Culture & Code for 2 July 2025
Creativity and Artificial Intelligence
This is Culture & Code, a weekly newsletter and podcast about Creativity and Artificial Intelligence. Culture & Code explores innovation across storytelling, technology and audiences to help creative professionals collaborate better with AI and each other.
Why Make-Believe Matters More Than Ever
Man defines himself by his make-believe as well as by his sincere impulses. If the world were clear, art would not exist -- Albert Camus
Circa 2025, many people ask: does Generative AI mean the end of human-led storytelling as we know it?
If you’re talking about professional storytelling as defined by the incumbent media & entertainment or advertising industries, the resounding answer is yes. Many traditional creative jobs and job titles will go away. Those who quote LinkedIn motivational slogans either are BS’ing or deluded. And you better hope it’s case 1 because the BS’ers are simple to spot. But the deluded can wreck your future if you listen to them for too long.
The current shifts underway are happening so fast and so profound that unless we revisit and revise why we create what we create, we’re likely to get same old same old creative only faster, cheaper and more efficient — while the physical world (climate change) and social world (globalization vs, nationalism) transform beyond recognition.
Generating Isn’t the Point
When William Carlos Williams stuck a note on the refrigerator door to his wife—and the note ended up as one of the 20th Century’s most beloved poems—it wasn’t because the words were unique. It resonated because the words crackled with lived experience that anyone who ever swiped forbidden fruit instantly understood and felt.
That’s the difference between algorithmic and organic creative expression. We’re not just making content mashups—we’re communicating the feeling of life itself. Communicating that feeling comes with risk, vulnerability, even damage.
Van Gogh didn’t just paint masterpieces. He cut off his damn ear. Now, I’m not glamorizing self harm as a path to creative genius. I do recognize the primal urge to express a vision can lead some human creators past sacrifice to the point of harm.
More than raw talent, a willingness to sacrifice in pursuit of a creative vision is often what separates impactful creators from the rest of the pack. It’s a reason why certain creators and performers assume inordinate influence over society at large. And with due respect to the trades, it’s also why the powerful don’t persecute people who hang dry wall. They go after the storytellers, the artists, the performers who subvert the current world in order to show a possible, different world.
Generative AI will not come close to doing that because it cannot conceive what it means to create when there are stakes involved. It does not understand what it means to take a true creative risk. It’s never plagued by doubt. Nor can it conceive of creating something because it’s bored. Or it’s a Tuesday and you dropped into a rabbit hole.
Real Creative Plays for Stakes
We’re at a moment when the mainstream is about to co-opt generative AI for most everything. This is similar to the Internet during the early 2000s. People are looking for some version of an “AI Toy Story” that will officially define a new era.
But the better question isn’t what AI generated blockbuster is coming. I believe we should be looking for who’s going to do something genuinely risky with the new tools — not just who can remix the status quo or be weird. I’m talking about someone using Generative AI to create something that doesn’t make sense — until it does and ignites a “holy shit!” moment among the masses. In 2022 and 2023, we came close but that was because we were comparing similar creative outputs under different production models. We weren’t looking at new worlds so to speak.
But we need to look at new worlds. And we need to start now.
Because if Generative AI becomes just another way to hit existing checkboxes faster better and cheaper, then it’ll be like every other system designed for safe returns. And that’s not what we need when the world is literally on fire. We need stories and experiences that offer people glimpses of new, different and, hopefully, better worlds.
That’s why make-believe matters more than ever.
Colin Petrie-Norris on linear TV in an AI-powered world
Colin Petrie-Norris loves linear TV. As the founder of Xumo, one of the first major platforms in free ad-supported streaming television (FAST), Colin helped pioneer a new model for how people watch TV. After selling Xumo to Comcast in 2020, he’s back with a bold new venture: Fairground Entertainment, an AI-powered studio and distribution platform built to empower a new generation of creators.
In this episode of Culture & Code, Colin breaks down what it takes to build a sustainable business around AI storytelling—and why the future of AI content will look a lot like the past of television, just faster, more global, and more creator-friendly.
“The future of entertainment isn’t just the remit of the Netflixes and the large studios... it’s the smaller creators, the ones around the globe that have the ability to tell great stories.”
With Fairground Entertainment, Colin is betting that independent creators using generative AI tools can deliver professional-grade content—if they’re given the right infrastructure and community. Fairground Entertainment acts as both a studio and a distribution hub, with its first shows (including fresh takes on Dracula and Robin Hood) launching in late 2025.
“You don’t keep coming back because it’s AI. You come back because it’s good entertainment.”
The novelty of AI isn’t enough. Colin champions strong storytelling still matters more than flashy visuals. His team is focused on delivering content that can stand up technically, legally, and creatively to the demands of global audiences and advertisers alike.
“FAST taught us that if you meet people where they are—on the big screen, with free content and minimal friction—they will come. The same lesson applies with AI.”
Colin believes that an ad-supported model is the most realistic and inclusive path for building a scalable AI content ecosystem. It lowers the barrier to entry for creators and reaches audiences used to platforms like YouTube and TikTok, where ads are the default.
If you work in media, entertainment, or tech—and you care about the future of storytelling—this is a conversation you’ll want to hear. Colin offers a clear, experienced view on where the business of AI content is headed, pitfalls to avoid, and how creators and technologists can build something real together.
Listen to the FULL CONVERSATION HERE
AI Movie Night during Seattle Tech Week July 30
After just one week of open registration, we’ve reached 2/3 capacity for AI Movie Night July 30, 6-9pm at VICE, one of Seattle's premier night clubs.
Produced by the Seattle AI Film Festival, AI Movie Night will combine curated screenings of the best AI short form visual storytelling of 2025, conversation with Oscar winning VFX pioneer John Gaeta, plus networking at the cutting edge of storytelling and technology.
Don't miss this opportunity to see the future of visual storytelling today. Admission is free as part of Seattle Tech Week. But you must register.
Register for AI Movie Night
https://lu.ma/7174avrg
Special thanks to our content and technology partners: Escape.ai and Griptape.ai You can check out the full lineup of events at the Seattle Tech Week lu.ma page.