I. Prologue: Sora 2, the Parallel Universe Version of TikTok
Sora 2 was recently released, and it has been incredibly popular. I quickly found an invitation code to experience it.
It is no longer just an “AI generation tool,” but rather feels more like a parallel universe version of TikTok.
In this universe, everyone is generating:
Pokémon, Zelda, Demon Slayer—
All virtual characters have come alive. (Of course, the most frequent is Sam Altman.)
I also tried to generate a “live-action Nezuko teaching Japanese” video.
That kind of realistic, bizarre sense of fusion leaves one both amazed and unsettled. I am no longer doubting whether this video is generated by AI, but rather doubting whether this person truly exists.
Beyond the amazement, I began to wonder if the publishing industry knows that so many anime characters are being “abused” like this, whether they allow it, and how they will respond.
Reading Sam Altman’s latest article suddenly gave me a lot of inspiration.
II. The End of Scarcity: From “Right to Create” to “Right to Generate”
…but want the ability to specify how their characters can be used (including not at all)….
Sam Altman
In the era of traditional creation, the existence of copyright was built upon scarcity.
Creation is an expensive act:
Painting a picture, shooting a video, or making an animation all mean an investment of time, money, and skills.
Therefore, the law grants creators “exclusive control,”
—Whoever creates has the right to decide whether others can use it. This control forms the foundation of the copyright system.
But the emergence of Sora caused this scarcity to suddenly collapse.
A piece of footage that originally required a studio, equipment, and a team to complete can now be generated with just a few words.
Creation is no longer a privilege of a few, but a behavior at the language level.
Creation is no longer “production,” but “summoning”;
It is no longer the labor of hands, but the labor of language.
Thus, “who can create” has become “who can guide generation.” The right to create has henceforth entered the era of the right to generate.
III. The Dislocation of Rights: The “Co-creation Dilemma” in the AI Era
First, we will give rightsholders more granular control over generation of characters, similar to the opt-in model for likeness but with additional controls. …. “We are hearing from a lot of rightsholders who are very excited for this new kind of “interactive fan fiction” and think this new kind of engagement will accrue a lot of value to them”
Sam Altman
This statement seems mild, but it marks a turning point:
When AI can generate works that “seem as if they came from the original author,”
The original copyright system begins to lose its grip.
Traditionally, secondary creation (doujin) has always hovered in a grey area: As long as it is not commercialized and the original rights holders tolerate it, it can survive.
But in the AI era, doujin is no longer the handiwork of fans, but the mass production of algorithms. This turns “tolerance” into the urgent problem of “having to redefine boundaries.”
So Altman’s proposed “granular control” is actually to cope with this new ecosystem: In the future, it might no longer be “banning secondary creation,” and “AI generation” might become a legalized co-creation behavior.
But problems also follow:
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Whose character is it?
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Where are the boundaries of IP?
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Are fan-generated videos creations or infringements?
When the boundary between creation and copying blurs, rights are no longer exclusive control,
But a kind of “participatory governance right.”
AI turns “exclusive” into “co-creation,”
Shifting the focus of copyright from legal issues to collaborative mechanism design issues.
IV. Vibe Coding: When Creativity Loses Its Barriers
All of this has actually already played out in the programming world.
With the advent of Vibe Coding, the cost of implementing websites, apps, and interaction design has almost dropped to zero.
The collapse of technical barriers brings not just the convenience of copying, but a reshuffling of the structure of creativity.
In the past, technology was a separator: whoever could write code had the “right to create.”
But now, anyone just needs a little “vibe,” and AI can automatically code.
“I can build it” is no longer important; what’s important is “what kind of vibe I want.”
Creators have transformed from “implementers” to “curators”; from building functions to designing experiences.
1. Technical Level: From Implementation to Selection
In the past, whoever mastered the technology owned the “right to create.”
But after Vibecoding, implementation is no longer scarce; selection is the true ability.
People have shifted from writing code to curating experiences:
Deciding on “style,” “tone,” and “rhythm,”
Rather than “implementing login and registration” or “building a component library.”
Technology is no longer the threshold of creation;
Language and intent are the new compilers.
2. Economic Level: From Proprietary to Experiential
When functions are homogenized and copying is zero-cost,
Competition shifts from “what it does” to “what it feels like.”
Experience becomes the new scarce resource.
Vibecoding makes creation like mixing music—
It is not about who invents the melody, but who can mix a unique vibe.
The same is true for Sora:
Everyone can generate videos, but not everyone can generate videos with feeling.
Thus, experience and emotional resonance become the new economic logic.
3. Aesthetic Level: From Originality to Style Reuse
When the cost of imitation infinitely approaches zero, originality is no longer the highest value.
The new artistic logic is: making reuse stylish.
In this world,
The focus of creation is not “what content to generate,”
But “what aura to generate.”
The creator’s job is not to write scripts or draw storyboards,
But to design the rhythm, tone, and narrative sense in the prompt—
To give the results output by the algorithm a human soul.
Hackers have the souls of hackers, and artists have the souls of artists.
4. Cognitive Level: From Knowledge Barriers to Semantic Power
When AI can implement everything, the real threshold shifts to language.
Prompt has become the new programming language,
And semantic control has replaced technical control.
The creators of the future are semantic architects and cognitive directors.
They no longer write code, but direct how the algorithm “perceives.”
The collapse of technical barriers did not make the world simpler;
It merely shifted “creation” from the labor of hands to the “labor of language.”
When everyone can generate content,
What determines value is no longer the speed of generation, but the density of meaning.
Therefore, Sora is to video creation what Vibecoding is to software development—
They are all telling us:
The boundaries of creation are disappearing, while the boundaries of cognition are just beginning.
5. Marketing Level: When “Soulfulness” Becomes Brand Competitiveness
When technical barriers collapse, not only is creation reshaped,
Products and brands face the same transformation.
In an era of functional homogenization, competition is no longer about “what can you do,”
But “making users feel who you are.”
The core difference in AI products is not algorithm performance,
But whether they can create an “illusion of a soul”—
Making users feel in interactions that there is a conscious, warm presence behind it.
This is the so-called “soulful design”:
Using tone, rhythm, interface, narrative, and visuals,
To make the machine’s output look like a human response.
In AI marketing, true innovation lies not in functional leadership,
But in creating an emotional illusion between humans and machines.
This is an entirely new brand philosophy:
Technology replicates quickly, but soulfulness builds slowly.
And slowness is exactly the new scarcity.
V. Epilogue: When Creation is No Longer Scarce, We Need New Trust Mechanisms
Sora, vibecoding, AI text generation—all these technologies are rewriting one question:
When creation is no longer scarce, where does value come from?
The past answer was copyright; the future answer might be trust and co-creation mechanisms.
The law will no longer be the sole source of order;
New order will emerge from the collaboration between technology and culture.
Perhaps the future copyright system will not be for “banning,”
But for “collaboration”—
Allowing more people to participate in creating meaning, rather than passively consuming it.
This is the true meaning of the decentralization of creation in the AI era:
From the centralization of rights to the symbiosis of expression.