Jonah Peretti, BuzzFeed Founder and CEO, issued predictions for the future of digital media.

His predictions included five things, most notably the importance of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Here is what Peretti predicted:

- ‘The return of news homepages’ -

Perreti’s first prediction was that the majority of people will start wanting social media platforms to provide an “escape” where they can find entertainment and joy.

“Readers are sick of all the negative news in their social media feeds,” he noted.

Peterri stressed, however, that audiences will still want news, “they just don’t want it to ruin the fun when they are escaping into entertainment.”

“This will drive a return to the editorially curated news homepage like HuffPost, Drudge, and CNN.com.”

He added that this week, HuffPost hit 16 million pageviews, which is a record high since joining BuzzFeed, Inc.

Peterri said this was a “sign this prediction is already coming true.”

According to him, some things will change such as the idea that news organizations should “find people where they are.”

“Audiences will take more control of when, how, and whether they consume news.”

He also noted that some reporters and editors working at BuzzFeed News were moved to HuffPost to invest in growing the direct audience.

- ‘Entertainment wins the Internet’ -

Peterri predicted that the biggest platforms will be defined by how much fun they provide their audience.

“As a result, the only profitable, sustainable content businesses that can be built on top of the big platforms will be focused on entertainment,” he noted.

According to him, the BuzzFeed brand is now focusing more on making the internet fun.

“Our audience loves entertainment and we can operate profitably by covering trends, making shopping more playful, creating new interactive AI formats, and helping creators connect with our audience”

- ‘Creators form alliances with media companies’ -

His third prediction revolved around that since content creators are now making their own path, “we are at an inflection point where creators and media companies will join forces to win on the big platforms and get dollars from the biggest advertisers.”

Creators working on their own face many obstacles, such as not having a way to establish their trustworthiness and relevance. Media companies, however, have their own trend toward a lack of voice and relatability.

“Joining forces solves both problems,” he said, adding: “The next few years will be defined by creators partnering with the best media brands for credibility, community, and cash.”

- The importance of AI -

He predicted that in the near future, AI will “kill the majority of static content.”

Peterri noted that audiences will start to expect all content to be personalized, interactive, dynamic, with embedded intelligence.

“Formats that were developed before the AI revolution, and many of the formats and conventions of the media industry will need to be updated and adapted, or begin to feel stale and outdated,” he said.

According to him, BuzzFeed has been investing in AI-powered content and launching new formats like “Infinity Quizzes and Chatbot games.”

“In the past two months, we've seen time spent increase over 40% when a quiz is AI-powered, compared to legacy quizzes; and our first chatbot game had an average time spent 4x higher than time spent on static quizzes,” Peterri noted.

- ‘Cultural moments take market share’ -

Peretti lastly predicted that the digital ecosystem will be dominated by cultural moments.

In addition to that, a much higher percentage of “advertising budgets will flow toward cultural relevance tied to big moments.”

According to him, marketers require moments so they can effectively reach their target audiences and define their brands. In a digital ecosystem, however, it is difficult to plan for them.

“Very few partners can deliver Voice + Scale together in one package. BuzzFeed, Inc. is a one-stop shop for big moments in a culture that marketers can plan for and advertise around,” he said.