Original video in Chinese.
Key Takeaway
- Making money with AI is not about generating content with one click. Most people have been misled by AI boot camps into thinking that producing content in bulk will bring followers and revenue. In reality, platforms and audiences are not stupid, and purely AI-generated content is generally mediocre and offers little value.
- The right approach is to fill the most critical gap. Take “Kangkang Kang”: he uses a phone to honestly document factory life, using AI only for English dubbing and subtitles. That step takes his content beyond the small pool of low-paying domestic platforms and onto YouTube internationally, with the possibility of earning tens of thousands of yuan a month in ad revenue.
- Honest work + AI filling a critical gap is more reliable than shortcuts. Making money with AI does not necessarily mean building an AI tool or creating fake content. Do real work well, then use AI to solve the biggest bottleneck, such as language or reaching overseas audiences, and you are more likely to get results.
Ordinary people really can make money with AI, even change their lives. But the vast majority are heading in the wrong direction. They’ve been led badly astray by those AI boot camps. Before you start criticizing me, let me give you an example.
I recently came across a YouTube channel called “Kangkang Kang.” It’s run by a 30-year-old man from Xi’an. His videos document his daily life working in factories. For example, he recently moved from Xi’an to Changzhou and started working at an electronics factory.
To me, this is a textbook example of using AI well.
If you just look at the videos themselves, you might find them rough. He shoots on his phone, sometimes handheld and sometimes on a tripod. But his views are very strong. Several videos have already reached hundreds of thousands of views.
You should know that once you meet the platform’s eligibility requirements, YouTube pays you. There are two metrics: views and cost per thousand impressions.
Take my channel as an example. Over the past seven days, my cost per thousand impressions was $65, which is quite good. It means advertisers consider the audience my content attracts valuable, so they’re willing to pay a high price.
Unfortunately, my individual videos don’t get many views at the moment, averaging only a few thousand. So even with a decent ad rate, I don’t receive much monthly ad revenue from the platform.
Now look at this young man’s channel. Although we can’t see his backend data, if he gets several hundred thousand to over a million views a month and actually earns a few dollars per thousand views, it is possible for him to receive tens of thousands of yuan a month from YouTube.
For an ordinary person, consistently earning tens of thousands a month on top of a job is pretty good. And this money comes from YouTube, which is much more dependable than those domestic platforms.
So where does Kangkang use AI in his channel?
Really, just one thing: he uses AI for English dubbing and subtitles. Let me play a sample for you.
It may look simple, but it’s crucial for his content.
Think about it. What are foreign viewers watching for? Authenticity and curiosity. Why can they understand it? Because of the English dubbing and subtitles.
Without AI-generated English dubbing and subtitles, his content couldn’t reach international audiences. It wouldn’t be seen by so many foreigners curious about ordinary people’s lives in China, and he couldn’t earn YouTube ad revenue.
Without AI-generated English dubbing and subtitles, he could only publish domestically. Imagine how intense the competition would be. And even after all that competition, he wouldn’t earn much. Really, domestic platforms pay very, very little in ad revenue. Anyone who’s created content knows that.
Now think back: isn’t the conversation today full of people encouraging ordinary users to make content with AI in one click? As if you can gain followers and monetize with little effort. But is content creation really that easy? Do you think platforms, viewers, and clients are all idiots?
In my view, those AI boot camps keep playing on ordinary people’s anxiety and greed, and then make millions of yuan themselves.
Look at Kangkang’s channel again. Is he generating content with one click and publishing in bulk? No. He still films and publishes one video at a time, sharing real life. As for AI, he just uses some tool for dubbing and subtitles. But that dubbing and those subtitles let him leave the small pool and enter the open ocean.
So, as I said in the community, making money with AI does not mean you have to build an AI tool, take shortcuts, or do something fake or shady. Do honest work properly and use AI to fill the most critical gap, and things may work out.
Not stirring people up or giving them false hope, but sharing something real: that is also a principle of my community.
OK, that’s it for this video. If you want to understand AI, reclaim individual sovereignty, and find like-minded people, join the newtype community. See you next time!