Creativity Squared: On Fostering Safe Online Spaces for Creativity to Flourish

Dear Creativity Squared Member,

In the age of A.I., can you imagine a world without online harms?

Today, I’m honored to be at the Content Authenticity Initiative Symposium 2023, which is dedicated to bringing trust to digital content in the age of artificial intelligence. Hosted by Adobe, the CAI, and Stanford University, the symposium is bringing together leading A.I. developers, technologists, human rights experts, and academics to discuss the implications of A.I.-driven misinformation and drive collective action on techniques to address it, including watermarking and the C2PA Content Credentials global standard. Stay tuned for my top takeaways!

Episode 31’s guest is Maya Daver-Massion who is also working at the forefront of helping make the internet a safer and more creative space.

Maya is the Head of Online Safety at PUBLIC, a London-based digital transformation partner committed to helping the public sector turn innovative ideas into practical solutions. She is an Online Safety subject matter expert, having worked with the public and private sectors to tackle harms including online child sexual abuse and exploitation, gender-based violence, human rights violations, and more. Maya helps clients build evidence on key policy and regulatory challenges, identify targeted interventions, and design products to help empower and safeguard individuals online. Maya is driven by her passion for keeping vulnerable populations safe online and her commitment to making the internet a safer place for all. 

Today’s topic is one that A.I. greatly impacts, and that’s online harms. While it’s a bit of a different direction than most shows we do at the intersection of creativity and A.I., creative solutions and emerging safety tech are crucial for building safer online spaces. It’s important to understand both the amazing creativity that A.I. unlocks and also to be aware of the potential risks from bad actors, and that’s what today’s conversation is about. 

Listen to Episode 31 to understand the need for continuous effort, innovation, and cooperation to foster safer online environments. Awareness and education are important; you’ll hear how online harms are defined and impact different communities. Maya discusses the role of generative A.I. and emerging technologies in both exacerbating and helping solve the issues related to security and online safety. You’ll also get an international view of the regulatory landscape and tips on what you can do on an individual level. When it comes to building safe and creative online spaces, discover why the future is collaborative — enjoy!

Check out Episode 31 today! 

For anyone in the San Francisco area, join me this Friday, December 8, for a happy hour to geek out about all things creativity and artificial intelligence — RSVP here! Some podcast guests will be there to say hello to as well. 🥳

Our third and last CincyAI Meetup for 2023 is next Tuesday, December 12, from 3-5pm at the UC Digital Futures building. RSVP today!  

CincyAI is the largest A.I. meetup in the region, and it’s also the start of a vibrant, supportive community. At CincyAI, we believe in the power of collective wisdom to drive the A.I. revolution forward. Don’t miss your chance to be a part of this dynamic community where the whole is not just greater, but exponential in its impact.

Scroll on to discover:

• 🥸 “Another Body” & the Disturbing Rise of Deepfakes

• 📆 Calendar of Events: A.I. Conference Radar + Cincy A.I. Events

• 🎧 More on Episode 31

• 🤯 A.I. + Creativity News Roundup

• 👯‍♀️ Apply to Join the Clone Club

• 💎 Creativity Squared Premium Member Benefits

• 💝 Milestone Rewards

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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CreativitySquared.com
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How creatives are collaborating with A.I.

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📆 A.I. CONFERENCE RADAR

😎 APRIL 5-9 — If you’re looking for what A.I. events to attend next year, do add the Texas Eclipse Festival to your list! On April 8, 2024, there will be a total solar eclipse. The festival, taking place April 5-9 at Reveille Ranch in Burnet, TX (outside of Austin), will bring people together from all over the world to celebrate the 4 minutes of totality amidst music, immersive art, tech talks, wellness activations, and so much more.

I can’t wait to be on stage there to talk all things A.I., avatars, and synthetic media alongside so many talented people and artists, including Alex & Allyson Grey, Android Jones, and Chris Dyer.

🤠 MARCH 8-15 — I’ll be back in Austin for SXSW in March for its Interactive Conference which starts on March 8, and will be staying for their A.I. track which is March 11-15. Let me know if you’ll be there — would love to say hi IRL! If you missed the episode with Hugh Forrest, SXSW Co-President & Chief Programming Officer, check it out here!

📆 CALENDAR OF A.I. EVENTS: CINCY

For those local in Cincinnati, join these upcoming A.I. events. 🥳 

👩‍🏫 DEC 7 - Hosted by Tensure, “Plotting Your Course with Generative AI” will take place on December 7 from 2-4pm at Morton’s Steakhouse in OTR. Join to discover how GenAI can be more than just a buzzword—it can be a transformative force for your business. Sign up here.

🤝 DEC 12 - Join me and others interested in all things A.I. at the CincyAI Meetup for Humans, cohosted by Creativity Squared, on Tuesday, December 12, at the UC Digital Futures building from 3-5pm ET. Sign up now!

✏️ FEB 2 - Save the date for February 2 because the women’s network Ellevate is teaming up with IBM for an afternoon of A.I. programming here in Cincinnati. More details to come!

Looking forward to meeting those who can make it in person and geeking out about all things A.I. and creativity!

Listen: E31. A.I & Safe Online Spaces:
How Creativity & Collaboration Address the Complexities of Online Harms with Maya Daver-Massion, the Head of Online Safety at PUBLIC

Apple | Spotify | YouTube | Pandora | Amazon | Google | SoundCloud | iHeart Radio

Here are some of the team’s standout quotes from Episode 31’s guest Maya Daver-Massion:

“Online harms can be exacerbated through A.I., and they can also be prevented through A.I.”

“There's no real set definition or taxonomy of online harms, as harms really manifest in so many different ways, and for so many different communities.”

“Harm types are evolving in the same way that technologies are evolving. So you really have to have the finger on the pulse constantly to know what the key challenges are.”

“As these massive markets are enforcing regulation, there will be spillover effects, because ultimately, these platforms are predominantly sitting in these markets as well. So it's not only impacting their user base, but it’s impacting their headquarters.”

“There are different technologies that could be used to best intervene and block certain content. But how are you able to use those technologies, while also enabling private spaces?”

“I think that's a really beautiful way that you can take the resources that are already made available from civil society organizations working directly with individuals to understand their needs, and build it out on larger scale platforms, in the unfortunate event that someone needs it.”

“You have a lot more power, just in your knowledge of being an online citizen, than you may know. And it’s about reinforcing that power through some of the resources that are already made available.”

Check out the full interview with tips on being a safe digital citizen: 

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:

Sam Altman explains being fired and rehired by OpenAI The Verge — After surviving an attempted ouster as CEO of OpenAI, Sam Altman says he’s only looking forward. Altman isn’t saying much about the reasons behind the pre-Thanksgiving saga, only that he’s thankful to be back. OpenAI’s board is conducting an investigation led by new Chairman, Bret Taylor. The Board is also working to redesign OpenAI’s corporate governance. 

 'Data Painter' Refik Anadol Reflects on Historic MoMA AI Art Acquisition Decrypt — The data painter and public digital artist says MoMa acquiring his piece, “Unsupervised – Machine Hallucinations,” in October is recognition “for those who use algorithms, software, hardware, sensors, and AI” to make art. After displaying a massive NFT artwork on the Las Vegas Sphere, he says he still holds hope for the future of web3 and art. 

OpenAI Agreed to Buy $51 Million of AI Chips From a Startup Backed by CEO Sam Altman Wired — Following his near-ouster, new reporting highlights Altman’s network of tech investments as former leader of Y Combinator. Wired reports that Altman’s dismissal was related to his entanglements with other companies. OpenAI reps said that they signed a letter of intent with the A.I. chip startup, Rain, for $51 million of chips but have not taken next steps. A.I. builders are starving for new chip suppliers, as prices from existing producers have skyrocketed with demand. 

Sony Music has issued nearly 10,000 deepfake takedowns… and other things we learned from Dennis Kooker’s speech about AI Music Business Worldwide — Deepfakes are becoming a thorn in the side of recording companies. At a recent Congressional hearing, Sony Music Exec Dennis Kooker, told lawmakers that training A.I. is not fair use of copyrighted material and that the company would fight for compensation for rights holders. Sony is also in talks about investment with over 200 A.I. startups. 

Welcome to the future: AI-generated vocal clones of superstars now available on YouTube Shorts - thanks to Google’s ‘most advanced music generation model to date’ Music Business Worldwide — Certain creators on Youtube have a new A.I. feature to generate songs in the styles of popular artists as background sound for their shorts. Google announced the new “Dream Track” feature as an experiment to test DeepMind’s generative music model, Lyria. 

OpenAI Pushes Back Launch of Custom GPT Store to Early 2024 PYMNTS — GPT builders won’t get to see any revenue-share from OpenAI until after next month. The company says they’re taking more time to improve the GPTs. GPTs building was rolled out to a small test group this Fall. A larger group will initially get access next year, followed by the broader public.  

When AI Unplugs, All Bets Are Off IEEE Spectrum — Smaller A.I. models, run locally on personal devices instead of through the cloud, may be the future of quick and private personal A.I. agents. Smaller A.I. models like Meta’s Llama LLM are cheaper to fine-tune on specific information, able to recall that information more quickly, and light enough to run on consumer chips. 

Trick prompts ChatGPT to leak private dataTechXplore — A study by Google researchers shows that ChatGPT can be jailbroken to reveal private training data by commanding it to repeat certain words.  OpenAI keeps its training data secret especially amidst lawsuits from artists whose works appear in such data verbatim.

Apply to Join the Clone Club 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, by appointment that fits into your schedule. Digitally clone yourself to unlock streamlined and dynamic video content — Apply to be cloned 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.

We look forward to seeing you there!

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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