“I’m an AI filmmaker and a creative director,” said Omar Karim, shortly after stepping off stage after the AI and Creativity panel at Chelsea Arts Festival which also featured Suhair Khan, Dr Shama Rahman and Freya Salway. “My background is in advertising, and then for the last few years I’ve basically been trying to see what are the outer limits of AI in the creative space. And I’m here at the Chelsea Arts Festival and I’m so excited because I just shared a panel with some of the smartest people.”
“As Much a Learning for Me as for Anybody Else”
Reflecting on the discussion, Omar said: “I think my favourite thing from the panel was hearing a really diverse range of opinions and thoughts. And just to sort of be sharing that space with such incredible and talented people is just, it’s as much a learning for me as it is for anybody else.”
He laughed as he described his hands-on curiosity. “My background is, like I said, it’s advertising, so there’s no technical background there. It’s just an absolute curiosity of like, can I make a machine do the next one? Oh, it turns out I can. That’s amazing!”
On Techno-Optimism and Doomscrolling
When asked what makes him a technology-optimist (rather than a techno-pessimist), Karim said: “There is so much pessimism and it’s so easy to sort of default to pessimism. I think optimism really requires us to actually push ourselves out of our frame of comfort and our frame of reference. Without optimism we are doomed, right?”
He added: “When it comes to this technology that is essentially like intelligence that you can pay for or just access, this is the most fundamental thing ever. I’m just really excited. So I think my level of excitement about how people will use this technology is probably what makes me optimistic.”
Omar added, “Also, you know, I’ve doomscrolled so long I’m like, can I get any more pessimistic than doomscrolling? Probably not.”
An Optimistic Energy
Suhair Khan, who moderated the panel, described the discussion as forward-looking and hopeful. “My name is Suhair Khan and I just moderated the panel on AI and technology in the arts, looking at the future of this creative renaissance” she said.
“In today’s talk, I felt that we had a really positive and optimistic energy in thinking about how technology can support and augment the work of artists and creators working at the intersection of neuroscience, filmmaking, physical sculpture and new technologies,” she explained. “It was a really thoughtful group of speakers who really wanted to consider the role of human and creative in how we think about pushing new technologies out into the cultural ecosystem. And obviously the recognition that at the end of the day, we still need each other. We need to physically be present with one another.”
On Chelsea
Khan said that being part of the festival was perfect for her. “I live in Chelsea,” she said. “So I was really excited to be invited to the festival because I live down the street from the Saatchi Gallery, and it feels really lovely to have some amazing people (creatives, activists, comedians, writers) coming together and really celebrating the best of London at a time where I think we’re all kind of struggling to get back into a sense of optimism as the summer ends.”
She added that she planned to attend other sessions. “Yes, I’m definitely coming to see Malala at Cadogan Hall,” she said. “I’m from Pakistan, so I’m very personally inspired by her. And I’m going to be around for the rest of the day, checking out whatever comes next at Saatchi Gallery.”
We Need More of This
Reflecting on the festival’s impact in Chelsea, Khan said: “I haven’t seen anything like this happening before and I hope that we continue to experience culture in these ways and to bring people together, because we’re probably the most beautiful neighbourhood in London and we need more of this.”
Between Karim’s enthusiasm for a creative future powered by optimism and Khan’s thoughtful reminder that technology must serve human connection, the session captured the mood of the whole festival: curious, hopeful and full of possibility.
