THE GRAIN: AI vs. Creativity

ronit@thegrain.ai

Ronit Novak talks artificial intelligence in media, marketing, movies, music and more. thegrainai.substack.com

  1. 12 AUG

    PODCAST: AI vs. Your Opinion—Matt Vandrick

    Watch full video version on YouTube: https://youtu.be/_4lleJyYiag?si=fef5DN-gmDX9l5D-Prefer to listen? You’re already in the right place. The fast fashion industry runs on excess. Too many trends, too much waste, too little accountability. Sajna Massey is trying to change that—with artificial intelligence. She’s the founder of Couth Studios, an AI-driven fashion company rethinking how clothes get made, and more importantly, why. In our conversation, we talk about the pressure to be visible as a founder, the tension between style and sustainability, and how AI can be used not to mass-produce, but to slow things down and put customers in the creator’s chair. YouTube Video: (Spotify and Apple Podcasts are audio only) Links of stuff we talk about … * Couth Studios [retail website] * TikTok [Couth Studios] * Off/Script [Montreal-based product creation platform] Listen now, like, comment, and share THE GRAIN to join the conversation at the edge of AI and creativity. Stay tuned for my grains of thought in the newsletter, for news and insights on how AI is impacting the creative industry worldwide. Read more about THE GRAIN at thegrain.ai and get in touch with me at ronit@thegrain.ai. You can also follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok. Thanks for reading THE GRAIN with Ronit Novak! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thegrainai.substack.com

    1h 7m
  2. PODCAST: AI vs. Fashion—Sajna Massey

    5 AUG

    PODCAST: AI vs. Fashion—Sajna Massey

    Watch full video version on YouTube: https://youtu.be/_4lleJyYiag?si=fef5DN-gmDX9l5D-Prefer to listen? You’re already in the right place. The fast fashion industry runs on excess. Too many trends, too much waste, too little accountability. Sajna Massey is trying to change that—with artificial intelligence. She’s the founder of Couth Studios, an AI-driven fashion company rethinking how clothes get made, and more importantly, why. In our conversation, we talk about the pressure to be visible as a founder, the tension between style and sustainability, and how AI can be used not to mass-produce, but to slow things down and put customers in the creator’s chair. YouTube Video: (Spotify and Apple Podcasts are audio only) Links of stuff we talk about … * Couth Studios [retail website] * TikTok [Couth Studios] * Off/Script [Montreal-based product creation platform] Listen now, like, comment, and share THE GRAIN to join the conversation at the edge of AI and creativity. Stay tuned for my grains of thought in the newsletter, for news and insights on how AI is impacting the creative industry worldwide. Read more about THE GRAIN at thegrain.ai and get in touch with me at ronit@thegrain.ai. You can also follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok. Thanks for reading THE GRAIN with Ronit Novak! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thegrainai.substack.com

    1h 11m
  3. 8 JUL

    PODCAST: AI vs. Fear—Lee Towndrow

    So much of what’s happening around AI feels like performance. People saying they’ve got it all figured out. Creatives pretending they’re not anxious. But when I saw Lee Towndrow’s post on LinkedIn, where he just came out and said “I’m scared,” it stopped me in my tracks. Lee didn’t pretend. He did the cringe. And it resonated.He’s a Creative Director and VFX artist I’ve always admired for his polished but quintessentially human aesthetic. It’s a powerful combination that elevates and honours humanity. In reflecting on AI and a future yet unknown, Lee encourages us to face our fear while offering powerful strategies for moving beyond it. Links of stuff we talk about … * Fear [Lee Towndrow’s LinkedIn post] * Lee Towndrow [personal website] * AI 2027 Report [Daniel Kokotajlo, Scott Alexander, Thomas Larsen, Eli Lifland, Romeo Dean] * Sheila Heti [personal website] * Leilanni Todd [personal website] * ‘Manchild’ by Sabrina Carpenter [music video] Listen now, like, comment, and share THE GRAIN to join the conversation at the edge of AI and creativity. Stay tuned for my grains of thought in the newsletter, for news and insights on how AI is impacting the creative industry worldwide. Read more about THE GRAIN at thegrain.ai and get in touch with me at ronit@thegrain.ai. You can also follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok. Thanks for reading THE GRAIN with Ronit Novak! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thegrainai.substack.com

    1h 6m
  4. PODCAST: How can Canada develop AI policy for creatives?

    1 JUL

    PODCAST: How can Canada develop AI policy for creatives?

    Happy Canada Day! Please enjoy this special video episode of THE GRAIN Podcast, featuring my grains of thought about how Ottawa can build a new creative economy now that Evan Solomon has taken the office of Minister of AI and Digital Innovation. Plus, I introduce THE MEMORY MACHINE, my new AI art exhibition and speaker series. Links to the articles I mention… * Canada’s AI Opportunity with Minister of Artificial Intelligence Evan Solomon [RBC Disruptors podcast] * Liberals won’t reintroduce old AI law but will address copyright issues [The Logic] * Kate Armstrong recaps a panel on AI and the arts with OCAD University in Toronto [Substack] * Report on Geoffrey Hinton’s debate in Toronto with Cohere co-founder Nick Frosst [BetaKit] * Nick Frosst tells Geoffrey Hinton why he doesn’t use LLMs to write poetry [@thegrain.ai/TikTok] Listen now, like, comment, and share THE GRAIN to join the conversation at the edge of AI and creativity. Stay tuned for my grains of thought in the newsletter, for news and insights on how AI is impacting the creative industry worldwide. Read more about THE GRAIN at thegrain.ai and get in touch with me at ronit@thegrain.ai. You can also follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok. Thanks for reading THE GRAIN with Ronit Novak! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thegrainai.substack.com

    19 min
  5. 26 JUN

    PODCAST: AI vs. Bias—Dr. Avriel Epps

    Dr. Avriel Epps studies the impact of artificial intelligence on identity, culture, and mental health. An incoming professor at Rutgers University, she has a PhD in Human Development and Education from Harvard. She also wants to help families understand how the systems work through the recent publication of A Kids Book About AI Bias. Prior to her academic career, Avriel Epps was a child actor, a model, a genre-bending musician—and a Black woman who often felt asked to fit into roles she didn’t choose. Our conversation is about AI, but it’s also about power. It’s about beauty standards. It’s about why some things rise to the top and others never surface. It’s about what we can do—whether as creatives, parents or users—to push back against the grain. What we talk about in this episode… * The concept of AI bias and how a new language of media literacy is taking shape * Creativity concerns for artists who can mitigate biased elements in their work * Empowerment and advocacy with a strategy to ensure fairer development of AI Links to resources we discussed… *  Dr. Avriel Epps [personal website] * Unmasking AI [Dr. Joy Buolamwini] * Algorithms of Oppression [Safiya Umoja Noble] *  More Than a Glitch [Meredith Brossard] *   Race After Technology [Ruha Benjamin] *  Data Feminism [Catherine D'Ignazio and Lauren F. Klein] *  Weapons of Math Destruction [Cathy O'Neil] *   Timnit Gebru: The Computer Scientist Fighting for a Fairer World *  The Data Union [Nicholas Vincent]   * A Kids Book About AI Bias [Dr. Avriel Epps] 🎧 Listen now, like, comment, and share THE GRAIN to join the conversation at the edge of AI and creativity. Stay tuned for my grains of thought in the newsletter, for news and insights on how AI is impacting the creative industry worldwide. Read more about THE GRAIN at thegrain.ai and get in touch with me at ronit@thegrain.ai. You can also follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thegrainai.substack.com

    46 min
  6. PODCAST: AI vs. Bias—Dr. Avriel Epps

    26 JUN

    PODCAST: AI vs. Bias—Dr. Avriel Epps

    Dr. Avriel Epps studies the impact of artificial intelligence on identity, culture, and mental health. An incoming professor at Rutgers University, she has a PhD in Human Development and Education from Harvard. She also wants to help families understand how the systems work through the recent publication of A Kids Book About AI Bias. Prior to her academic career, Avriel Epps was a child actor, a model, a genre-bending musician—and a Black woman who often felt asked to fit into roles she didn’t choose. Our conversation is about AI, but it’s also about power. It’s about beauty standards. It’s about why some things rise to the top and others never surface. It’s about what we can do—whether as creatives, parents or users—to push back against the grain. What we talk about in this episode… * The concept of AI bias and how a new language of media literacy is taking shape * Creativity concerns for artists who can mitigate biased elements in their work * Empowerment and advocacy with a strategy to ensure fairer development of AI Links to resources we discussed… * [personal website] * [] * [Safiya Umoja Noble] *   [Meredith Brossard] * [Ruha Benjamin] * [Catherine D'Ignazio and Lauren F. Klein] *   [Cathy O'Neil] * * [Nicholas Vincent] * [Dr. Avriel Epps] 🎧 Listen now, like, comment, and share THE GRAIN to join the conversation at the edge of AI and creativity. Stay tuned for my grains of thought in the newsletter, for news and insights on how AI is impacting the creative industry worldwide. Read more about THE GRAIN at and get in touch with me at . You can also follow me on , and . To hear more, visit thegrain.ai

    46 min
  7. 17 JUN

    PODCAST: AI vs. School—Megan McKellar and Isabella Liu

    Megan McKellar and Isabella Liu, both of whom are certified Apple Distinguished Educators and Google Certified Innovators, visited me at Made Human Studios to talk about implementing AI in education. They outline the benefits and pitfalls of this experience, and explain to THE GRAIN why critical thinking is so… critical to their work. Megan and Isabella are preparing kids for a future none of us can actually predict. But they’re doing it with care, openness and a willingness to develop that future with their students, not just for them—and they’re inviting parents to be part of the collaboration. What we talk about in this episode… * How educators have learned to develop AI literacy * The pros and cons of using AI in the classroom * How AI amplifies voices that are otherwise unheard Links to resources we discussed… * Bill Gates Explains the Internet to David Letterman [1995] * Khan Academy *  Apple Distinguished Educators *  Google Certified Innovator *  The Anxious Generation [Jonathan Haidt] *  Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI [Ethan Mollick] *  Generative AI for Teachers [Google] * Holly Clark * EdTech Index * Common Sense Media 🎧 Listen now, like, comment, and share THE GRAIN to join the conversation at the edge of AI and creativity. Stay tuned for my grains of thought in the newsletter, for news and insights on how AI is impacting the creative industry worldwide. Read more about THE GRAIN at thegrain.ai and get in touch with me at ronit@thegrain.ai. You can also follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thegrainai.substack.com

    1h 24m

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Ronit Novak talks artificial intelligence in media, marketing, movies, music and more. thegrainai.substack.com

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