Meagan Wood

Learn about a very important caveat to the new and easy option for renaming a catalog in Lightroom Classic, in today's Ask Tim Grey eNewsletter... https://conta.cc/40OJFnW

2

It was a big honor to work alongside Meta on the launch and rollout of Meta AI. If you don’t know my backstory, I spent years as an Electrical Engineer before transitioning to a career in photography. I’ve always aimed to stay in the loop on emerging tech and it’s been amazing working with their team on the launch of NFTs, Threads, and now Meta AI. How do I utilize AI in photography? Primarily to streamline research and planning. If you provide constraints on dates you’re visiting any location, interests, and what else you’re aiming to accomplish, the tool will put together a comprehensive itinerary. I use this as a general backbone/template to then build off of. Saves me immense time and takes literally under a minute to do. https://lnkd.in/gmQSBZ8e

26

1 Comment

”Remember years and years ago when the web came out, and they put all those text boxes on the screen, we were told not to trust user inputs. And now the internet is a big giant text box and we are supposed to trust all those things.” https://lnkd.in/dK7GdbwM Mark Russinovich & Scott Hanselman explore the landscape of generative AI security and today's risks in LLM (Large Language Models), such as hallucination, indirect prompt injection, jailbreaks etc, and how we can mitigate these risks using the #Responsible #AI principles and Content Safety Filters in Azure AI at Microsoft #Ignite.

7

1 Comment

THE 2025 SXSW CONFERENCE IS ABOUT THE POWER OF CREATIVITY Attend hundreds of forward-thinking panels and presentations, plus dozens of awe-inspiring Featured Speakers and Keynotes at the 2025 SXSW Conference, scheduled March 7-13 in Austin. Discover specific topics covered at SXSW by browsing these regular LinkedIn posts. The supreme power of human creativity is the focus of today's edition of this ongoing series. Read below for five compelling sessions for the 2025 SXSW Conference that address this all-important topic. AI’s Impact on Creativity & the Commons:  Often, the preferences of creators and rights-holders are framed as an all-or-nothing binary – either works should never be used in training without permission, or such use should always be allowed. This panel explores what effect this is having on creators, the commons, and opportunities for collaborative creativity. https://lnkd.in/gaVheMSi Art in Protest: Fostering Democracy Through Creative Dissent: Join a diverse group of artists from different corners of the world, using various media, including performance art, film, visual arts, and music, as they wield their creativity as a force for illuminating democratic pathways and positive change. https://lnkd.in/gKgTP9kD Can Human & AI Collaboration Extend the Bounds of Creativity:  The emergence of AI is an inflection point for exploring the role research and technology can play in supporting new creative possibilities without infringing on what has come before. This session will share an expert perspective on areas of AI research that aim to address this balance and look to AI’s potential impact. https://lnkd.in/gXsGuAnV Creatively Solving Complex Challenges For Earth And Beyond: Space presents some of the toughest challenges we face - its harsh environment, strict technical requirements, and emerging business opportunities. This panel will explore how human-centric design leads to better outcomes for both humans and businesses, in space and on Earth. https://lnkd.in/gfg9phSy Defining Creative Freedom: Building a Business Without Sacrificing Vision: In this session, Paige Fitzgerald, the Chief Operating Officer of Patreon, will delve into the opportunities and the challenges that come with a rapidly changing creator economy. https://lnkd.in/geDddRFH Attend these creativity-focused sessions and hundreds of other sessions at SXSW by purchasing a badge for the 2025 event. Save big if you register before rates increase on Friday, November 15. sxsw.com/attend #sxsw, #sxsw2025, #creativity, #innovation, #ATX, #MarchMagic, Paige Fitzgerald, Rebecca Giblin, Jennifer 8. Lee, Anna Tumadottir, Vanessa Hope, Emmanuel Jal, Natalia Kaliada, Michael Spranger, Dawn Chmielewski, Matt Ondler, Sana Sharma, John Conafay, Jacqui Belleau, #space, #artificialintelligence, #AI, #creativethinking, #design, #ingenuity, Creative Commons

77

Loved this conversation between Elizabeth Strickler and Nancy Giordano discussing the MANY facets of #technology, #blockchain, and #innovation in what the #futureofeducation might look like. Yet another example of how we need more of these conversations to help steer + inspire learning toward greater relevancy now, and into the future. Thanks for joining us Elizabeth! #mediainnovation #EFTs #entrepreneurship #futureleaders #businessinnovation

15

3 Comments

As big of an advocate as I am for native 3D workflows, a lot of time, technology development, and talent is pointed at a singular task: bringing a flat idea to life. And in that area, "Project Turntable" is a snapshot of just how far generative AI has come towards basically sidestepping that workflow entirely. Now, would you use this for a technical drawing? Definitely not. But for the purposes of saying "this vector drawing represents the creative intent," the ability to generate spin-able views from that 2D sketch is potentially a massive shortcut - and one that could call into question at least some of what 3D and DPC are 'for'. Some great reporting from The Verge, from the Adobe MAX conference: https://lnkd.in/djEcjxrx And a direct demo from the live event: https://lnkd.in/dBfjhiSw #digitalproductcreation #fashiontechnology

31

1 Comment

Text-to-image generation on ERNIE Bot with the new iRAG (image-based RAG) feature is more fun than ever! Prompt: Apollo RT6 cruising down the streets of San Francisco.

5

Recently, I read this article from Hyperallergic on the Creatives Rebuild New York pandemic initiative to provide $1000 in monthly support to 2400 artists over 18 months, backed by the Mellon Foundation, Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), and the Ford Foundation. It’s wild to me that reports were necessary to determine whether regular, stable payments positively impacted artists, many among them living in the most expensive city in the world (which sells itself on its arts and culture). It’s a report akin to asking whether a professional receiving a salary would be impacted if the regularity of that salary was disrupted. I don’t think guaranteed income or UBI is the *only* way to support artists and creative practitioners, but it’s certainly one effective channel to allow artists to participate meaningfully in the global economy. I would encourage the amount of support given, or new pay structures arranged, should be more in line with cost of living. $12,000 per year is both significant and not enough, especially in major cities. Insurance could be half of that monthly payment. A phone bill is about 12% of it. Internet access is another 6-10%. This article cites Springboard for the Arts’ five year initiative as well, and mentions the organization’s financial counseling services. Thinking about art schools, how many of us who attended collegiate arts programs had financial counseling? An accounting class? A business class? If the arts is a space that must be commercialized, why are so many artists and media makers so woefully underprepared to be professionals? How do we remedy this during formative years, rather than counseling once a career trajectory is already years underway? It’s also worth considering the salaries paid out to New York based employees by the foundations that supported this initiative— is $1000/month considered enough for these foundations’ employees to feel stable? How would the arts, media, and culture sectors benefit from a wide swath of the community being paid in line with an entry or mid career level salary such as what’s paid by foundations that supported the $1000/month guaranteed income initiative? #artseconomy #creativeeconomy #universalbasicincome #guaranteedincome #creativeeconomictheory #costofliving #artsandculture #media #mediamakers

3

1 Comment

Looking for a fun way to tell a story? Try Animate Characters in Adobe Express It’s easy to do! Click here to try adobe.ly/48zAvMb Have fun creating ✌🏾  #AdobeEduCreative #animateEDU Adobe

19

1 Comment

Whatever anyone thinks, NFTs have achieved fantastic penetration into the art markets over the last few years. Madeleine Pierpont - the web3 assosciate for MoMA adheres to this fact in a recent article by CoinDesk. This kind of representation and influence over fine art with digital assets and techniques would have looked unachievable 5 years ago. It's now blossoming. As the article states, "It’s sometimes easy to overlook exactly how far NFTs have penetrated into the art world, given how thoroughly the general public has rejected the speculation and hype that has come to define the asset class." Examples you say? Here you go: 👉 Sotheby's and Christies routinely run NFT sales 👉 Taschen recently published a book deep diving into the fine art NFT space called 'On NFTs'. 👉 NFT art on digital screens is becoming more of the 'norm' amongst physical art in galleries and museums, even going all the way up to heavy hitters like MoMA. There is a way to go, but they are being accepted. And not just the power of imagery, but the tech behind it allowing for tracking, more open provenance and decentralization of the art industry as a whole. It's an exciting time in the fine art and tech space. Link to the article in the comments. #art #nfts #museums #galleries

22

16 Comments

Latest from THE GRAIN: What is a Growth Mindset? It’s the inherent quality creatives have that corporations are so desperately seeking as they strive towards practical AI adoption. I recently attended an in-depth members-only webinar about AI's integration into big businesses—think banks and other corporate giants—so you don’t have to. Here’s the key takeaway: companies leading the charge in adopting AI aren’t just focused on technology; they’re looking for employees with what they call Growth Mindset. What exactly is Growth Mindset? It’s about being open to exploration, experimentation, risk-taking, and play. It’s about collaborating—working on ideas with others, even when those ideas feel half-baked, and building on them until they take shape. This approach resonated deeply with me because it mirrors the magic I’ve always felt in my career of working closely with creative people. Creatives thrive on resourcefulness, curiosity, engagement, and risk-taking. True creativity requires destruction—not in the chaotic sense, but as a willingness to dismantle the old, whether that’s a concept, a process, or even your perception of yourself. It’s about letting go of who you think you should be and creating from a raw, authentic place. Creativity flourishes in collaboration. It’s not about the solitary genius; it’s about leveraging the resources, skills and perspectives of those around you. A creator isn’t content with mere sustainability—they’re driven by growth and evolution. They push beyond the status quo, seeking not just to maintain but to innovate. This is why at THE GRAIN, I’m excited about an AI-driven future—not because I’m obsessed with tech, gadgets or the shiny new thing, but because of what AI represents for collaboration. It’s a chance to brainstorm, struggle, experiment and make meaning together. AI challenges us to confront what’s uncomfortable, what’s triggering—and to create something transformative out of it. The future of creativity lies in this willingness to embrace growth, destruction, and reinvention—not just as individuals but as teams. Let’s create with what we have, push boundaries, and see where this brave new world can take us. My grain of thought Here’s the thing: creatives have always operated this way. This kind of thinking—iterative, open-minded and resourceful—is second-nature to anyone in the creative field. It’s why their approach is in such high demand now in corporate settings eager to adopt AI. Creativity and Growth Mindset go hand-in-hand, and businesses are beginning to realize that the artists, storytellers, and designers who have always embraced change and experimentation are exactly the kind of thinkers they need to thrive in an AI-powered world. #ai #artificialintelligence #creativity #growthmindset

5

3 Comments

A quick update from my post-election cave: I'm wrapping up several fulfilling projects, and I'm ready to take on new writing, creative direction, editorial, or production projects. The unexpected gift in an otherwise forgettable year has been rediscovering my passion for narrative essay writing. If you're interested in following along, I've moved my longer-form work to Substack, where I explore the stories and ideas that shape our cultural landscape. And finally, in a deliberate shift to focus on craft and mental clarity, I've stepped back from most social platforms. So let’s connect through more meaningful, pre-algorithmic venues. (I miss twirling the phone cord coils during calls, or chewing on the rubber coating when stressed.) Wishing you all a more peaceful end to the year.

19

2 Comments

The CEO of Anthropic, Dario Amodei, recently published an essay called “Machines of Loving Grace.” It sketches out his vision for how AI could radically transform neuroscience, economics, diplomacy, and the meaning of work. Amodei also imagines the ways AI could accelerate biological research and yield miraculous cures in the 21st century; everything from the prevention and treatment of nearly all infectious and inherited diseases to the elimination of most cancers. I really enjoyed the essay. In his article, Amodei does acknowledge some real-world issues limiting scientific progress — such as the slow growth of organisms and tedious clinical trials — but mostly passes over the more general tools that will be required to accelerate research in the near term. Many of the bottlenecks slowing biology today are biophysical, though, rather than computational. Therefore, I’m using Amodei’s essay as a rallying cry for researchers to innovate their way past existing bottlenecks in wet-lab biology. In my latest essay, I argue that in order for 50-100 years of biological progress to be condensed into 5-10 years of work, we’ll first need to get much better at running experiments quickly and collecting higher-quality datasets. This essay focuses on how we might do both, specifically for the cell. Read LEVERS FOR BIOLOGICAL PROGRESS at Asimov Press. Thanks to Adam Marblestone, Xander Balwit, Alec Nielsen and many others for helpful feedback. https://lnkd.in/exiHjNnP

115

5 Comments

At a time when many artists and publishers are asking questions about how much genAI systems are reliant on the work they produce it’s important to have companies take the lead on the importance of copyright. So really great to see OpenAI step up here

27

How do creative agencies combine AI with CPG product photography? 👾 + 📷 + 🥛 "(...) BCH created the scenes in AI to illustrate where Real Exotics' ingredients are sourced from. I matched the lighting, angle, and used other environmental cues in the studio, so the two would be combined seamlessly in post. It was a great way to use AI for a concept that otherwise would have been expensive to do on-location." Promote your commercial food ➕ beverage products and service with Phoode® creatives! JOIN phoode.com & over 7000 other food creatives ➕ clients looking for them (it's free)‼️ Phoode® #syrup #liquor #bar #bartender #mexico #cocktail #bar #alcoholicbeverages #liquorindustry #drinksindustry #branding #brandingdesign #marketing #beveragemarketing #liquorbottle #productphotography #phoode #kentucky #foodtech #startup #founder #beveragetech #mixology #cream #sweatener #CPG #CPGmarketing #CPGproduct #productphotographer #cpgphotographer #foodCPG #drinkCPG #AI #AIcreators

5

The GOAT…. of REBT. In these heady times, where things have seemingly gone #HellaRaging10x, a self-evident dramatic increase of change and transient nature of disposable thinking, aiming for even less than single-use-only ideas, what a decade the last week alone has been. As tsunami (dis)content uncontrollably breaches our parameters and floods our minds, it’s a helpful BREAK BECAUSE IT IS AN EMERGENCY trait to seek a quiet harbour and drop anchor while the onslaught subsides. Such societal overcompensation revving has of course occurred at various junctions throughout history, and will always continue to happen. Even before the advent of traffic lights, or indeed electricity, we were all dealing with equivalent stressors. Thankfully, we had the likes of one Epictetus to give us life driving lessons, which are just as effective today as in 125AD. His observations and beliefs were compiled by one of his disciples, Arrian, into The Enchiridion (translates as ‘ready to hand’, effectively The Manual), ultimately a guide on how to apply philosophy to daily life. It also became the foundation of modern REBT (Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy), developed by psychologist Albert Ellis, a theory and practice process which helps individuals to reframe their perspectives of situations they are involved in, both significant and minor. Life and creative brief affirming. At its core is an understanding that we generally do have what it takes to address an issue that might be dealing with, with practical and actionable elements to help reframe our potentially myopic, if not corrupted thinking. It’s an awareness of such potentially intuitive self imposed restrictions/limitations that inspired director Denis Villeneuve to request his creative teams on Dune to not use the internet (which he called ‘the mind killer’, in reference to the original book) while researching for the film, as it would only result in generic outcomes. You won’t find true originality at the same digital watering hole everyone else is at. He recommended ‘stay away from all influence and just try to meditate and dream’. An equivalent to such meditation is the use of #SocialLearning where ideas, process and inspirations are openly shared, to raise awareness, knowledge and standards for all, resulting in true originality, and hopefully less stressful times. #SocialLearning #GOAT #Epictetus #REBT #DenisVilleneuve #Dune #PhoresttPhyre

1

Using Cara? And other thoughts on feeding AI.

1

2 Comments