An event exploring how artists and storytellers are using artificial intelligence to shape the future of media is coming to MediaCity this month.
The MediaCity Immersive Technologies Innovation Hub (MITIH) will host the second edition of The Innovators on Wednesday 19 November at Hot House in Salford. The live session will look at how creators around the world are harnessing AI to make films, podcasts and new forms of what organisers call “real media.”
Two leading figures working at the intersection of technology and storytelling will headline the evening. David Sloly – a creative technologist, behavioural strategist and TEDx speaker – will open the event with insights from his AI-assisted sitcom podcast Made in AI. “It gives me a lot of joy to make people laugh, even if I am using AI to do it,” he said.
Filmmaker, artist and researcher Brad Necyk will also take part, screening his AI-generated short film Maladies of the Modern Soul, which was made using advanced generative video tools. “The artist is the distant early-warning system of culture,” Necyk writes, reflecting on how creative practice evolves during times of technological change.
The evening will also feature the return of the “Prompt Jam” – a one-minute creative challenge where audience members dream up AI video prompts live in the room. There are no pre-written scripts or copy-pasting allowed, and the audience decides the winner, who leaves with cake, wine, or both.
Although both speakers will join via Zoom, attendance is strictly in person. The event will not be recorded or streamed.
The Innovators 002: Real Media, Real AI takes place from 6pm to 8.30pm on Wednesday 19 November at Hot House, MediaCity, Salford. Tickets are free but must be booked in advance via Eventbrite.
MITIH connects media, skills, creativity and emerging technology through collaboration, research and innovation programmes. The Innovators is its flagship series spotlighting the people and projects defining the next wave of creative technology.
