Insights & Thoughts

AI isn’t on the horizon. It’s already here, quietly threaded through our devices, platforms, content, and workflows. Even organizations that haven’t “adopted AI” formally are almost certainly using it anyway. So the real question isn’t whether to use AI. It’s **how to use AI strategically**, ethically, and without erasing the human intelligence that makes your brand matter. In this live session for the **Women’s Leadership Connection**, we'll explore what it actually looks like to integrate AI into creative and marketing work without defaulting to hype, panic, or copy-paste sameness. Drawing from real-world work with creative teams, nonprofits, and mission-driven organizations, this talk focuses on protecting what makes your brand distinct while still gaining efficiency and clarity. You’ll learn how to **move beyond reactive AI adoption and toward intentional, values-aligned use that strengthens your people rather than replacing them**. **In this session, we’ll explore:** - How to decide when AI should and should not touch your workflows - Practical ways to protect your brand’s creative DNA while still scaling output - How to turn anxious or resistant teams into AI-literate collaborators - A strategy-first approach to tools that saves time, money, and sanity This event is designed for leaders, strategists, marketers, and creatives who want to stay relevant without sacrificing trust, voice, or integrity. **Event details:** - This is an in-person Women’s Leadership Connection event, featuring: - A guided talk and discussion - Opportunities for conversation and connection with fellow leaders - Food and drinks provided If you’re navigating AI decisions at the leadership level, or supporting teams through rapid change, this session is built to give you clarity rather than overwhelm. In a world overloaded with AI hype and synthetic content, your brand’s humanity is the competitive advantage.

For over a decade, I searched for the “unicorn” tool: the platform, theme, or workflow that could do exactly what I needed without compromise. It never existed. Event pages expired. SEO value vanished. Rigid systems forced creative and marketing teams to work around their tools instead of with them. This talk is about what happens when you stop searching for the perfect off-the-shelf solution and start building your own. In this session, we’ll explore how to combine traditional automation and AI in a way that’s practical, scalable, and human-centered. You’ll learn how to identify high-impact pain points, design your own “unicorn features,” and prototype workflows that actually adapt as your needs evolve, without trying to automate everything at once. We'll cover: - Why most marketing and event workflows break down over time - How to think big while starting small with automation - Where traditional automation shines and where AI truly adds value - How to use AI as an adaptable collaborator, not a fragile black box You don’t need to reinvent the wheel. But if you care about flexibility, longevity, and creative control, you might want to be the one who designs the rims. This is a practical, no-hype conversation about building systems that work the way you do, and finally letting go of the myth of the unicorn tool.

For years, digital etiquette was about how humans treated each other online. Don’t secretly record people. Ask before sharing. Credit creators. Respect boundaries. Then AI quietly entered every room. From tools that listen, watch, summarize, and remember, to systems that generate content, impersonate voices, and blur authorship and consent, the social rules we relied on are no longer sufficient. AI didn’t just add new tools. It destabilized the norms themselves. In this fireside chat, we’ll explore what digital etiquette looks like after AI, when non-human actors are embedded in our conversations, workflows, and relationships. Together, we’ll unpack the real risks hiding behind convenience, and how well-intentioned use can still cross ethical lines without clear norms. - Using the AI TLC framework (Transparency, Literacy, and Consent), we’ll discuss: - Where AI quietly breaks long-standing expectations around privacy and trust - How disclosure, authorship, and sincerity change when AI is involved - Why “legal” doesn’t always mean ethical - What informed consent looks like when data, likeness, and labor are at stake This isn’t a talk about banning tools or shaming usage. It’s about building shared language and expectations for using AI in ways that remain respectful, professional, and human. Join Teighe Thorsen and Ben Durham for a thoughtful, practical conversation about how we treat each other when AI is part of everything.

If you're in AI hype burnout, you're not alone. The explosion of AI tools has created a paradox of choice for marketing and creative teams. Here's how to move from hype to measurable results with evidence-based frameworks that work.

This two-day conference aims to demystify artificial intelligence and demonstrate its practical applications across various sectors. It features a blend of keynotes, panels, and hands-on workshops, focusing on how AI can enhance productivity, creativity, and innovation in everyday professional settings. Topics range from AI governance and ethics to its role in agriculture, education, and emergency services. The event brings together a diverse group of speakers, including tech leaders, educators, and public officials, fostering a community-driven approach to understanding and leveraging AI for societal benefit.

Local artists, makers and creators, authors, writers and media personalities gather to celebrate and showcase independent media and the impact on culture, media and the arts. Features AI panel discussions and community media exploration.

My position on AI ethics is evolving in time with AI development, but there are some core, pragmatic ideals that I suspect will continue to hold as we are swept up into this new "Era of AI".

ANP’s March 21-22, 2025 Approaching AI Summit is a pivotal event designed to inspire community discussions about the rapid integration of artificial intelligence into our lives. This community forum brings together industry leaders, policymakers, and educators to examine the far-reaching implications of AI in this transformative era.

Insight into the development of AI-driven animation workflows for MeanGreen's groundbreaking political ad featuring a fictional AI presidential candidate, resulting in industry recognition and new creative possibilities.