Tech, Innovation & Society - The Creative Process: Technology, AI, Software, Future, Economy, Science, Engineering & Robotics Interviews

We have lost around 85% of oyster reefs. That’s not only the loss of oysters but also the habitat they provide other marine animals and plants. Oysters are amazing, not only do some create pearls but as sequential hermaphrodites, they can switch between male and female almost on a daily basis.Dr. Dominic McAfee is a researcher at the University of Adelaide in Australia. His work centers around restoring lost marine ecosystems, specifically shellfish reefs. Along with employing novel technology and reef restoration projects, he seeks to understand how oysters enhance the resilience and function of coastal ecosystems. He seeks to develop conservation messaging strategies that enhance public engagement via conservation optimism."We've lost something like 85% of oyster reefs globally. In Australia it's over 99%. We've smashed this ecosystem to smithereens. It covered something like 7,000 kilometers of coastline and the flat oyster reef, for example, the flat oysters, one type of oyster that we work with were completely removed from the Australian mainland, and about 5,000 kilometers of reef destroyed in a very short period of time. And because of the intensity with which the coastlines were modified following European settlement of Australia, they haven't been able to come back naturally.  We've been using healthy marine sounds with underwater speakers to attract oysters to these reefs. So when the historical native habitat was lost, it also lost the sound that was associated with those reefs, that sound created by the millions of animals that live in that complex habitat. Now there's recognition that anthropogenic noise, noise from shipping and motorboats, and other urban noise is masking the natural sounds of the sea and dominating the soundscape as we call it. We're hoping that we can counteract some of those negative impacts of anthropogenic noise by playing healthy marine sounds."https://researchers.adelaide.edu.au/profile/dominic.mcafeewww.creativeprocess.info www.oneplanetpodcast.orgIG www.instagram.com/creativeprocesspodcast

"I was talking about this with someone the other day, about how there could be AI narrating audiobooks. But what I think it really comes down to is someone with a soul. It's not just the meat and potatoes of the plot of the book, but the actual quality of storytelling, the character development, the message behind the story, things like that. You know, some of the subtle nuances that I think machines will never be able to do, because they'll never have a soul. You know, they'll never be able to fully replicate. They can get very, very close.The Writers Strike in Hollywood. The main reason why the writers are striking, of course, is because it comes down to the bottom line, which is, you know, the dollar. The fact that studios don't want to be precluded from being able to use AI in the place of writers is what's really salting the wounds, but I don't see it, at least not in the very, very near future happening. One, because, like we talked about, no soul in the machine, but two, the technology is a predictive technology. So it's sort of like you ask it a question or you begin writing a sentence and it can predict the next five words and then kind of build upon that. And it can only draw upon what's already out there in its existing knowledge base from the internet, from whatever people ask it. It's not going to have lived experiences like you and me. And the technology is not at the point yet where I think it could be writing a novel. There are a lot of text limitations to it, but I think if it ever did come to pass... Let's imagine a world where AI is like there was a ghost in the machine and could convince almost anyone. I think you'd have a lot of pushback from readers. You'd have a lot of pushback from writers and people who work within the publishing industry."Mark Gottlieb is a Vice President and top-selling literary agent at Trident Media Group. He represents a wide range of authors across genres, many of whom have been awarded prestigious prizes and have secured places on the New York Times bestseller list. Among other achievements, Mark has successfully optioned and sold books to film production companies where they were adapted into blockbuster hits, beloved by audiences and critics.In addition to his work as an agent, Mark lectures on his experiences and craft at such noted venues as the Yale Writers’ Workshop, Cambridge University’s MSt in Creative Writing program, Columbia Publishing Course, and Sarah Lawrence College Writing Institute. He founded Emerson College's Wilde Press, and the  Stamford Literature, Arts & Culture Salon (SLACS), where he currently serves as president.www.tridentmediagroup.com/agents/mark-gottliebwww.tridentmediagroup.comwww.creativeprocess.info www.oneplanetpodcast.orgIG www.instagram.com/creativeprocesspodcast

As we're entering a world of advanced AI, what is the future of books? What makes stories enduring? And what role do literary agents play in nurturing authors and bringing great stories to the world?Mark Gottlieb is a Vice President and top-selling literary agent at Trident Media Group. He represents a wide range of authors across genres, many of whom have been awarded prestigious prizes and have secured places on the New York Times bestseller list. Among other achievements, Mark has successfully optioned and sold books to film production companies where they were adapted into blockbuster hits, beloved by audiences and critics.In addition to his work as an agent, Mark lectures on his experiences and craft at such noted venues as the Yale Writers’ Workshop, Cambridge University’s MSt in Creative Writing program, Columbia Publishing Course, and Sarah Lawrence College Writing Institute. He founded Emerson College's Wilde Press, and the  Stamford Literature, Arts & Culture Salon (SLACS), where he currently serves as president."I was talking about this with someone the other day, about how there could be AI narrating audiobooks. But what I think it really comes down to is someone with a soul. It's not just the meat and potatoes of the plot of the book, but the actual quality of storytelling, the character development, the message behind the story, things like that. You know, some of the subtle nuances that I think machines will never be able to do, because they'll never have a soul. You know, they'll never be able to fully replicate. They can get very, very close.The Writers Strike in Hollywood. The main reason why the writers are striking, of course, is because it comes down to the bottom line, which is, you know, the dollar. The fact that studios don't want to be precluded from being able to use AI in the place of writers is what's really salting the wounds, but I don't see it, at least not in the very, very near future happening. One, because, like we talked about, no soul in the machine, but two, the technology is a predictive technology. So it's sort of like you ask it a question or you begin writing a sentence and it can predict the next five words and then kind of build upon that. And it can only draw upon what's already out there in its existing knowledge base from the internet, from whatever people ask it. It's not going to have lived experiences like you and me. And the technology is not at the point yet where I think it could be writing a novel. There are a lot of text limitations to it, but I think if it ever did come to pass... Let's imagine a world where AI is like there was a ghost in the machine and could convince almost anyone. I think you'd have a lot of pushback from readers. You'd have a lot of pushback from writers and people who work within the publishing industry."www.tridentmediagroup.com/agents/mark-gottliebwww.tridentmediagroup.comwww.creativeprocess.info www.oneplanetpodcast.orgIG www.instagram.com/creativeprocesspodcast

Richard Vevers is the Founder and CEO of The Ocean Agency. He is a fellow of The Explorers Club and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Rhode Island. He is best known for his leading role in the Emmy Award-winning documentary Chasing Coral on Netflix and his work has been featured in numerous publications and documentaries. Before diving into ocean and coral reef conservation, Vevers worked at some of the top London advertising agencies and then as an artist and underwater photographer. This background guides his unique creative and business-thinking approach to ocean conservation that includes inventing the camera that took Google Street View underwater, pioneering virtual reality ocean education, currently available to over 90 million kids, leading the most comprehensive underwater photographic survey of the world’s coral reefs, and developing a science-based global plan 50 Reefs."So I try to approach things in a different way to be a bit more disruptive. I think individual actions are important, but I think you need to turn it on its head so that it is very scalable, and often we focus on the negative. This is a transformative time, and we need to start thinking smarter about the solutions and how we live our lives. And so what I've tried to do is reframe climate action as something that is exciting and an opportunity. This is a transformative time when we need big ideas and there are opportunities for people doing what people do best - coming up with great ideas."www.theoceanagency.orgwww.50reefs.orgwww.creativeprocess.infowww.oneplanetpodcast.orgIG www.instagram.com/creativeprocesspodcast

Happy World Oceans Day! Today we’re streaming voices of environmentalists and artists with music courtesy of composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist Erland Cooper.Voices on this episode areGIULIO BOCCALETTIAuthor of Water, A BiographyNatural Resource Security & Environmental Sustainability ExpertChief Strategy Officer 2016–2020, The Nature ConservancyPAULA PINHODirector of Just Transition at the European Commission Directorate-General for EnergyRON GONENFounder & CEO of Closed Loop PartnersFmr. Deputy Commissioner of Sanitation, Recycling & Sustainability, NYCMARCIA DESANCTISJournalist, Essayist, Author of A Hard Place to Leave: Stories from a Restless LifeJEAN WEINERGoldman Environmental Prize WinnerFounder of Fondation pour la Protection de la Biodiversité Marine, HaitiDERRICK EMSLEYCo-founder & CEO of veritree - Data-driven Restorative Platform & tentree Apparel Co.DR. FARHANA SULTANACo-author: Water Politics: Governance, Justice & the Right to WaterFmr. UNDP Programme Officer, United Nations Development ProgrammeNEIL GRIMMERBrand President of SOURCE Global · Innovator of the SOURCE Hydropanel: Drinking Water Made from Sunlight and AirALAN JACOBSENDirector of PhotographyEmmy & Sundance Special Jury Award-Winning & Oscar Nominated DocumentariesRICHARD VEVERSFounder & CEO of The Ocean AgencyBRIAN WILCOXChief Engineer & Co-founder of Marine BioEnergyGrows Kelp in the Ocean to Provide Carbon-neutral FuelsSETH M. SIEGELEntrepreneur, Public Speaker & NYTimes Bestselling AuthorLet There Be Water: Israel’s Solution for a Water-Starved WorldTroubled Water: What's Wrong with What We DrinkJOELLE GERGISLead Author of the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report, Author of Humanity’s MomentJAY FAMIGLIETTI, Fmr. Senior Water Scientist at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Exec. Director, Global Institute for Water Security, Host of "What About Water?" PodcastROB BILOTTEnvironmental Lawyer, Partner Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLPAuthor of Exposure: Poisoned Water, Corporate Greed, and One Lawyer’s Twenty-Year Battle Against DuPontJILL HEINERTHExplorer, Presenter, Author of Into The Planet: My Life as a Cave DiverOSPREY ORIELLE LAKEFounder & Executive Director of the Women's Earth & Climate Action Network InternationalAuthor of Uprisings for the Earth: Reconnecting Culture with Nature & ArtistJESS WILBERInternational Outreach Citizens’ Climate LobbyCoordinator, Senior Stewards Acting for the EnvironmentBERTRAND PICCARDAviator of 1st Round-the-World Solar-Powered Flight, Explorer, Founder, Solar Impulse FoundationIBRAHIM ALHUSSEINIFounder & CEO of FullCycle Fund GARY GRIGGSGlobal Oceans Hero Award-Winner · Distinguished Professor of Earth SciencesDirector Institute of Marine Sciences at UC Santa Cruz 1991 to 2017Sample Credits:BBC News Excerpt, Public broadcast, 19th July. Fair usage, courtesy Simon Gurney, BBC Studios Limited.BBC News Excerpt, Public broadcast, 19th July. Fair usage, courtesy Simon Gurney, BBC Studios Limited.UN Broadcast Excerpt, Greta Thunberg, Young Climate Activist at the Opening of the Climate Action Summit 2019, United Nations license 24 October 2022.CBS News Excerpt 1970. Fair usage, archive courtesy Leah Hodge, CBSwww.erlandcooper.comwww.creativeprocess.info www.oneplanetpodcast.orgIG www.instagram.com/creativeprocesspodcastArtworks by Mia Funk www.miafunk.comMusic from Folded Landscapes courtesy of Erland Cooper and Universal Music Enterprises.

"Putting design first, it really enables us to shape a future that we don't yet know. But we need to be super tactile and practical about it as well. And then seeing that is something that design very much has the ability to do. And at the same time, having this growing frustration that wherever you go, wherever you talk about sustainability, it was a compromise. It was something that meant uglier, less convenient, more expensive, all these different things, but then diving into the Danish Design heritage, seeing that what set them apart was that after the World Wars, they had a social purpose of democratizing and rebuilding the welfare state, and that was not something that lessened the final result. On the contrary, it heightened the ambition, the final design, and the solutions."Ditte Lysgaard Vind is a renowned circular economy and design expert and author of Danish Design Heritage & Global Sustainability (Routledge 2023) and A Changemakers Guide to the Future. She is the Chairwoman of the Danish Design Council and founder of The Circular Way. She is known for pioneering new materials as well as business models, while sharing the knowledge gained from practice through teaching and thought leadership, and is a member of the Executive board of The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts Schools of Architecture, Design and Conservation as well as the global SDG innovation lab UNLEASH.www.thecircularway.comhttp://danishdesigncouncil.dk/enwww.routledge.com/Danish-Design-Heritage-and-Global-Sustainability/Vind/p/book/9781032198200www.creativeprocess.info www.oneplanetpodcast.orgIG www.instagram.com/creativeprocesspodcast

Happy World Environment Day! Ditte Lysgaard Vind is a renowned circular economy and design expert and author of Danish Design Heritage & Global Sustainability (Routledge 2023) and A Changemakers Guide to the Future. She is the Chairwoman of the Danish Design Council and founder of The Circular Way. She is known for pioneering new materials as well as business models, while sharing the knowledge gained from practice through teaching and thought leadership, and is a member of the Executive board of The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts Schools of Architecture, Design and Conservation as well as the global SDG innovation lab UNLEASH."Putting design first, it really enables us to shape a future that we don't yet know. But we need to be super tactile and practical about it as well. And then seeing that is something that design very much has the ability to do. And at the same time, having this growing frustration that wherever you go, wherever you talk about sustainability, it was a compromise. It was something that meant uglier, less convenient, more expensive, all these different things, but then diving into the Danish Design heritage, seeing that what set them apart was that after the World Wars, they had a social purpose of democratizing and rebuilding the welfare state, and that was not something that lessened the final result. On the contrary, it heightened the ambition, the final design, and the solutions."www.thecircularway.comhttp://danishdesigncouncil.dk/enwww.routledge.com/Danish-Design-Heritage-and-Global-Sustainability/Vind/p/book/9781032198200www.creativeprocess.info www.oneplanetpodcast.orgIG www.instagram.com/creativeprocesspodcast

"Social media is basically built around: Oh, so this is what you think of the world? Well, here are some people who think just the way you do. Listen to them and no one else. So, that is, of course, a great way to manipulate people. Tell them that they're right and have them go off in their own little bubble.If I meet you in the street, I will put on a certain demeanor. I will smile. I say hi. I want to elicit a positive response from you. That also means that I have influenced your emotional state. Basically, you can't communicate anything to anyone without in some way influencing their thoughts or their behavior. Communication, influence, and manipulation, it's all part of the package. Our brains are hardwired to react to this. That's why marketing works so well."Henrik Fexeus is an internationally bestselling author, lecturer, performer, and star of the TV show Mind Melt. An expert in psychology and communications, he travels the world "reading minds" and teaching others how to understand and manipulate human behavior through body language and persuasion. Henrik has studied mental skills like NLP, hypnosis, acting, and magic.https://henrikfexeus.se/en/www.creativeprocess.info www.oneplanetpodcast.orgIG www.instagram.com/creativeprocesspodcast

Henrik Fexeus is an internationally bestselling author, lecturer, performer, and star of the TV show Mind Melt. An expert in psychology and communications, he travels the world "reading minds" and teaching others how to understand and manipulate human behavior through body language and persuasion. Henrik has studied mental skills like NLP, hypnosis, acting, and magic."Social media is basically built around: Oh, so this is what you think of the world? Well, here are some people who think just the way you do. Listen to them and no one else. So, that is, of course, a great way to manipulate people. Tell them that they're right and have them go off in their own little bubble.If I meet you in the street, I will put on a certain demeanor. I will smile. I say hi. I want to elicit a positive response from you. That also means that I have influenced your emotional state. Basically, you can't communicate anything to anyone without in some way influencing their thoughts or their behavior. Communication, influence, and manipulation, it's all part of the package. Our brains are hardwired to react to this. That's why marketing works so well."https://henrikfexeus.se/en/www.creativeprocess.info www.oneplanetpodcast.orgIG www.instagram.com/creativeprocesspodcast

"I think it's led to a focus on success and standing out, and I do think that the more young people can walk away with an understanding that perhaps the best thing they can do in life is actually contribute to the lives of others, that's probably where they're going to get most of their happiness from and most of their fulfillment from. And the rest is probably a little bit hollow. You know, money doesn't really buy happiness. I mean, it certainly buys comfort, and we do know some money is very important for that. But you do need to feel connected to other people, and you can't whilst consuming and even promoting ourselves on social media. Or playing the popularity game or aiming to be famous. That seems to be a value that a lot of young people have these days, but I don't think that it's going to breed happiness. And so being able to really identify what the values are that are going to make us happy, that are going to connect us to meaning and purpose in other people and that will actually contribute to a better world for all of us, I think would be great. And I think there's competition and space for young people's minds at the moment. So if we can get them on board with some of those values and approaches to life, I think the future generations would probably be better off."Brock Bastian is author of The Other Side of Happiness: Embracing a More Fearless Approach to Living and a professor at University of Melbourne’s School of Psychological Sciences. His research and writing focus on pain, happiness, morality, and wellbeing. In his search for a new perspective on what makes for the good life, Bastian has studied why promoting happiness may have paradoxical effects; why we need negative and painful experiences in life to build meaning, purpose, resilience, and ultimately greater fulfilment in life; and why behavioural ethics is necessary for understanding how we reason about personal and social issues and resolve conflicts of interest.www.brockbastian.comwww.abebooks.com/9780141982106/Side-Happiness-Embracing-Fearless-Approach-0141982101/plpwww.creativeprocess.info www.oneplanetpodcast.orgIG www.instagram.com/creativeprocesspodcast