Trevor McFedries is the co-founder of Brud, the company behind virtual influencer Lil Miquela. He discusses the implications of lowering technical barriers for digital creators.
Insight
McFedries: Media companies should build IP from single characters up to films
“Traditionally you kind of started with this like longer form asset, like a Star Wars, and then you kind of iterate in like a Star Wars video game, comic book, all the way up to like a lightsaber you could buy at Target. And so you have this pyramid that moves …”
Insight
McFedries: Compelling characters drive new platform adoption, not empty virtual worlds
“I always thought that like a character would pull you into emergent platform. So like, you know, Pikachu is the reason you get Pokemon Go. You know, you don't want to just walk around your yard scanning stuff. You want to follow Pikachu somewhere.”
Prediction Not checkable as stated
McFedries: Generative AI will accelerate media's race to the bottom
“This kind of race to the bottom in a lot of media is going to, like, that bottom's going to hit far quicker because of AI. It's going to be really easy to be good at things.”
Insight
McFedries: Backward-looking AI models will cause repetitive media feedback loops
“It's going to be really hard to be excellent, and because, you know, models effectively are backwards looking, data kind of begets more data. I mean, you're going to have some, like, nasty feedback loops, not entirely dissimilar from, like, what happened to Ne…”
Insight
McFedries: Unlimited celebrity availability could devalue virtual engagement
“The variable rewards component of social, that kind of like brain hack of a slot machine brain hack is what makes a lot of social experiences sticky. And so the idea that you could just, you know, message Emma Chamberlain and she responds right away or pops up…”
Insight
McFedries: Modern Disney or Marvel Should Be Built on Social Media
“If you were going to build a modern Disney or Marvel now, you probably wouldn't want to start in comic books or in theaters. You'd want to start where the eyeballs are, which was, you know, really on social”