The topic of video curation here at SXSW brings forth many interesting points. Can computers with powerful algorithms ever truly be able to determine what types of video content people truly want to see? Can they understand what comedy is or even more specifically sarcasm? What about the ability to prank people? 

Video curation is becoming ever more important with the vast amounts of content being created by consumers and brands. 60 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute. That’s one hour of content per second. How can we truly be presented with the most relevant content based on our habits and interests.

At this point in time Humans have the greatest ability to cue in on what types of content would truly be shareable and with the potential to go viral. It is part of our social DNA. We are a part of our culture and therefore grasp how we perceive images and messages. YouTube is testing out algorithms that can look for laughter within video content and hopefully determine if the video is intended to be humorous. This could be partially effective but it can’t account for subtle humor.

Obviously humor is only one type of content but it is a perfect example of the true complicated nature of content curation. Only the future will tell us if silicon will ever be able to replace the human mind when searching for or being dynamically presented with truly relevant content based on our distinct interests.