In Conversation with Benjamin Lappalainen

Benjamin Lappalainen—creative technologist, educator, artist, and XR lead at UKAI Projects—joins Paul Austin-Menear to talk freelancing, AI, and culture. From building screen mirroring tech at Nanoleaf to experimenting with reverse RFPs at UKAI, Benjamin shares stories of navigating pivots, teaching others, and embedding art into the future of technology.Highlights include :* Why he left aerospace engineering for tech and creativity* Lessons from Nanoleaf and building screen mirroring tools* Teaching technical literacy and running AI models locally* The risks of AI advertising and anthropomorphized systems* Ukai’s mission: “culture for what’s coming” and experimental residencies* A radical “reverse RFP” model embedding artists into companies* Practical freelancing advice on savings, networking, and wearing many hatsInteresting Links :* Ben’s Portfolio & Work : https://blap64.xyz/ * UKAI Projects : https://ukaiprojects.com/ * Cultural Technologies Lab : https://www.culturaltechnologieslab.org/ * Genetic Algorithms (Research Paper) : https://direct.mit.edu/artl/article/26/2/274/93255/The-Surprising-Creativity-of-Digital-Evolution-A * SoftLaunch (Learn Creative Technologies) : https://softlaunch.net/The Journey is your builder’s reference library. Crack open the full archive here → https://6catalysts.substack.com/archive | Companion Post : https://6catalysts.substack.com/p/in-conversation-with-benjamin-lappalainen Get full access to The Journey by Six Catalysts at 6catalysts.substack.com/subscribe