Creative Machines

Britt Wray wrote a book about de-extinction, or should that be ‘necrofauna’? We discuss what de-extinction means and if it’s even possible to bring back an extinct species. Either way, the tools researchers are developing, such as CRISPR-Cas9, are heralding a new era of synthetic biology, where we can manipulate nature towards our own needs. The question is: should we?

We get into the nature of technological progress in general, examining the mindsets that of the researchers chasing their dreams (and funding) and what it means that humans want to ‘undo’ our mistakes with technology. Creative Machines is recorded live and produced by David Angell at Giant Sound Toronto.

Britt Wray recently completed a PhD in science communication at the University of Copenhagen, where she’s also been hosting TEDx (Britt’s also given a TED Talk or two). Britt is the host of the BBC podcast Tomorrow’s World and has also hosted Quirks and Quarks for the CBC. Her book, Rise of the Necrofauna: The Science, Ethics, and Risks of De-Extinction, was published in 2017 by Greystone Books and the David Suzuki Institute. The foreword is by the pre-eminent gene-editing expert George Church.

Visit brittwray.com to learn more about Britt and watch her talks. Britt’s on instagram and twitter @brittwray.

Visit us at machinespodcast.com. If you have questions, are interested in being on Creative Machines or know someone who should be, email us at [email protected]. FInd us on instagram and twitter @machinespodcast.

Advertisers finally know what we, us, the individuals actually want. It’s creepy but also kinda useful. Award winning creative director and futurist Dré Labre talks us through the ways new technology is giving advertisers more of what they’ve always wanted (our money).

We leave our data everywhere; we let our phones listen in on our conversations, we even tell our smart devices exactly what we’re into and we use ‘free’ social media accounts to literally tell advertisers what we ‘like’. Not only has this led to targeted advertising, it might also be changing the way we think of our privacy. That’s just the beginning. Imagine a world where entire cities are turned into interactive, augmented reality adverts during a major sporting event; facial recognition billboards know how you’re reacting to them and react back; products are targeted to your own personal genome. We discuss all this, plus a quick look at the wild world of deepfakes (including some positive takes); some campaigns that have put social change at the top of their agenda (especially those that target packaging waste); and ways advertising can change for the better. Recorded live and produced by David Angell at Giant Sound Toronto.

Dré Labre won numerous awards during his time as a creative director at Rethink Canada. He once placed Molson beer fridges all around the world that could only be opened when someone sang the whole of Oh, Canada! into them. Since leaving Rethink he’s founded TBD.company, where he uses science fiction as a tool to help companies reach their long term visions.

Follow Dré Labre on twitter @drelabre

Follow Creative Machines on twitter @machinespodcast

Do you want to be a guest or know someone who should be? Email us at [email protected]

Our co-hosts go off topic for a quick look at some of the issues raised in the series. Pietro discusses his 'dynamic film' and the highs and lows of founding his new company, Transitional Forms; we look into what Oculus Rift creator Palmer Luckey has been up to since being fired by Facebook ('Turning soldiers into superheroes...'); and weigh in on the Facebook/Twitter political ads debate. Recorded live by David Angell at Giant Sound Toronto.

Biohacking, transhumanism, Silicon Valley bros… just some of the subjects we discuss with award-winning documentary filmmaker Ann Shin. After discussing why VR hasn’t quite realized its potential as the ‘ultimate empathy machine’, we explore a range of future-facing topics. This episode is really about what it means to be human in a time when technology is changing the way we see ourselves. Big data is giving us an unprecedented insight into our own bodies; even our thought processes and emotions are being processed into predictive algorithms. How do our philosophies change in the wake of this, when everything about ourselves might soon be known in gloriously boring detail? Some people are so enthralled by the oncoming artificial intelligence revolution that they’re forming a spiritual relationship with it; AI as God. Meanwhile, some folks are out there eating cereal bowls full of pills and ‘smart drugs’ every day, in a bid to maximise their biological potential. Others are even looking to ‘upgrade’ humanity by adding hardware or even exploring brain/computer interfaces. But don’t worry, Elon Musk has a plan. Several, actually.

This episode was recorded live by David Angell at Giant Sound Toronto.

Ann is the founder of Fathom, making award winning documentaries such as Defector: Escape From North Korea and My Enemy; My Brother. Recently, she’s produced Smart Drugs, following a biohacker’s attempts to upgrade themselves. Follow Fathom on twitter.

Ross Bullen, Assistant Professor of English at OCAD University in Toronto, joins us on this episode. Ross teaches a course on Science Fiction, and might have read or seen every scifi ever made. He talks us through the history of science fiction, from Frankenstein (and before) up until modern cult films and current authors; we’ll have our minds blown by examples of scifi authors predicting the future with time-machine level accuracy (and all the weird ways they didn’t). Ross will give his opinions on why there’s so often more dystopia written than utopia, and whether he has any hope that science fiction might be the thing that saves us from ourselves. And we all weigh in on our favorite books and movies and why they captured our imagination. Also: maybe it’s best not to let the aliens know we’re here? Recorded live at Giant Sound in Toronto.

Aaron interviews co-host Pietro Gagliano about his story with technology. In this pilot episode they discuss Pietro's early lego movies; why Avatar changed film forever; how a company Pietro co-founded won the first ever Emmy for a VR project; and how 'immersive content' is changing our relationship with entertainment. They end by discussing a topic that will be revisited throughout the series: the technological singularity, what it might mean for humanity and how we keep the algorithms on our side. What even is an AI algorithm, anyway? Recorded live at Giant Sound Toronto.