A decade ago, few predicted that TikTok scrolling and YouTube creator videos would surpass cable TV and Hollywood as America’s top leisure activity. These, and a handful of other social media platforms, transformed content consumption to favor user-generated entertainment—but those very platforms are now showing signs of fatigue.

Gen Z spends over half their screen time on social content. But with one-way content, passive scrolling, and ad overload overwhelming users, what once felt participatory now feels mundane. The solution isn’t more content; it’s deeper interaction and more creativity.

The next generation of platforms will achieve that goal by pairing human creativity with generative AI. Creators will be able to generate great stories, rich characters, and new worlds with the help of AI tools—no expensive software or special skills required. And users won’t just consume that creative content; they’ll be able to dive into it, change it, and make it their own.

This won’t be just another way of getting content for a passive feed; instead, it replaces the experience entirely. Unlike algorithms that serve you what worked yesterday, AI-native entertainment reacts to you in real time. It invites you in. Instead of scrolling past someone else’s creativity, you’re generating your own.

This unlocks a future of co-creation and a future of entertainment. This is what’s next and how to prepare.

HOW HYPER-INTERACTIVITY ELIMINATES DOOMSCROLLING

Social media transformed entertainment by making it personal. Platform algorithms curated a feed based on your clicks and interests. But despite all the time spent on the platform, no creativity is necessary—your participation only goes as far as passively scrolling, giving a like or adding a comment. Doomscrolling has replaced discovery.

Today, that structure is starting to crack. The more people scroll, the more they report feelings of anxiety and disconnection. At the same time, platforms are doubling down on monetization, increasing ad loads even as user engagement quality declines. The result is a paradox: More content, but less satisfaction. And that’s not just a user problem; it’s a business one.

With an AI-empowered feed, humans are at the center of creation to not only consume creative content, but to remix and create something new. This new format evolves with the user, whether they want to take the story in a different direction or add in a new setting. It’s AI entertainment that requires a human at the center of creativity, not just consumption.

HOW THE CREATOR AUDIENCE IS REDEFINING ENTERTAINMENT

The audience demanding a fundamental innovation in online entertainment is Gen Z, a generation raised not on linear storytelling but on interactive worlds. They’ve built elaborate games in Roblox, shaped lore in Discord communities, and remixed themselves into every TikTok trend.

Nearly 70% of Gen Z say they want to socialize in game worlds. And 65% already consider themselves content creators. They don’t want permission—they want agency. And generative AI delivers exactly that: The power to generate characters, scripts, stories, and entire universes from scratch.

What used to take a film crew, and a studio budget now just takes a creative idea and a prompt. For this generation, fans and creators aren’t separate roles, they’re the same. This is a new era of media, one that learns, adapts, and evolves with its community.

WHY YOU SHOULD BE CREATING WITH YOUR AUDIENCE

As we’re shifting from a passive consumption experience into a creative world, we need to take cues from how AI-native platforms are already operating and invite the user to create. Regardless of whether you’re an entertainment company, well-established brand, influential creator, or legacy social media platform, we must start to give audiences the tools to create, not just consume.

That shift will be uncomfortable for many and disrupt industries as we know them. Legacy systems weren’t built for real-time participation. This active co-creation shifts brands and platforms from being the star of the show to supporting actors.

Moving forward, the brands and platforms that thrive will need to have co-creation in mind. By developing creative playgrounds, audiences don’t just watch, but rather build, remix and shape the story in real time – effectively ending doomscrolling and lean-back entertainment and shaping a new wave of AI-native media.

Karandeep Anand is the CEO of Character.AI.