Samsung's AI Investment Reveals Why We're About to Drown in Our Own Digital Content
$8m+ raised so far - particularly because we're overusing digital content.
All it takes is one promising AI demo, and suddenly every tech giant scrambles to invest. Samsung's recent backing of Memories.ai—a startup that can analyze up to 10 million hours of video—signals something we're simply not prepared for: we're about to be overwhelmed by our own digital content creation.
It was never like that. Content creation was always naturally limited by physical constraints and human bandwidth. In the 2000s, producing and analyzing video content required enormous resources and time. Companies had manageable libraries because creation itself was the bottleneck. Then the world changed. Digital cameras became affordable, and suddenly everyone could produce professional-quality video. Storage costs plummeted, and cloud platforms made unlimited archiving possible. You could easily create and store terabytes of content with a simple click of a button.
Then the world changed again. AI-powered creation tools emerged, and now you can generate thousands of hours of video content in minutes with no human involvement whatsoever. This sounds like an efficient solution. Fast food chains sounded like an efficient solution too. Meals in minutes? Why not?
Eventually, it leads to information obesity for organizations that consume too much of it. Hence, the harms of such exponential content growth are increasing over time, the more companies expand their digital footprints.
Samsung's investment in Memories.ai isn't just about video analysis—it's about survival in an era of content abundance. The platform promises to process millions of hours of footage, but here's what the press releases won't tell you: most companies already can't effectively utilize the content they currently have.
The Addiction to Digital Accumulation
This Memories.ai investment reveals a deeper business pathology. Similar to trying to stop downloading every useful app or saving every interesting article, companies can't resist creating and storing more content. It is not easy to simply say no when AI tools promise to turn raw footage into marketing gold, training materials, or competitive intelligence.
Content creation is a very delicate business ecosystem. You see, in order for digital assets to be valuable, there has to be an actual use case and human attention dedicated to them. During content creation, companies subconsciously develop an emotional attachment to their digital assets, believing each piece holds future potential. Now the beauty of traditional media was that this attachment had natural limits because production costs created boundaries.
The question presents itself: should this digital accumulation expand to consume unlimited storage, processing power, and human attention? Efficiency is one thing, yet developing a compulsive content hoarding behavior is something else.
Samsung Isn't the Problem Here
Samsung's investment strategy makes perfect sense from a growth perspective. The focus on developing AI systems that can process unlimited video content instead of helping companies curate and prioritize their existing assets is the actual challenge.
Companies should have a responsibility toward sustainable digital practices—for both resource-rich corporations and cash-strapped startups. Content overproduction might not lead an organization to bankruptcy immediately. Nevertheless, it's not sustainable.
At the end of the day, one can't rely on tech companies to force limitations on content creation tools. Almost no successful technology company in our era would say no to selling more processing power and growing market share amongst competitors.
The Science Behind Digital Content Overwhelm
One needs to fully understand the business costs associated with unlimited content creation. But I don't believe you need a detailed financial analysis to realize that creating millions of hours of video without strategic purpose isn't good for your business.
The least a company could do is remain aware of what's happening. The complication occurs when organizations are unaware they're in the accumulation loop, and realize this only after spending six figures on storage and processing costs.
A New Approach to Content Intelligence
I've watched some startups adopt a different approach than their Silicon Valley counterparts. They focus on content quality and purposeful analysis rather than sheer volume processing. A manufacturing company could use AI video analysis exclusively for safety compliance—processing exactly the footage they need, when they need it, for specific regulatory requirements.
The future belongs to companies that can resist the temptation of unlimited content creation and instead focus on intelligent content strategy. Samsung's investment in Memories.ai could drive innovation in the right direction, but only if businesses approach these tools with discipline.
AI Platform: Here's 10 million hours of processed video insights.
Smart Business Leader: Show me the three insights that will impact revenue this quarter…