THE GRAIN: AI vs. Creativity

Generative AI has made a lot of creatives nervous, not just about jobs, but about individual expression.Marian Bantjes isn’t new to this kind of disruption. As an artist, illustrator, designer, and writer, her work has always pushed against polish, taste, and convention. If you know her book I Wonder, you know her voice is unmistakable.What interested me most is that Marian began experimenting with generative AI early, back in 2023, before it became slick or predictable. Instead of being overtaken by the tool, she treated it the way she treats any material: critically, playfully, and with intent.We talk about kitsch, hallucination, repetition, and failure, and why early AI’s weirdness mattered. We talk about what AI can generate, and what it still can’t do: make lateral leaps, form nuanced metaphors, or replace lived experience.This is a conversation about where ideas come from, and why strong creative voices don’t disappear when new tools arrive.If you’re trying to figure out how to work with AI without losing yourself in the process, this episode is for you.Links to stuff we talk about:* marianbantjes.com [Personal website; Design Art Gallery]* AI: Part 1 [Substack, Marian Bantjes]* Jonathan Hoefler [Typographer]* Rodney Brooks [Roboticist]* Douglas Coupland [Artist]* Stuart Semple [Black 2.0 paint]* Edel Rodriguez [Illustrator]Subscribe to support THE GRAINListen, like, comment, and share THE GRAIN to join the conversation we need to be having about the pleasure and peril of AI and the future of creativity. You can watch this and other video episodes of THE GRAIN Podcast on YouTube.Subscribe to THE GRAIN Newsletter, for deep dives on how AI is impacting creative industries right now. Read more about THE GRAIN and our upcoming live events at thegrain.ai Reach me at [email protected] Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok Get full access to THE GRAIN with Ronit Novak at thegrainai.substack.com/subscribe

The photo industry has been running on gut feelings for years. Heather Morton and Rob Haggart brought receipts.They’re the team behind the new State of the Photo Industry Survey, a rare, data-driven look at how photographers are actually making a living, right now.Heather is a professor in the Honours Bachelor of Photography program at Sheridan College, mentoring students entering an industry flirting with existential crisis. Rob is a former magazine photo editor and the founder of the APhotoEditor and Photo Folio, long-running platforms focused on the business of photography. If you’ve worked in editorial or commercial photography, you’ve almost certainly encountered his work.They both live and breathe photography and after decades of guiding, teaching, and connecting photographers, they are deeply invested in the health of this industry.What caught my attention is that the survey didn’t even ask about AI directly and yet it still shows up, especially where people feel most uneasy about their future.This episode isn’t simplified into a pro-AI or anti-AI stance. Rather, we foster a nuanced, practical conversation about the business of photography, and the real feelings behind it.If you’re a photographer, hire photographers, teach photography, or are trying to figure out what future you’re walking into, this one’s for you.Links for more detail:* State of the Photo Industry Survey [Substack, Heather Morton]* HM Photo Prof [Instagram, Heather Morton]* APhotoEditor.com [Blog, Rob Haggart]* APhotoEditor [Instagram, Rob Haggart]Subscribe to support THE GRAINListen, like, comment, and share THE GRAIN to join the conversation we need to be having about the pleasure and peril of AI and the future of creativity. You can watch this and other video episodes of THE GRAIN Podcast on YouTube.Subscribe to THE GRAIN Newsletter, for deep dives on how AI is impacting creative industries right now. Read more about THE GRAIN and our upcoming live events at thegrain.ai Reach me at [email protected] Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok Get full access to THE GRAIN with Ronit Novak at thegrainai.substack.com/subscribe

Ian Krietzberg is one of the clearest, most grounded voices covering AI today.As the AI correspondent at Puck, and former editor-in-chief of The Deep View, Ian approaches artificial intelligence the way a great reporter approaches any powerful system: by following the money, interrogating the incentives, and keeping the human impact front and centre.At a moment when AI is framed as an inevitable technological destiny or a geopolitical arms race, Ian’s work brings the conversation back to something essential: curiosity, freedom of information, and the people behind the machines. He also exposes a truth many in creative industries have felt but struggled to articulate: AI is often tested on creatives first because our work is considered “low risk” meaning technically easy to scrape, culturally abundant, and generally low risk.His newsletter The Hidden Layer traces how decisions made by developers, CEOs, users, and regulators shape the technology we interact with every day.Our conversation digs into why AI is not a mystical force but a human invention, how media hype distorts our understanding of it, and why the real stakes aren’t in model benchmarks but in the lives touched, changed, and sometimes harmed by these tools.This is AI reporting with humanity, clarity, and courage.Links of stuff we talked about…* The Hidden Layer [Puck]* The AI Mirror: How to Reclaim Our Humanity in an Age of Machine Thinking [Shannon Vallor]* Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman’s OpenAI [Karen Hao]Listen now, like, comment, and share THE GRAIN to join the conversation at the edge of AI and creativity.You can watch this and other video episodes of THE GRAIN Podcast on YouTube.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 [email protected]. You can also follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok. Get full access to THE GRAIN with Ronit Novak at thegrainai.substack.com/subscribe

Sarah Thompson is one of the sharpest strategists working in Canadian communications today.The executive managing director at Glassroom started her career wanting to be a journalist, spent years in and around newsrooms, and now works at the intersection of advertising, media investment and strategy for some of the biggest brands in the country.She’s also part of Canadian Media Means Business, an industry-wide push to rethink how media is funded and valued here at home.Sarah led a groundbreaking new study called “The Economics of Media and Advertising in Canada,” which finally follows the money—from advertisers to publishers to jobs to GDP, and lays out just how interconnected our media ecosystem really is.If you’re interested in conversations like these, and live in the Toronto area, join me at THE GRAIN Speaker Series premiere event on Wednesday, Nov. 12, at which a panel of guests will talk about Advertising vs. AI. Click here for more information.Links of stuff we talked about…* Canadian Media Means Business [report]* Task Force on Canada’s AI Strategy [public engagement sprint]* Glassroom [Humanise Collective]Listen now, like, comment, and share THE GRAIN to join the conversation at the edge of AI and creativity.You can watch this and other video episodes of THE GRAIN Podcast on YouTube.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 [email protected]. You can also follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok. Get full access to THE GRAIN with Ronit Novak at thegrainai.substack.com/subscribe

Season 3 of THE GRAIN Podcast kicks off with world-renowned AI researcher and generative AI pioneer Dr. Maya Ackerman. She is the CEO and co-founder of WaveAI, the company behind LyricStudio and MelodyStudio, two groundbreaking tools that use AI to support human creativity, rather than replace it. Dr. Ackerman is also a computer science professor and a leading voice in the global conversation on how humans and machines make art together.Her new book, Creative Machines: AI, Art & Us, coming out October 14, (available for pre-order) is a must-read for any creator curious about how AI collides with creativity. I’ve been scribbling all over my advance copy because her insights and frameworks lit up so many new ideas for me.In our conversation, we dig into agency, co-creation, and what it really means to make art with machines. It’s thoughtful, energizing, and the perfect way to start the season.Links of stuff we talked about…* Dr. Maya Ackerman [personal website]* Creative Machines: AI, Art & Us by Dr. Maya Ackerman [published by Wiley]* WaveAI [Creative AI for musicians]Listen now, like, comment, and share THE GRAIN to join the conversation at the edge of AI and creativity. You can watch this and other video episodes of THE GRAIN Podcast on YouTube.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 [email protected]. You can also follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok. Get full access to THE GRAIN with Ronit Novak at thegrainai.substack.com/subscribe

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 [email protected]. 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. Get full access to THE GRAIN with Ronit Novak at thegrainai.substack.com/subscribe

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 [email protected]. 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. Get full access to THE GRAIN with Ronit Novak at thegrainai.substack.com/subscribe

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 [email protected]. 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. Get full access to THE GRAIN with Ronit Novak at thegrainai.substack.com/subscribe

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 [email protected]. 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. Get full access to THE GRAIN with Ronit Novak at thegrainai.substack.com/subscribe

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 AILinks 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 [email protected]. You can also follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok. Get full access to THE GRAIN with Ronit Novak at thegrainai.substack.com/subscribe

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 unheardLinks 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 [email protected]. You can also follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok. Get full access to THE GRAIN with Ronit Novak at thegrainai.substack.com/subscribe

“BBL Drizzy” started off as an insult—but it ended up making music history instead. A year ago, when Kendrick Lamar and Drake spurred one of the most high-profile rap beefs of our time, comedian and screenwriter Willonius Hatcher saw an opportunity. He wrote some lyrics, fired up an AI music tool, and created a soul-infused anthem that caught fire. As a result, “BBL Drizzy” went viral, hip-hop producer Metro Boomin amplified it even further, and in a wild twist, Drake’s own team licensed the track, making it the first AI-generated work to be officially sampled by a major artist.But this wasn’t just a lucky meme moment. King Willonius had been working toward this for years—experimenting, failing, writing three songs a day, directing wildly popular audio dramas on the pandemic-era app Clubhouse, and sharpening his storytelling voice. Last year he was named TIME magazine's 100 Most Influential People in AI. In his own words: “You can’t cheat the process, but with AI you can amplify it.”In this episode, we talk about:* The creation of “BBL Drizzy” and how it caught fire* How tools like Udio are reshaping music production* The decades-long tension between sampling, authorship, and copyright* Why he sees AI as creative reparations for under-resourced artists * What it really means to be an “AI artist”—and why it’s never as simple as pushing a button* The grind behind the scenes: writing, experimenting, and staying ready for the momentWhether you’re into hip-hop, creativity, tech, or just want to understand how a joke track ended up changing the music industry—this one’s for you.For more on King Willonius, comedian, screenwriter, musician, and creator of “BBL Drizzy”:* @kingwillonius on Instagram* King Willonius’s personal website* Willonius Hatcher speaking at C2 Montreal* 100 Most Influential People in AI [TIME Magazine]* The filmmaker who says AI is reparations [Wired Magazine]* Drake drama showed how AI prophecy can become reality [THE GRAIN]🎧 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 [email protected] me on Instagram, LinkedIn and Substack. Get full access to THE GRAIN with Ronit Novak at thegrainai.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode of THE GRAIN Podcast, I sit down with photographer, retoucher and artist Ishmil Waterman to talk about why he welcomes AI, and the value of staying open to change. We explore what it means to let go of ego, how a “tsunami” of individualism is quietly building to break industry norms, and why embracing uncertainty is one of the most powerful tools a creative can have right now.For anyone feeling overwhelmed—or just curious—about the role of AI in the creative process, this episode offers clarity, inspiration, and a few necessary provocations.For more on Ishmil Waterman:* Retouch House * Ishmil Waterman’s Instagram * Ishmil Waterman’s personal website* A Return to Refinement: A look at fashion’s renewed love of technique [3 Magazine]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 [email protected] me on Instagram, LinkedIn and Substack. Get full access to THE GRAIN with Ronit Novak at thegrainai.substack.com/subscribe

Creativity has always been a through line in my life and career. For my specialized honours thesis in university, I studied the psychology of creativity—how and why artists are compelled to create.What I found is that creatives are problem-solvers. They seek conflict that they can process and address, using their creativity as a tool for resolution. Over time, they begin to embody and repeat the way they solve these problems—whether by mastering a specific medium or honing a distinctive style. Their method of problem-solving becomes their identity, something they craft and refine throughout their careers. To grow, a creative will seek new challenges—reinforcing and evolving their unique way of confronting conflict.For example, James Baldwin confronted racial injustice through his book The Fire Next Time; Pablo Picasso conveyed the horrors of the Spanish Civil War with his painting Guerinica; Nan Goldin shed light on addiction and the AIDS crisis through her photography; Frida Kahlo transformed her physical pain into surreal self-portraits. The list goes on. As you can see, external and internal conflicts intertwine, as creators absorb the world’s pain, and in turn, externalize their own. Sometimes, creatives work together—forming collectives to address a shared struggle, or because their artistic approaches align.Today, AI poses an existential challenge for creatives—a pivotal moment for our survival. What makes this conflict especially complex is that it directly affects the very tools and processes we rely on to address challenges. A parallel would be Picasso having to paint about why there is a shortage of paint. Which he did—during his Blue Period—because his limited resources influenced his creative choices.My guest today on THE GRAIN Podcast is Michael Inzlicht, professor of psychology at the University of Toronto and the Rotman School of Management. Work and Play Lab is where he studies human motivation, empathy, and the effort we exert to reach our goals—whether in work or leisure. His recent report, published in January, found that AI chatbots like ChatGPT are often perceived as more compassionate than human crisis responders and therapists.Lately, creatives are being encouraged to use AI as a companion and collaborator early in the ideation process. I ask Michael what that means for brainstorming, bias, and creative fulfillment. If AI makes problem-solving easier, does that make the process less meaningful—because less effort was exerted?As instinctive problem-solvers, creatives have the power to confront this challenge in their own unique way. But we need to talk about how and why we are compelled to confront this crisis.Please enjoy my conversation with Michael Inzlicht, on THE GRAIN Podcast.Listen now to THE GRAIN with Ronit Novak, as I continue my podcast probes into the pleasure and peril of AI and the future of creativity—recorded at Made Human Studios in the Little Jamaica neighbourhood of Toronto, Canada.Some links to what we talk about…* Work and Play Lab* Study: AI judged to be more compassionate than expert crisis responders (University of Toronto)* She Is in Love With ChatGPT (New York Times)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 [email protected] me on Instagram, LinkedIn and Substack. Get full access to THE GRAIN with Ronit Novak at thegrainai.substack.com/subscribe

 Many creatives feel AI models are built on the theft of their work, scraping the internet—using their images, words, and music without consent, credit, or compensation. To them, AI is a runaway train, with tech companies moving fast and breaking things, ignoring laws, governance, and ethics in the process.But is that really the whole picture? In this episode of THE GRAIN Podcast, I sit down with AI ethicist Cindy Pham, someone who's been working on AI governance long before it entered the public consciousness. She challenges the notion that AI operates in a lawless wild west and offers a crucial reality check.Listen now to THE GRAIN with Ronit Novak, as I continue my podcast probes into the pleasure and peril of AI and the future of creativity—recorded at Made Human Studios in the Little Jamaica neighbourhood of Toronto, Canada.Some links to what we talk about…* The pipe-smoking cat judging the place of AI in copyright* What is AI Ethics? Explainer from IBM* Cindy Pham on LinkedIn: Navigating the Future of AI Stay tuned for my grains of thought in the newsletter, where I’ll cover topics like the controversy surrounding an AI art auction from Christie’s, reaction to ChatGPT removing filters that blocked explicit content, and how litigators are looking to block access to DeepSeek because the new AI platform involves sending prompts to China.Read more about THE GRAIN at thegrain.ai and get in touch at [email protected] me on Instagram, LinkedIn and Substack. Get full access to THE GRAIN with Ronit Novak at thegrainai.substack.com/subscribe

Listen now to THE GRAIN with Ronit Novak, as I launch Season 2 of my podcast probes into the pleasure and peril of AI and the future of creativity—recorded at Made Human Studios in the Little Jamaica neighbourhood of Toronto, Canada.Links to some stuff we talk about…* n-v-r: The Department of Never Been Done Before* Dré Labre’s portfolio website* Design Fiction Daily: Dré Labre newsletter on Substack* The Artifact Scanner: a handheld tool designed to unlock new possibilities* Voidz: This is Where Reality Ends—an AI artist based in Toronto* Dara Vandor: Imaginary Friends photo booth project* Chairman Ting art and design studio* Beeple sold an NFT for $69 million (March 2021)Stay tuned for more grains of thought about creative futurism in the newsletter.Read more about THE GRAIN at this link and get in touch at [email protected] should also follow @thegrain.ai on Instagram and LinkedIn and Substack. Get full access to THE GRAIN with Ronit Novak at thegrainai.substack.com/subscribe

The past year brought a wave of AI news that had major impact on the creative industry. In this roundup episode, it’s me on the mic, giving you my roundup of the biggest news events of 2024 and how they impacted our creative world. Plus, my grains of thought on how these topics will evolve. For more info on the stories in this episode...AI vs. News and Media* Who's suing AI and who's signing: Publisher deals vs. lawsuits with generative AI companies [Press Gazette]* The new Person of the Year chatbot explained [Time Magazine]AI vs. Film* What is Sora for? Commentary by Alex Kantrowitz [The Wrap]* What if AI is actually good for Hollywood? [New York Times Magazine]AI vs. Music* Viral 'BBL Drizzy' AI Drake diss track company gets sued [CNN]* 'BBL Drizzy' foretold the future of AI music [Wired]AI vs. Climate* AI wants more data. More chips. More real estate. More power. More water. More everything [Bloomberg Markets]* Will AI save the planet? Why the evidence is flawed [The Conversation]AI vs. the United States of America* How Trump's new 'AI czar' David Sacks went from MAGA critic to true believer [NBC News]* 1 in 6 congresswomen targeted by AI-generated sexually explicit deepfakes [Gizmodo]AI vs. Reality* Why doesn't Facebook just ban AI slop like Shrimp Jesus? [Business Insider]* 'Brain rot': Oxford word of the year 2024 reflects 'trivial' use of social media [The Guardian]Stay tuned for a special episode of THE GRAIN Podcast: Ask an AI Ethicist. Send your questions and we’ll present them to Cindy Pham, who’s worked on artificial intelligence ethics at companies like Scotiabank and Sony. [email protected] news and insights on how AI is impacting the creative industry, sign up for THE GRAIN Newsletter.Read more about THE GRAIN at this link and get in touch at [email protected] @thegrain.ai on Instagram and LinkedIn and Substack. Get full access to THE GRAIN with Ronit Novak at thegrainai.substack.com/subscribe

Click here to catch up on Part 1 of my conversation with Stephen Marche.Listen now to THE GRAIN with Ronit Novak, as I continue my series of podcast probes into the pleasure and peril of AI and the future of creativity—recorded at Made Human Studios in the Little Jamaica neighbourhood of Toronto, Canada.Part 2 of my conversation with Stephen Marche delves deeper into the mysteries unknown potential of AI and what that means for creativity. Our conversation expanded my mind, and I think it will for you too. Here are links for further research into some of the topics we discussed:* Was Linguistic AI Created by Accident? [The New Yorker]Marche’s 2024 article about what the ‘T’ in GPT stands for and why AI researchers are still baffled by it.* Lawmakers passing the buck on non-consensual sexually explicit deepfakes are running out of time. [THE GRAIN]My grain of thought from this past summer on the increasing prevalence of sexually explicit deepfakes, the damage they cause, and what can be done to stop them.* The Filmmaker Who Says AI is Reparations. [Wired]Willonius Hatcher argues that AI is a form of equity for struggling artists who lack access to big studios, budgets, and connections.Stay tuned for AI vs. 2024, a podcast roundup of the AI newsmaker moments that impacted the creative industry in this past year, along with my grains of thought on what’s in store for 2025.For news and insights on how AI is impacting the creative industry, sign up for THE GRAIN Newsletter.Read more about THE GRAIN at this link and get in touch at [email protected] @thegrain.ai on Instagram and LinkedIn and Substack. Get full access to THE GRAIN with Ronit Novak at thegrainai.substack.com/subscribe

Listen now to THE GRAIN with Ronit Novak, as I continue my series of podcast probes into the pleasure and peril of AI and the future of creativity—recorded at Made Human Studios in the Little Jamaica neighbourhood of Toronto, Canada.Links to some stuff we talk about…* Death of an Author. Stephen Marche’s AI generated novella [Pushkin]Using ChatGPT and Cohere’s LLM models, this provocative literary work blends human creativity with AI-generated prose.* We’re Witnessing the Birth of a New Artistic Medium [The Atlantic]While experimenting with negative weighted prompts, Swedish musician Supercomposite inadvertently created Loab, one of the most novel and disturbing AI generated images yet.* Jenny Holzer: Light Line exhibition [Guggenheim New York]This landmark artist fragments and re-contextualizes text to create new meanings that bend space, history, and truth. Stay tuned for AI vs Meaning with Stephen Marche Part 2, and for my grains of thought about literature and language in the newsletter.Coming this month, a podcast roundup of newsmaker AI moments that impacted the creative industry in 2024, and what’s in store for 2025. Read more about THE GRAIN at this link and get in touch at [email protected] @thegrain.ai on Instagram and LinkedIn and Substack. Get full access to THE GRAIN with Ronit Novak at thegrainai.substack.com/subscribe

Creative professionals, including those of us in media, have become accustomed to hearing that our jobs may soon be replaced by artificial intelligence.Ronit Novak’s new podcast THE GRAIN is encouraging honest conversations in the creative community—from filmmakers to those in advertising, design and photography – about the impact of AI on their careers.She joins this episode of Broadcast Dialogue—The Podcast from Made Human Studios in Toronto’s Little Jamaica to talk about why creatives need to start talking openly about AI and the future of creativity. Get full access to THE GRAIN with Ronit Novak at thegrainai.substack.com/subscribe

Listen now to THE GRAIN with Ronit Novak, as I continue my series of podcast probes into the pleasure and peril of AI and the future of creativity—recorded at Made Human Studios in the Little Jamaica neighbourhood of Toronto, Canada.Links to some stuff we talk about…* Una Janićijević’s art and design website [unaart.com]She engages with collaborators and communities to tell compelling stories and champion underrepresented narratives* How the sparkles emoji became the symbol of our AI future [Wall Street Journal]“From a design perspective, the sparkle in my mind is meant to feel like magic, and that is what AI feels like”* Why does AI art look like that? [The Atlantic]Ironically, all of these explanations suggest that the uncanny scenes we associate with AI-generated imagery are actually a reflection of our own human preferences, taken to an extremeStay tuned for further grains of thought about art and design in the newsletter.Read more about THE GRAIN at this link and get in touch at [email protected] should also follow @thegrain.ai on Instagram and LinkedIn and Substack. Get full access to THE GRAIN with Ronit Novak at thegrainai.substack.com/subscribe

Listen now to THE GRAIN with Ronit Novak, as I continue my series of podcast probes into the pleasure and peril of AI and the future of creativity—recorded at Made Human Studios in the Little Jamaica neighbourhood of Toronto, Canada.Links to some stuff we talk about…* Sora: First Impressions with the debut of ‘Air Head’ by Shy Kids [OpenAI]”What excites us is its ability to make things that are totally surreal. A new era of abstract expressionism”* What Sora AI-generated videos look like combined with real-world actors and locations [No Film School]A look at how ‘Deflated’ by Shy Kids combined generative AI with traditional filmmaking* Pressman Film developing Shy Kids’ ‘AUTOBiOGRAPHY’ [Deadline]When this compassionate AI connects with the internet the exponential expansion of its cognition leads to an existential crisis that propels it on a spiritual journey of self-discoveryStay tuned for further grains of thought about filmmaking in the newsletter.Read more about THE GRAIN at this link and get in touch at [email protected] should also follow @thegrain.ai on Instagram and LinkedIn and Substack. Get full access to THE GRAIN with Ronit Novak at thegrainai.substack.com/subscribe

Listen now to THE GRAIN with Ronit Novak, as I build my series of podcast probes into the pleasure and peril of AI and the future of creativity—recorded at Made Human Studios in the Little Jamaica neighbourhood of Toronto, Canada.Links to some stuff we talk about…* Ian Mackenzie takes creative reins at McCann Worldgroup [Campaign Canada]Mackenzie oversees all creative work for the network’s creative operations in Canada—and serves as McCann’s global AI creative lead* How the ad industry Is making AI images look less like AI [Wall Street Journal]“It’s a back-and-forth conversation with technology and technology experts, but against a unifying and evolving creative vision that really involves layers,” said Ian Mackenzie* The evolution (and navigation) of the ‘Black Elevation Map’ [Strategy]It reveals where Black-owned businesses and cultural institutions are most likely to be present or absentStay tuned for further grains of thought about advertising in the newsletter.Read more about THE GRAIN at this link and get in touch at [email protected] should also follow @thegrain.ai on Instagram and LinkedIn and Substack. Get full access to THE GRAIN with Ronit Novak at thegrainai.substack.com/subscribe

THE GRAIN host Ronit Novak talks photography with Boris Eldagsen and Miles Astray, two international image artists whose recent contest pranks sparked debate on what makes a photograph real. Get full access to THE GRAIN with Ronit Novak at thegrainai.substack.com/subscribe

Check out the fresh trailer ahead of the first four weekly episodes starting October 8. And stay subscribed to THE GRAIN on Substack (and beyond!) for discourse about the pleasure and peril of AI and the future of creativity.Read the press release with details on upcoming episodes.I'm Ronit Novak. I'm an art director and photo editor. I'm a mentor, a teacher, a writer, and I'm a public speaker. Just like you, I've been increasingly curious about the conversations surrounding creativity and artificial intelligence.I wonder about the impact it will have on my career in the creative industry and everyone else's. I created THE GRAIN to be a platform for meaningful conversations with critical thinkers and to share them with you. The AI world is full of opportunists who are saying that there is a better, cheaper way to do what creatives do.It's leading artists to freak out about losing their jobs. I want those artists to stop and think, to stabilize, and to remind themselves of their inherent creative value. THE GRAIN is for creative industry professionals, schemers and dreamers, and anyone who wants to think about the evolution of our endeavours.Whether you're a consumer or producer—or on both sides of that fence—there's no better time to share than when change is in the air. I can't pretend to know what's going to happen in the future, but I'm keeping tabs on what's happening today. I'm reading articles every day, and I'm writing down my insights and grains of thought that you'll get in a weekly newsletter. You'll read in my newsletters and hear in my podcast that THE GRAIN is not about threats or trinkets or tech. It's about the shared experience of adapting to a new era.THE GRAIN is not a sales pitch and is not hyping new AI tech developments. It's human-made, with real people telling their stories. Listen to THE GRAIN wherever you get podcasts for in-person conversations with industry experts recorded at Made Human Studios in Toronto. Subscribe to THE GRAIN newsletter for regular updates on how artificial intelligence is impacting our creative industry.Read the press release with details on upcoming episodes. Get full access to THE GRAIN with Ronit Novak at thegrainai.substack.com/subscribe