Indie is on the rise 🚀
The output you can produce as a solo creator is skyrocketing thanks (in part) to AI.
You can do the work of a full department, alone, without compromising quality nor time 🙌
But there are a few prerequisites 👇
Video games and creative arts
The point of reference for this discussion is video games.
A video game spans all the creative arts: writing (story), drawing/art, 3D modelling, animations, music, sounds, programming 🕹️
That's why most video games require huge teams and years to make. It takes time to build and connect everything.
But is that still the case? How much leverage has a single indie creator?
Indie: AI-first workflow
Let's say I want to create a character for my game. These are the steps:
- Story and personality (writing)
- Concept and design (drawing)
- 3D model
- Animations
- Voice/sounds
- Add it to the game (programming)
How much of this workflow can be automated (as of today)?
I asked ChatGPT about it, and the answer is clear:
80% of the workflow can be owned by AI.
Ironically, the step where AI struggles the most is programming ("Engine Integration") 💁🏼♂️
AI covers 80% (but not everything)
Here is the key: 80% is not all, and it is not guaranteed to be good 🤔
This has a single major implication:
AI will not replace completely you or your department, but 8 out of 10 peoples are in excess, and the 2 remaining are expected to cover the 20% in all areas.
This means that going wide has more value than going deep 🙌
It all converges on the Pareto principle, also called the 80/20 rule:
"80% of consequences come from 20% of causes" - Pareto principle
AI covers that "less valuable" 80%, and then your final expert touch gives the 20% that makes all the difference.
Raise of solo creators
In practice, if used properly, AI empowers you to build massive projects alone. But only if you pay the price of entry:
- Your interest spans a wide rage of topics (such that you enjoy covering the 20% in all of them)
- You are self-disciplined enough to determine your own work and stick to it
- You take proper care of yourself, since you are your biggest/only asset ("The 4 pillars")
You must also remove any stigma you have towards AI and creative production:
Only because AI did part of the work, it doesn't mean the final result is less valuable or lower quality 🙌
It's (relatively) cheap as well
Here is how you get started:
- Decide what project to pursue (regardless of its scale)
- Ask a (free) AI to break it down into practical steps ("Structured Goals")
- Ask a (free) AI to suggest you other AIs that cover each of those steps
- Leverage different AIs to cover the starting 80% of the work
- Learn enough to complete the remaining 20% of the work
Overall, as a solo creator, the price is low. Each AI costs around ~$20/month. You probably won't exceed your tier usage, and even if you use 10 different AIs, it all amounts to $200/month.
$200 for completing a large scale project, start to finish, alone 🤯
This is the beginning of the Indie Creator (AI assisted) Era.
Note: Programming remains (and will remain) one of the best skills to cultivate. Guaranteed 🤝
This week new release on Typeonce: How to implement a backend with Effect.
@EffectTS_ is my go-to choice for TypeScript backends 🏗️ Works with any runtime and database provider, type safe from server to client, with all the composition power of effect How to get started 👇🧵
Planning to ride this surge of AI by making some changes to the blog and newsletter. Stay tuned 🔜
See you next 👋