"There's only so much time a day we can spend looking at screens. The trend is increasingly towards User-Generated Content on platforms like TikTok and YouTube, and the rise of AI is going to make it even easier for people to cheaply generate their own professional-looking video content."

#PeterGriffin, 2026

https://www.rnz.co.nz/podcast/mediawatch?share=4e4a93bf-fe10-466a-8641-d40256829d06

Aaaaaaahahahahahaha 🤣

(1/?)

Peter Griffin is pretty good at the 'isn't this new household surveillance gadget cool!' style of tech journalism. But he doesn't even begin to understand media or the arts. So when asked to comment on platforms, especially entertainment platforms, he's totally out of his depth.

(2/?)

Self-recorded voxpops and ad-choked video clickbait channels may be a replacement for "reality TV" and other low-effort commercial slop that populates the ghettos of our struggling free-to-air stations. But they're no substitute for feature-length or series-length scripted narratives. Professionally produced and performed by competent actors who know their craft.

(3/?)

As for a Trained #MOLE enabling anyone to "cheaply generate their own professional-looking video content", and thus displace professional movie and series production, I can't think of a better response than to quote The Castle; "Tell him he's dreaming!".

(4/?)

Believing this requires drinking the kool-aid. Believing the industry hype that the capabilities of "AI" will continue to increase exponentially. When all the evidence points to the current technology having basically peaked, despite the trillions of dollars being set of fire in pursuit of the better Trained MOLE. Not to mention the fact that nobody anywhere is excited to watch the irritating slop they vomit up.

(5/?)

So how can we ensure both a steady stream of quality audiovisual entertainment, and a reasonable living for people producing and distributing it?

Companies who make money charging for streaming video believe they rely on governments criminalising all the ways we can potentially watch without paying. From BitTorrent downloads to third-party apps doing adversarial interoperability. This gives governments far more leverage over streaming companies and studios than anyone has so far noticed.

(6/?)

A forward-looking government would legislate for a competitive market where citizens can choose one streaming provider, and get access to any program they want to see. So streaming platforms have to compete on the quality of their customer service. While videomakers in Aotearoa (and elsewhere) can seek investment for productions, with a guarantee of distribution on all available platforms, without discrimination.

#PolicyNZ

(7/?)