Creativity Squared: On Creativity and Freedom

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Dear Creativity Squared Member,

For those in the states: Happy 4th of July!

I hope this finds you unplugging and enjoying time with those you love and care about it this holiday.

As we celebrate our Independence Day, I’m reminded of this quote from Yemi A.D. in Episode 49:

I think about this quote often since we’re on the precipice of the next great transition in human history. With how powerful A.I. is, we’re leaving the Information Age and entering the Imagination Age, where whatever we can envision and communicate can be brought to life.

How are we going to co-create the future we want to live in and not repeat the patterns of the past? At this moment in time, we need the freedom to be creative more than ever before to break away from what hasn’t worked.

I’ve said often that we cannot be what we cannot see. So this 4th of July, as we’re looking up to be mesmerized by the fireworks or drone shows, may the magic of what’s possible stay with us — may we give ourselves permission to dream and play in the playground of possibility.

Despite the heaviness that’s in the world, what are the most fun and joyful ideas we can explore together?

Next week, we’ll return with a new Creativity Squared episode, and don’t worry — we still have your news round-up.

Scroll on to discover:

• 📆 Calendar of Events: A.I. Conferences & Events Radar

• 🤯 A.I. + Creativity News Roundup

• 🎧 More on Episode 54

• 👯‍♀️ Apply to Join the Clone Club

• 💎 Creativity Squared Premium Member Benefits

• 💝 Milestone Rewards

• ❤️‍🔥 Premium Members: Episode NFT

We’re just getting started, and if you enjoy our content, I’d really appreciate it if you could share, review, like, subscribe, leave a comment, and help spread the word about Creativity Squared in whatever way you’re willing to. Your support is greatly appreciated, and the whole team looks forward to growing with your help. Thank you!

Here's to exponential possibilities!

Helen

Helen Todd (she/her)
Human behind Creativity Squared
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How creatives are collaborating with A.I.

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📆 A.I. CONFERENCE & EVENTS RADAR

JULY 9 CincyAI Meetup, Cincinnati (Co-Host)

JULY 16-18 Black Tech Week, Cincinnati (Speaker)

JULY 18-19 Data 4 Public Good, Minneapolis (Speaker)

AUGUST 6 CincyAI Meetup, Cincinnati (Co-Host)

SEPTEMBER 4-6: MidwestCon, Cincinnati (Speaker)

SEPTEMBER 10-12: Marketing AI Conference (MAICON), Cleveland (Speaker)

NOVEMBER 20: Columbus AI Summit by OhioX, Columbus

Interested in having me speak at your event? Reach out!

Your A.I. + Creativity News Roundup

With all of the A.I. news flooding our feeds and screens, we’ve got you covered. News to check out includes:

Figma disables its AI design feature that appeared to be ripping off Apple's Weather app TechCrunch — Figma CEO Dylan Field said they disabled a new "Make Design" A.I. feature after accusations that it was copying Apple's Weather app. Field says the feature, which generates UI layouts and components from text prompts, will undergo a quality assurance audit before being re-enabled. Figma attributed the copycat issue to the underlying design systems and a lack of quality assurance.

The Center for Investigative Reporting is suing OpenAI and Microsoft The Verge — CIR jumps into the legal fray with peers like The New York Times after filing suit against OpenAI and Microsoft over alleged copyright infringement. CIR claims that the named companies copied content, undermined relationships, and deprived it of revenue. Some media organizations have signed licensing deals with OpenAI, but CIR argues that they never entered such a deal. OpenAI and Microsoft have yet to respond in court. 

AI Music Generation Tools Face Major Lawsuits from Recording Industry The Artificial Intelligence Show (from Marketing AI Institute) — The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) filed major lawsuits against A.I. music generation companies Suno AI and the developer of Udio, alleging that the apps unlawfully train their A.I. models on copyrighted recordings. The suit seeks compensation up to $150,000 per infringed work. The companies argue that copyrighted sound is only used for training and that they’ve implemented filters to prevent the models outputting protected work. The case could set a precedent as the rules around A.I.-generated music are developed.

AI trains on kids’ photos even when parents use strict privacy settings Ars Technica — Photos of real children, even when posted with strict privacy settings, are being used to train A.I. models without their knowledge or consent. Human Rights Watch discovered that photos of children are being linked in A.I. datasets, potentially enabling the creation of realistic deepfakes. The dataset can even include identifying information about some children. HRW’s report highlights how the job of protecting children from A.I. goes further than battling deepfakes. 

YouTube Now Lets You Request the Removal of AI Content That Impersonates You Futurism — YouTube now allows users to request the removal of A.I.-generated content that impersonates their appearance or voice. Removal isn’t guaranteed, however, as YouTube will consider factors such as A.I. content labels, the degree of resemblance, and how realistic the content appears. YouTube also considers parody, satire, and public interest as potential exemptions. Enforcement strategy is to be determined, considering YouTube's involvement in A.I.-related projects.

Google falling short of important climate target, cites electricity needs of AI NBC News — Google is off-track to achieve "net zero" by 2030, with emissions growing 13% in 2023 and soaring 48% compared to 2019. The company blames power-hungry A.I. systems and data centers for missing projections. Experts suggest that Google isn’t alone as demand for compute and data storage broadly threaten the transition to clean electricity. 

A new initiative for developing third-party model evaluations Anthropic — Anthropic introduced a new initiative to fund the development of new testing standards for rapidly advancing A.I. models. The initiative’s focus is threefold: A.I. Safety Level assessments, advanced capability and safety metrics, and infrastructure, tools, and methods for developing evaluations. Anthropic is seeking evaluations that measure A.I. Safety Levels, assess advanced model capabilities, and provide tools to streamline evaluation development. The initiative comes after multiple high-profile criticisms of competitor OpenAI’s safety practices. 

Perplexity’s ‘Pro Search’ AI upgrade makes it better at math and research The Verge — Perplexity launched a major upgrade to its Pro Search AI tool, which now has improved capabilities in math, programming, and research. It can break down complex queries and provide detailed answers. The upgrade comes as Perplexity faces accusations of providing answers riddled with plagiarism and inaccurate content from unreliable sources. Recent reports also claim that Perplexity’s web crawler bypasses privacy measures to collect protected data.

Listen: Ep54. The A.I. Midwest Prompt
Level Up Your A.I. & Marketing with the Marketing AI Institute’s Cathy McPhillips #MAICON

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“We are not trying to have A.I. replace anything in particular. We're looking at A.I. to augment some of the things we're doing so we can be more human, more creative, and do the things we love doing.”

-Cathy McPhillips

Episode 54’s guest is Cathy McPhillips, the Chief Growth Officer at the Marketing AI Institute, where she leads efforts to make artificial intelligence accessible to businesses of all sizes. With decades of marketing experience, she has worked in Cleveland's advertising agencies, owned a strategic digital marketing business, and led marketing for the Content Marketing Institute and the No Kid Hungry campaign. She has been recognized as one of Folio's Top Women in Media and a MarTechExec Woman You Need to Know in Martech.

At the Marketing AI Institute, known for its educational content and events like the MAICON conference, Cathy plays a key role in the Responsible A.I. movement, which aims to enhance rather than replace human creativity. The conversation highlights how A.I. is transforming marketing, especially in content creation, while addressing ethical and legal considerations. Cathy emphasizes the need for marketers to embrace A.I. and maintain a balance between A.I. efficiency and human creativity.

Listen to today’s episode to learn more about the evolving role of creativity in the age of A.I. and learn tips on using A.I. tools effectively. Tune in to discover what it means to Midwest Prompt and enjoy a deep dive into the intersection of A.I. and marketing!

Check out the full conversation with Cathy for Episode 54 today.

Digitally Clone Yourself!
The Avatar Experience Cincinnati

👯‍♀️ Ready to be digitally cloned? Get your own custom synthetic avatar! Creativity Squared is collaborating with our partner and sponsor, Render, to bring The Avatar Experience to Cincinnati, OH, on October 25 and 26 at ADC Fine Art Gallery (1013 York St. Cincinnati, OH 45214). Digitally clone yourself to unlock streamlined and dynamic video content — Book your cloning appointment today!

There are less than a thousand known hyper-realistic custom synthetic avatars in existence, so participants will be at the forefront of this groundbreaking A.I. technology. Custom synthetic avatars are part of a massive and growing digital avatar market and is projected to be $270B by 2030.

Custom synthetic avatars can be used for creating:

• Dynamic online course instruction

• Streamlined SEO video production of blog or audio-only content

• Turnkey social media and email marketing video content

• Engaging customer service messaging

• And more!

👯‍♀️ In case you missed the announcement, I’ve digitally cloned myself! Learn all about mine in episode E14. Not Deepfaked! I Cloned Myself. You’ll meet Helen 2.ODD, my digital double, and discover why and how I made my A.I.-created custom synthetic avatar.

Thank You to Render

Creativity Squared is supported by Render which provides Digital Likeness solutions for personal brand businesses, thought leaders, influencers, and business leaders who want to leverage their synthetic, A.I.-powered Likeness to communicate more effectively online and create audio and video content from anywhere without going on camera. Learn more by visiting: https://rendermedia.ai.

Interested in partnering with Creativity Squared? Reach out!

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