Audiovisual archives should reflect on their mission and goals in an era of overwhelming computer power. Will they be able to make good use of Large Language Models (LLMs) to unlock archived materials? Should they and can they be an ally in combating misinformation and disinformation? As part of a larger project on data literacy for journalists and other media and creative industries professionals, archivists were questioned about the challenges facing audiovisual archives today. Rather than focus on the specific missions of either national or broadcaster’s archives, they focus on how the archive has an important role when it comes to the politics of representation in public debate and civil life. In convivial conversation they speak from their experience at the French National Audiovisual Institute INA, The Netherlands Institute for Sound & Vision, the EBU Academy, the Spanish RTVE archive and WITNESS, a human rights non-profit organisation based the United States that supports activists in archiving and preserving their video.