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Writer's pictureSamara Kitchener

SXSW Reflections: Is humanity slipping away from us? And what can we do about it?

I ❤️ AI. There are incredible ways it can help us make smarter decisions faster, but you know you have a problem with tech when young women are requesting that cosmetic surgeons make them look like their beauty filter. I was sitting in a presentation Weapons of Mass Perfection: How Generative AI is shaping beauty ideals next to a friend who scribbled a note to me – “Are we losing our sense of self?”. In this same session AI legend Noelle Russell said “A lot of people are using generative AI and accepting the answer as if is the correct answer – not questioning it…. People don’t know where the line is drawn, where AI is being used.”


In another session on Creativity, AI, and storytelling in the era of information overload a content agency presented on their generative AI model which essentially is a digital twin of their audiences to test performance, brand, and messaging attributes of content before it is released. Digital twins may be great testing environments, but I have always found the expressions, body language and spontaneous feedback you get through testing creative with humans is where you find the subtle cues that can make or break your campaign.


Max Quinn, Ben Lee, Ione Skye and Alexi Wasser during a live podcast recording of "Weirder Together" at SXSW Sydney on October 17, 2024 (Photo by Nina Franova/Getty Images for SXSW Sydney)

This sentiment was contrasted in a live podcast recording Weirder Together with Ben Lee & Ione Skye with Max Quinn (JJJ Unearthed) and Alexi Wasser (Messy – Director, Actor)  - “In data-fuelled media industry the idea of just making things has been lost” said Ben Lee. Max Quinn agrees “data based decision making removes the creative risk taking”. To put it simply, I don’t think there is a generative AI model that could in anyway replicate or test the creative chaos that is Alexi Wasser’s inconceivable brain.


So what can we do about it, how do we embrace AI and tech, but keep the human magic at the forefront?


The Kid LAROI addressed challenges of keeping it real and balancing creative freedom with external expectations. “I think being able to be confident in who you are and what you like is the most important thing. Because I spent a long time trying to look for everyone else's validation, whether it be friends, management, the record label. The one thing that I would encourage more than anything is to always follow your intuition, always follow your gut.”


Johann Hari had some brilliant insights in his session Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention – and How to Get Your Brain Back. Admittedly I used AI to summarise the first half of his talk: Detailing a crisis in attention, noting that the average office worker now focuses on tasks for less than a minute. Interruptions, such as text messages, can take 23 minutes to refocus from, leading to lower cognitive capacity. Attention is crucial for achieving goals and solving problems.

One of the ways to overcome this is by setting the right conditions for flow state which requires 3 key factors:

1.        Setting aside significant time

2.        Choosing meaningful goals

3.        Pushing oneself to the edge of abilities.


On the meaningful goal front, I loved this line from Johann “A frog will focus more on a fly than on a stone, because the fly is meaningful to the frog and the stone is not.”


I learnt a lot from 4 Secrets of Non-Obvious Thinking with Rohit Bhargava. He suggests creating space for new ideas by making oasis moments. An example is his 7 minute meet up concept where you meet random people and ask them something non-obvious about themselves. I had the most fascinating conversations with people and left with lasting inspiration and meaningful connections.

In terms of spiritual fulfilment, the session on A life of confidence – Cameron Daddo & Sarah Grynberg was spot on. The key insight from Cameron was “If you can make people feel they matter you can change their world…. Confidence comes from being your authentic self… Curiosity is one of the key components of finding your confident self.” But it doesn’t always come easy, Cameron outlined the research he had done in writing his book Keep It Smooth - Life Lessons in Confidence where he interviewed extraordinary Australians, including Keith Urban, Marcia Hines, Michael O’Loughlin and Ryan ‘Fitzy’ Fitzgerald, and Alyssa Healy. “All the people I interviewed had a rock bottom – they had to have that to find their resilience”.


I asked Cameron for advice on some self-help resources we are developing for people in custody to overcome their addictions – I was trying to figure out how to help people realise they matter when they may never have experienced a positive light being shone on them. Cameron said to encourage them to “Try help other people around them. Through living a life of service to others we can find the light in ourselves.” I think this is advice we can all live by.


With all the chaos, technology and overwhelming change, we must remember that humans will always be at the heart of humanity.


I ❤️ AI but I ❤️ Humans more.

 




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