Better AI. Harder debate.
Generative AI & a creative reckoning.
I talk a lot about how The Colour Bar sits at the intersection of forces in media, pop culture, and creativity. Probably no such collision has taken centrestage more, and more often this year, than the collision of creativity, content and generative AI.
Gen AI continues to accelerate- loudly and incredibly fast; our cultural responses remain unresolved, fragmented. Tools are improving, outputs are multiplying, but the most interesting conversations aren’t necessarily about what AI can do, but what we’re choosing to do with it- and why.
I look back at my year-long forays into AI and creativity, with questions, stories and showcases. There is no resolution to the debates, but I hope to sharpen the questions. Because right now, the questions matter more than the demos.
🎧 Prefer to listen? Hit play above to listen to me read this week’s dispatch.
Generative AI & a creative reckoning.
Gen AI tools improved faster than our answers about creativity, ownership and intent did in 2025. But the year also sharply exposed what we value, fear, and maybe too easily automate in the creative process.
Dramatic, numerous announcements in AI. An endless show of generative AI capabilities. The hype cycle. The scepticism. The proud luddites.
Do they excite you? Concern you? Exhaust you? Bore you, even? A bit of all?
The choo-choo train of generative AI, powered by big ideas, bigger pockets and unfettered momentum, continues to thunder down a track that is very much forming as we go. The destination is entirely up for debate, though more shapes have formed in the mist. Whether this locomotive is hurtling to delight or doom, depends on the day of the week and who you listen to.
Despite many resounding voices on either side, no one really knows how this is going to settle.
Deluge: volume & noise
Depending on how plugged into the gen-AI scene you are (or how flooded your feed is with AI showcases) pieces like these could delight, disappoint, infuriate or worry- showing us what amazing things could be done with generative video, and the potential for misuse. Those reactions were way back in May/June; Sora and Nano Banana have made some serious strides since.
Different impulses emerged. Meta’s Vibes app, Sora2’s pure AI content app and Runway’s stream Foom, all launched around the same time, embracing convenience & quantity. There was hand wringing (including from me) about slop and farming for engagement. On the flip side, efforts like Moonvalley found their meaning in being ethical, being clean, and being shaped for & by filmmakers. I wrote and spoke about a model worth looking at.
Creations: meaningful exceptions.
Actual examples of gen AI creations probably counted in the millions, because hey- democratisation! The few I chose to share, brought something more to the conversation.
The super-shorts ‘Stormtrooper Vlogs’, featuring anonymous stormtroopers terrified of their boss Darth Vader, were noteworthy in 2025, irrespective of where you stand on the unauthorised use of characters by fans. More so in the light of Disney’s recent decision to join hands with OpenAI. Casually enjoyable, they showcase the wisdom that human creativity- always- helps technology shine. Eerily, it appeared around the same time that Disney and Universal chose to go to court over AI-driven IP theft.
Efforts like Cuco, a ‘love letter to LA’, a melding of human effort and AI tools from Paul Trillo, gave us a glimpse how bleeding-edge technologies can shape collective creative efforts. The short film ‘Post Scarcity Blues’ from Matt Zien / KNGMKR challenged us to face a dystopian future- one where the ease, efficiency and abundance that machines bring, in turn render us as lost, vacuous, irrelevant.
Recall Me Maybe, from FT was a gentle if unsettling take on AI and memory; “If you’re human and you know it” was a spot that speaks to our times. A tourism spot from Linz was weird and wild… vibes of “someone who got the paid version of a fancy gen AI tool for a week and thought ‘unlimited tokens! bring it on!’ “
Integrate: devise & deploy
Mainstream adoption had momentum. Cat Biggie from Korea was representative of how more shows are being approached. Other forays into gen AI seem to be of the “let’s do this because we can” variety. In India, a film’s ending was changed, a decade on from its initial release. Visual Dubbing showed up in Europe and India, not called Vubbing by enough people yet. Netflix got their AI guidelines out, careful and considered. They also deployed- their first use of gen AI was in Argentinian show The Eternaut.
Tension/unresolved
Through the year, I found myself often thinking of the tension that thrums between creativity and gen AI.
In a story that received many reactions, I asked, what would you make of actors instructed by AI every step of the way? I wrote and spoke about a fascinating (and uncomfortable) trend hailing from China.
Filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro’s little nugget at an SDCC panel makes for a good one minute watch. Could make you think, should make you chuckle, at least! I revisited Matthew Inman, cartoonist and author of Oatmeal & Exploding Kittens fame, after a long while. This time, for his take “Let’s Talk About AI Art”.
Andrew Rosenblum explored artists who are combining traditional methods with AI image generation, in Is there a ‘right way’ to use AI in art?
“Artists using AI are in a ‘moment of negotiation,’ trying to figure out a way to use the tools in a way that is genuinely interesting and creative. But they’re struggling with the fact that AI has cheapened the value of style, once a paramount mark of artistic originality.”
Some provocations I was, like many others, moved to consider around gen AI & creativity, which had echoes of a ‘what is art’ debate:
Is it about the intent? Made to maximise engagement or made to express something?Is it the way it is made? The effort, time put into something, even the struggle (especially the struggle, for some).
Is it the experiences of the creator? Does the life they have lived give their creation soul?
Is it originality? A loaded question- originality is inspired, derived, riffed, regenerated…
Maybe we do need to first be confronted by an ocean of slop, a proliferation of easy ‘creativity’, before we can embrace those questions meaningfully, fearlessly, honestly.
While on gen AI, the movements in music have been no less significant. A very human industry is increasingly shaped by non-human volume. The Colour Bar has tracked this drift: 2025 looks like the year ‘music’s next frontier’ became ‘music’s next flood.’ In case you missed it wrote about it last week or made a video if you prefer to watch!
Disney x OpenAI
Much has been made of Disney and Open AI’s proposed deal, with the House of Mouse investing $1B in Open AI. Some claim Disney has capitulated, handing over keys to IP it has spent decades to make both beloved and valuable, and Open AI has much the better end of this agreement. Others feel it is embracing the future, being the first legacy media company to make such a meaningful bet. Worth noting that this is deal was not finalised (moved since), so much of the reaction is when taking it at face value right now.
Is this the world’s coolest Play-Doh or the world’s lamest memeslop? ^
The Ken has a less than optimistic take on this, likening Disney’s move to be yet another that is hopping onto the OpenAI bandwagon.
Disney is paying $1 billion to invest in a paradigm that fundamentally undermines the economics of premium content. This is a sign of how studios such as Universal or Warner Bros. Discovery will have to ally with a handful of major AI platforms. For those studios, the software and technical boons aren’t that important. What matters is the optionality and influence that come with being partners of tech platforms that gatekeep attention. In other words, it’s a struggle for relevance.
While it seems that increasingly, the limbo of legal appeals and the speed of the AI companies means the debate around copyright and training models might be getting pushed to the margins. The deal is being seen as a new path, “It clarifies that the AI copyright war isn’t about keeping iconic characters out of models anymore. It’s about finding the right price to keep them in.” ^
Here was a view saying “we are no longer debating training data”. So as always, break first, ask for permission (or bludgeon it) later?
It does likely mean that in a world of limited dollars more of them are going to be rehashing what’s been made than making something new; it does mean that the artist-led work of film reboots and nostalgia plays could be given way to the masses-led work of rehashes and prompted entertainment. ^
Tubi as a Blender
There is some data to show that ad-supported streaming service Tubi can lay claim to becoming a blender of creator content and ‘traditional’ content. On the Creator Upload podcast, it was suggested that viewers coming to the platform to watch creator content, also end up watching ‘traditional’ Hollywood programming.
“Somewhere between autoplay and curiosity, [they] wind up watching studio films and TV dramas.” Given more than half of Tubi’s 100m user base is Gen Z and millennial, that’s pretty compelling.
Baller League DNA
‘Baller League serves up football as content first and competition second. But does that make it the future of sport, or just a momentary thrill?’
Callum McCarthy tries to tease out an answer to the question in this piece that looks at how the upstart league has used the DNA of entertainment, while leaving open questions around how its fandom will progress.
Baller League is further blurring the lines between sports, entertainment, competition and content. The professionals of the future will have grown up with these leagues and may behave more like content creators than the robotic media-trained individuals we see today.
🎬 Curated/Cuts.
1. Wolf
I want to be friends with this wolf. A christmasy ad called Unloved. Almost entirely animated (though the human actors too are just. so. perfect.)
A wolf.
A wintry forest.
Vegetables.
A supermarket.
An old French crooner singing “Unloved”.
Giving me feels of Ratatouille and Gruffalo… this is worthy of its own spinoff show.
This is animated entirely by humans at Wizz & Illogic, though I tried to stay away from the obvious narrative of “look, no AI”. Much of the rest of the internet feels it is as good a reason as any to point out the “why?!” around AI generated commercials (cue McDonalds & Coca Cola).
I suppose, since every AI generated spot chooses to brandish its making as a badge of honour, this piece’s human crafting deserves some performative shouting too!
Dir: Nadège Loiseau Production: Divine Wizz Illogic Intermarche Brand Dir: Gweno Van Opdengem Agency Romance Paris CD Alexandre Herv
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