The Brinternet Newsletter: May 2025
"Dance like you don’t have a body / Dance like your heart can’t race"
Recently, I was in Amsterdam at the AIxDesign Fest. It was a beautiful few days, and the kind of event that felt small and weird enough to feel exciting. If you're not familiar with AIxDesign, it's a refreshing alternative to accelerationist techbro AI discourse. It always feels good to be around people who think about technology critically and who relish the opportunity to use it for the wildest, most creative applications possible.
One of the highlights at the festival was an AI film festival. Which is such an interesting question in and of itself. What do the words "AI Film Festival" even mean? Is it generative AI or machine learning? Does the AI edit or write or make the music? Is it thematically about AI or does it make the imagery? The answer is: yes. Also: no. It depends on the film!
I hadn't realized until then that AI Film is a convergence of all my research questions around the creative industries and artificial intelligence. Yes, I am very worried about tech and media companies' desires to slash costs and eliminate jobs. Having seen the rise of the gig economy, I have no doubt that large companies will continue to operate with no shred of economic or ethical stewardship for anyone but their shareholders.
And I am very interested in AI's ability to add complexity, craft and timeliness to the ways we make art and entertainment. We've seen how technologies like digital fabrication, game engines, and physical computing have drastically shifted how we create. (And don't forget technologies like photography and electricity, too.) But does that mean that technologies are good/effective just because they're new? Hell no! Part of the intrigue of working with AI is seeing how janky, broken, and bad it can be sometimes. (See: Italian Brainrot.)
I'm obsessed with composite practices. That's a term I just made up for the creative workflows that are combinations of stuff, like part digital, part physical. Part software, part human, part pen on paper. There are no technologies that can create worthwhile creative work with the press of a button. There are many idiot hucksters who will try to convince you otherwise. But the work and the art and the exhilaration in the things we love come from process, not from the thing-ness of simply existing.
Some of the films from the festival are available online, like The Wizard of AI by Alan Warburton, Dance Like by Eryk Salvaggio, and Fabien Mosele's Democratizing Synthiola. Thankfully, the artists have spoken/written about how and why AI shows up in each short film. Context adds a lot of value. In the coming months, I'll be doing more research, writing and thinking about AI and creative processes, so share with me your spiciest takes and favorite artworks.
And as a reminder, I'm an executive producer and advisor for immersive experiences and creative technology projects. I'm accepting new clients. You can email me or set up a brainstorming chat here.
LINKS
Did you know that it rained glass? (From Ingrid's delightful newsletter.) This felt like a poem to me. A true, devastating, science poem.
I'm not surprised at all that the Finns are dominating the Dance Your PhD Competition.
"He's all over the place, but he ain't going nowhere." (I'm such a big fan of Austin Kleon's work, and his work about work!)
The comedian Tim Robinson is SO funny and I am so annoyed that his new film Friendship doesn't have a UK release date yet. It's supposed to be very funny!
NFC chips in your off-the-shelf-acrylic set. Tap to slaaaayyy!
I'm looking forward to playing lily's world XD and Building Relationships (a dating sim where you play as a building).
That's all for now, until next time!