THE GRAIN: AI vs. Creativity

PODCAST: AI vs. Inspiration—Marian Bantjes

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 [https://marianbantjes.com/] [Personal website; Design Art Gallery] * AI: Part 1 [https://bantjes.substack.com/p/ai-part-1] [Substack, Marian Bantjes] * Jonathan Hoefler [https://jonathanhoefler.com/] [Typographer] * Rodney Brooks [https://rodneybrooks.com/] https://rodneybrooks.com/[Roboticist] * Douglas Coupland [https://coupland.com/] [Artist] * Stuart Semple [https://stuartsemple.com/project/black-v1-0-beta-worlds-mattest-flattest-black-art-material/] https://stuartsemple.com/project/black-v1-0-beta-worlds-mattest-flattest-black-art-material/[Black 2.0 paint] * Edel Rodriguez [https://www.instagram.com/edelrodriguezstudio/?hl=en] [Illustrator] Subscribe to support THE GRAIN Listen, 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 [https://www.youtube.com/@THEGRAIN-AI]. Subscribe to THE GRAIN Newsletter [http://thegrainai.substack.com/], for deep dives on how AI is impacting creative industries right now. Read more about THE GRAIN and our upcoming live events at t [https://www.thegrain.ai/]hegrain.ai [https://www.thegrain.ai/] Reach me at ronit@thegrain.ai [ronit@thegrain.ai] Follow me on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/ronit_novak], LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronitnovak/] and TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@thegrain.ai] Get full access to THE GRAIN with Ronit Novak at thegrainai.substack.com/subscribe [https://thegrainai.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

PODCAST: AI vs. Photography—Heather Morton and Rob Haggart

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 Surve [https://hmphotoprof.substack.com/]y [Substack, Heather Morton] * HM Photo Prof [https://www.instagram.com/hmphotoprof/] [Instagram, Heather Morton] * APhotoEditor.com [https://www.aphotoeditor.com/] [Blog, Rob Haggart] * APhotoEditor [https://www.instagram.com/aphotoeditor/] [Instagram, Rob Haggart] Subscribe to support THE GRAIN Listen, 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 [https://www.youtube.com/@THEGRAIN-AI]. Subscribe to THE GRAIN Newsletter [http://thegrainai.substack.com/], for deep dives on how AI is impacting creative industries right now. Read more about THE GRAIN and our upcoming live events at t [https://www.thegrain.ai/]hegrain.ai [https://www.thegrain.ai/] Reach me at ronit@thegrain.ai [ronit@thegrain.ai] Follow me on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/ronit_novak], LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronitnovak/] and TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@thegrain.ai] Get full access to THE GRAIN with Ronit Novak at thegrainai.substack.com/subscribe [https://thegrainai.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

PODCAST: AI vs. Freedom of Information—Ian Krietzberg

Ian Krietzberg is one of the clearest, most grounded voices covering AI today. As the AI correspondent at Puck [https://puck.news/], 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 [https://puck.news/newsletters/the-hidden-layer/] [Puck] * The AI Mirror: How to Reclaim Our Humanity in an Age of Machine Thinki [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/197812306-the-ai-mirror]ng [Shannon Vallor] * Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman’s OpenAI [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/222725518-empire-of-ai?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=0t8nAHudLZ&rank=1] [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 [https://www.youtube.com/@THEGRAIN-AI]. Stay tuned for my grains of thought in the newsletter [http://thegrainai.substack.com/], for news and insights on how AI is impacting the creative industry worldwide. Read more about THE GRAIN at thegrain.ai [https://www.thegrain.ai/] and get in touch with me at ronit@thegrain.ai [ronit@thegrain.ai]. You can also follow me on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/ronit_novak], LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronitnovak/] and TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@thegrain.ai]. Get full access to THE GRAIN with Ronit Novak at thegrainai.substack.com/subscribe [https://thegrainai.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

PODCAST: AI vs. Media—Sarah Thompson

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 [https://www.thegrain.ai/events]. Links of stuff we talked about… * Canadian Media Means Business [https://www.canadianmediameansbusiness.ca/] [report] * Task Force on Canada’s AI Strategy [https://ised-isde.canada.ca/site/isde/fr/consultations-publiques/aidez-definir-prochain-chapitre-leadership-canada-matiere-dia] [public engagement sprint] * Glassroom [https://www.glassroom.ca/] [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 [https://www.youtube.com/@THEGRAIN-AI]. Stay tuned for my grains of thought in the newsletter [http://thegrainai.substack.com/], for news and insights on how AI is impacting the creative industry worldwide. Read more about THE GRAIN at thegrain.ai [https://www.thegrain.ai/] and get in touch with me at ronit@thegrain.ai [ronit@thegrain.ai]. You can also follow me on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/ronit_novak], LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronitnovak/] and TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@thegrain.ai]. Get full access to THE GRAIN with Ronit Novak at thegrainai.substack.com/subscribe [https://thegrainai.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

PODCAST: AI vs. Dreams—Dr. Maya Ackerman

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 [https://maya-ackerman.com/] [personal website] * Creative Machines: AI, Art & Us [https://www.amazon.com/Creative-Machines-Future-Human-Creativity/dp/1394316267] by Dr. Maya Ackerman [published by Wiley] * WaveAI [https://wave-ai.net/] [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 [https://www.youtube.com/@THEGRAIN-AI]. Stay tuned for my grains of thought in the newsletter [http://thegrainai.substack.com/], for news and insights on how AI is impacting the creative industry worldwide. Read more about THE GRAIN at thegrain.ai [https://www.thegrain.ai/] and get in touch with me at ronit@thegrain.ai [ronit@thegrain.ai]. You can also follow me on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/ronit_novak], LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronitnovak/] and TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@thegrain.ai]. Get full access to THE GRAIN with Ronit Novak at thegrainai.substack.com/subscribe [https://thegrainai.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]