biden was scheduled to drop in for a few minutes, but wound up spending 30 with the group. He commended creators for the work we do, acknowledging that millions of people look to us for entertainment and news.
He joked that the creator economy is growing so fast, and he’ll need a job soon—he just might join us. 👀
He said, “You’re changing not only what people listen to and what they put their faith in, but you’re also changing the idea of what’s consequential.”
With this, comes a certain degree of civic responsibility—ensuring we exercise good judgment in what we share with the world.
Takeaway 3: Mental Health and AI Are Top of Mind for the Govt.
Together, they discussed questions like:
What does the rise of creators mean for the United States?
Is the algorithm promoting dangerous content?
How can we better moderate what’s said online to protect the mental health of creators?
What’s the impact (if any) of TikTok being under the potential influence of foreign countries?
The conclusion was that we need to promote not just technologies that make it easier to create content and rank it in feeds, but technology that makes it easy to moderate as well.
They discussed the impact of negative comments, with some creators advocating for not allowing anonymity online given that it allows people to leave comments they wouldn’t say in person.
One panelist, Joel Bervell, highlighted the disproportionate impact these comments have on people of color. He suggested teaching children in classrooms how to use social media responsibly.
When it came to AI, YouTuber Gohar Khan sat down with the Director of Science and Technology Policy Dr. Arati Prabhakar to discuss the impact of AI on creators.
via Gohar Khan
Creators shared how AI has both helped and harmed their businesses, with Gohar sharing a concerning moment where a deepfake video was used to promote a TikTok Shop product he didn’t endorse.
Dr. Prabhakar shared points from the Executive Order on Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence, while also recognizing that more needs to be done to balance the help/harm AI has on creators.
Read more on the event here.
Quick Links
🎥 A TikTok trend everyone’s hopping on lately.
👀 Instagram is testing a new vertical grid display.
↗️ Why the IG algorithm prioritizes sends over saves.
🏈 Tom Brady started a YouTube channel.
See ya next week,
Karat