Generative AI's Impact on Data Generation and Storage

This IDC Market Perspective provides an analysis of generative AI's (GenAI's) impact on data generation and storage. While GenAI drives new forms of content creation, much of the resulting data is ephemeral, cached, or selectively retained. This document explores how different formats, workflows, and use cases impact storage infrastructure and data life-cycle management. It also highlights the diverging roles of SSDs and HDDs and the growing need for intelligent, flexible infrastructure."As generative AI transforms the way content is created, its impact on global data volumes is not defined by raw output, but by the lifespan, purpose, and reusability of the content itself," says Adam Wright, research manager for IDC's Global DataSphere and Global StorageSphere research. "The shift is not just toward more data but toward different data."