AI has proliferated on just about every digital platform imaginable, with many major firms stoking those flames. Despite this, the long-term audience for AI generated media has yet to be established. While the swamp of slop can be hard to wade through, nothing illuminates like the hard numbers. And according to a new report, sales on AI goods have not improved despite making itself unavoidable.
CGTrader, one of the longest running marketplaces for 3D assets, recently published its annual report of trends and growth. The site lets users buy and sell their models for use in games, animation and 3D printing, even for commercial purposes. As highlighted by 404 Media’s Emanuel Maiberg, approximately a sixth of new items for sale are generated by AI. Despite all the new sellers, there are nearly zero buyers, as just one percent of sales went towards these items.
“Our goal isn’t to increase the volume of AI-made assets on the marketplace,” CGTrader CEO Dalia Lašaitė tells Maiberg. “It’s to give designers better tools to work faster and focus more of their time on creative work. Ultimately, buyers will choose the assets that best meet their needs. The distinction that matters most isn’t whether an asset is AI- or human-generated, but whether it meets the required quality standard.”
According to the report, surveyed buyers cite quality as the main reason they skipped AI generated goods. The survey also found that only five percent of buyers were satisfied with AI purchases, and just four percent of overall users think AI “works well.” My gut also tells me that, if the end product is just a few prompts away, why would anyone buy something you didn’t actually make.
While the report illustrates a pretty strong consensus from their user base, it does complicate some of the wheeling and dealings at CGTrader. Last March, the site penned a deal with tech giant Tencent to streamline their AI initiatives into the market, as well as refine user-made models. It may turn the site into a showroom for AI rigs, but sales suggest those models are all collecting a lot of dust.
CGTrader is far from the only company forced to talk about AI through both sides of their mouth. Every major platform seems to be simultaneously investing millions into AI proliferation, while having to trim the resulting monstrosities from public consumption. This only exacerbates the core issue that none of these AI companies have figured out how to turn a profit, but that won’t stop them from making it your problem.
