According to the Cabinet Office in Japanese government, the content industry is defined as follows.ⁱ

Recent government documents cite industries such as anime, manga, live-action (films, TV dramas, etc.), games, music, and live performances as examples for clarity.

Across all content genres, generative AI will bring about significant changes in production, distribution, and consumption (demand). These changes have only just begun, and from the late 2020s to the early 2030s, the structure of the content industry will undergo a global transformation. Creators and producers in their teens and twenties, along with users and fans of the same generation, will mutually influence one another to drive this major transformation forward

First text, then audio, and finally video was digitized, giving rise to the concept of “content.” Along with digitization, the internet has advanced, and the content industry has globalized. AI can be involved in every aspect of production, distribution, and consumption that has been digitized. Expressions that people exchange via devices such as smartphones and PCs will be supplemented and replaced by generative AI.

Human involvement will remain in physical forms of expression, such as writing with a pen, playing with strings, or using the voice. However, AI will become involved in the stages of production, distribution, and consumption that follow human expression. AI can also offer useful guidance for physical expression itself. In distribution, AI agents will provide recommendations based on individual preferences and moods. In the Roman idea of “bread and circuses,” which refers to both necessities and entertainment, AI will play a role on both the supply and demand sides.

New forms of expression will emerge across various content genres. A situation will emerge where even people in their 30s cannot keep up with or relate to the new forms of expression being created globally by those in their teens and 20s. In every era, younger generations have produced forms of expression that older generations viewed as frivolous or incomprehensible, but from now on, it will be the younger generation and AI that create new forms of expression. What differs significantly from history up to now is that one billion young people will share their expressions and experiences on a global scale, transcending national borders.