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 [Personal website; Design Art Gallery]

* AI: Part 1 [Substack, Marian Bantjes]

* Jonathan Hoefler [Typographer]

* Rodney Brooks [Roboticist]

* Douglas Coupland [Artist]

* Stuart Semple [Black 2.0 paint]

* Edel Rodriguez [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.

Subscribe to THE GRAIN Newsletter, for deep dives on how AI is impacting creative industries right now.

Read more about THE GRAIN and our upcoming live events at thegrain.ai Reach me at [email protected] Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok

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 Survey [Substack, Heather Morton]

* HM Photo Prof [Instagram, Heather Morton]

* APhotoEditor.com [Blog, Rob Haggart]

* 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.

Subscribe to THE GRAIN Newsletter, for deep dives on how AI is impacting creative industries right now.

Read more about THE GRAIN and our upcoming live events at thegrain.ai Reach me at [email protected] Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok

Ian Krietzberg is one of the clearest, most grounded voices covering AI today.

As the AI correspondent at Puck, 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 [Puck]

* The AI Mirror: How to Reclaim Our Humanity in an Age of Machine Thinking [Shannon Vallor]

* Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman’s OpenAI [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.

Stay tuned for my grains of thought in the newsletter, for news and insights on how AI is impacting the creative industry worldwide.

Read more about THE GRAIN at thegrain.ai and get in touch with me at [email protected]. You can also follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok.

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.

Links of stuff we talked about…

* Canadian Media Means Business [report]

* Task Force on Canada’s AI Strategy [public engagement sprint]

* Glassroom [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.

Stay tuned for my grains of thought in the newsletter, for news and insights on how AI is impacting the creative industry worldwide.

Read more about THE GRAIN at thegrain.ai and get in touch with me at [email protected]. You can also follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok.

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 [personal website]

* Creative Machines: AI, Art & Us by Dr. Maya Ackerman [published by Wiley]

* WaveAI [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.

Stay tuned for my grains of thought in the newsletter, for news and insights on how AI is impacting the creative industry worldwide.

Read more about THE GRAIN at thegrain.ai and get in touch with me at [email protected]. You can also follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok.

Watch full video version on YouTube: https://youtu.be/_4lleJyYiag?si=fef5DN-gmDX9l5D-Prefer to listen? You’re already in the right place.

The fast fashion industry runs on excess. Too many trends, too much waste, too little accountability.

Sajna Massey is trying to change that—with artificial intelligence.

She’s the founder of Couth Studios, an AI-driven fashion company rethinking how clothes get made, and more importantly, why.

In our conversation, we talk about the pressure to be visible as a founder, the tension between style and sustainability, and how AI can be used not to mass-produce, but to slow things down and put customers in the creator’s chair.

YouTube Video:

(Spotify and Apple Podcasts are audio only)

Links of stuff we talk about …

* Couth Studios [retail website]

* TikTok [Couth Studios]

* Off/Script [Montreal-based product creation platform]

Listen now, like, comment, and share THE GRAIN to join the conversation at the edge of AI and creativity.

Stay tuned for my grains of thought in the newsletter, for news and insights on how AI is impacting the creative industry worldwide.

Read more about THE GRAIN at thegrain.ai and get in touch with me at [email protected]. You can also follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok.

Thanks for reading THE GRAIN with Ronit Novak! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Watch full video version on YouTube: https://youtu.be/_4lleJyYiag?si=fef5DN-gmDX9l5D-Prefer to listen? You’re already in the right place.

The fast fashion industry runs on excess. Too many trends, too much waste, too little accountability.

Sajna Massey is trying to change that—with artificial intelligence.

She’s the founder of Couth Studios, an AI-driven fashion company rethinking how clothes get made, and more importantly, why.

In our conversation, we talk about the pressure to be visible as a founder, the tension between style and sustainability, and how AI can be used not to mass-produce, but to slow things down and put customers in the creator’s chair.

YouTube Video:

(Spotify and Apple Podcasts are audio only)

Links of stuff we talk about …

* Couth Studios [retail website]

* TikTok [Couth Studios]

* Off/Script [Montreal-based product creation platform]

Listen now, like, comment, and share THE GRAIN to join the conversation at the edge of AI and creativity.

Stay tuned for my grains of thought in the newsletter, for news and insights on how AI is impacting the creative industry worldwide.

Read more about THE GRAIN at thegrain.ai and get in touch with me at [email protected]. You can also follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok.

Thanks for reading THE GRAIN with Ronit Novak! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

So much of what’s happening around AI feels like performance. People saying they’ve got it all figured out. Creatives pretending they’re not anxious.

But when I saw Lee Towndrow’s post on LinkedIn, where he just came out and said “I’m scared,” it stopped me in my tracks.

Lee didn’t pretend. He did the cringe. And it resonated.He’s a Creative Director and VFX artist I’ve always admired for his polished but quintessentially human aesthetic. It’s a powerful combination that elevates and honours humanity.

In reflecting on AI and a future yet unknown, Lee encourages us to face our fear while offering powerful strategies for moving beyond it.

Links of stuff we talk about …

* Fear [Lee Towndrow’s LinkedIn post]

* Lee Towndrow [personal website]

* AI 2027 Report [Daniel Kokotajlo, Scott Alexander, Thomas Larsen, Eli Lifland, Romeo Dean]

* Sheila Heti [personal website]

* Leilanni Todd [personal website]

* ‘Manchild’ by Sabrina Carpenter [music video]

Listen now, like, comment, and share THE GRAIN to join the conversation at the edge of AI and creativity.

Stay tuned for my grains of thought in the newsletter, for news and insights on how AI is impacting the creative industry worldwide.

Read more about THE GRAIN at thegrain.ai and get in touch with me at [email protected]. You can also follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok.

Thanks for reading THE GRAIN with Ronit Novak! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Happy Canada Day! Please enjoy this special video episode of THE GRAIN Podcast, featuring my grains of thought about how Ottawa can build a new creative economy now that Evan Solomon has taken the office of Minister of AI and Digital Innovation. Plus, I introduce THE MEMORY MACHINE, my new AI art exhibition and speaker series.

Links to the articles I mention…

* Canada’s AI Opportunity with Minister of Artificial Intelligence Evan Solomon [RBC Disruptors podcast]

* Liberals won’t reintroduce old AI law but will address copyright issues [The Logic]

* Kate Armstrong recaps a panel on AI and the arts with OCAD University in Toronto [Substack]

* Report on Geoffrey Hinton’s debate in Toronto with Cohere co-founder Nick Frosst [BetaKit]

* Nick Frosst tells Geoffrey Hinton why he doesn’t use LLMs to write poetry [@thegrain.ai/TikTok]

Listen now, like, comment, and share THE GRAIN to join the conversation at the edge of AI and creativity.

Stay tuned for my grains of thought in the newsletter, for news and insights on how AI is impacting the creative industry worldwide.

Read more about THE GRAIN at thegrain.ai and get in touch with me at [email protected]. You can also follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok.

Thanks for reading THE GRAIN with Ronit Novak! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Dr. Avriel Epps studies the impact of artificial intelligence on identity, culture, and mental health. An incoming professor at Rutgers University, she has a PhD in Human Development and Education from Harvard. She also wants to help families understand how the systems work through the recent publication of A Kids Book About AI Bias.

Prior to her academic career, Avriel Epps was a child actor, a model, a genre-bending musician—and a Black woman who often felt asked to fit into roles she didn’t choose.

Our conversation is about AI, but it’s also about power. It’s about beauty standards. It’s about why some things rise to the top and others never surface. It’s about what we can do—whether as creatives, parents or users—to push back against the grain.

What we talk about in this episode…

* The concept of AI bias and how a new language of media literacy is taking shape

* Creativity concerns for artists who can mitigate biased elements in their work

* Empowerment and advocacy with a strategy to ensure fairer development of AI

Links to resources we discussed…

*  Dr. Avriel Epps [personal website]

* Unmasking AI [Dr. Joy Buolamwini]

* Algorithms of Oppression [Safiya Umoja Noble]

*  More Than a Glitch [Meredith Brossard]

*   Race After Technology [Ruha Benjamin]

*  Data Feminism [Catherine D'Ignazio and Lauren F. Klein]

*  Weapons of Math Destruction [Cathy O'Neil]

*   Timnit Gebru: The Computer Scientist Fighting for a Fairer World

*  The Data Union [Nicholas Vincent]  

* A Kids Book About AI Bias [Dr. Avriel Epps]

🎧 Listen now, like, comment, and share THE GRAIN to join the conversation at the edge of AI and creativity.

Stay tuned for my grains of thought in the newsletter, for news and insights on how AI is impacting the creative industry worldwide.

Read more about THE GRAIN at thegrain.ai and get in touch with me at [email protected]. You can also follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok.