Award-Winning AI Artist, Storyteller, & Technologist
Taryn Southern: Biography at a Glance
- Taryn Southern is a pioneering storyteller known for her work at the intersection of emerging technology, creativity, and human potential. She is passionate about helping people “future-proof” their lives with AI and other emerging technologies.
- As an early content creator on YouTube, Taryn garnered more than 750 million views on YouTube and advised Fortune 500 companies (ie. Marriott, Condé Nast) on digital content strategy.
- Taryn’s work with AI began in 2017 with a groundbreaking creative experiment - to compose an entire music album with AI. The result, I AM AI, was said to be the first AI pop album and hit the Top 100 of the US Radio Charts in 2018.
- In addition, Taryn’s Tribeca Film Festival premiering documentary, I AM HUMAN, explores the jaw-dropping possibilities of brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) — and the larger implications we must consider.
- As Chief Storytelling Officer at a leading neurotech company, Taryn has a front row seat to the future. She oversees special projects for patients with neurological disorders who use BCIs to control external digital devices such as computers or robotic arms — just by thinking.
- As a stage 3 breast cancer survivor, Taryn is passionate about how AI can be applied to mental health and wellbeing.
Media
Official Site: TarynSouthern.comYouTube: Taryn SouthernBlackrock NeurotechBBC: Do you think AI has made you a better artist?Catch: The world's first AI-composed music album is here, and it sounds amazingThe Verge: I Am Human is a tech doc with a refreshing focus on peopleTech Crunch: Algo-Rhythms: The future of album collaborationTODAY: Music made by machines? Inside the latest revolution in musicForbes: Taryn Southern: How This YouTube Star Used AI For Her New AlbumNBC: AI-generated music growing exponentially, sparking debate
Videos
Biography
Taryn Southern is an award-winning artist and filmmaker known for her work at the intersection of emerging technology and human potential. Her work includes co-directing and producing an award-winning documentary on the future of the brain (Official Selection in the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival), composing the world’s first AI album (Top 100 US Radio Charts), producing an award-winning Google VR series (Winner of the AT&T Film Award), and releasing the first Ethereum-based song token. Taryn is also the first content creator to create a video clone of herself using Generative AI. A three-time Streamy Awards nominee, Taryn’s work has been featured in Vanity Fair, Billboard, Fast Company, Wired, Forbes, Psychology Today, Harvard Business Review and more.
A pioneering YouTuber, Taryn uploaded her first viral video to YouTube in 2007. More than ten years and 750 million views later, Taryn had written, produced, or starred in more than 1500 pieces of digital content. She has created series for networks like Conde Naste, The Today Show, MTV, Snapchat, and Maker Studios, written for Business Insider and TechCrunch, served as a host for Discovery Channel’s #1 late night show, and signed a development deal with National Geographic Network.
Taryn has designed dozens of media initiatives to help science and technology companies spark consumer conversation, inspire investment interest, and shift public perception. From biotech to blockchain, she’s advised and/or invested in companies like Vessel, HTC Vive, Extend Fertility, Invitae Genetics, Forever Labs, Tubular, Snapchat, and Marriott, and sits on the board of the National Academy of Medicine Longevity Challenge. A passionate advocate of women in tech, she is currently developing several projects in the science and emerging technology spaces.
Topics
Unlock Creativity & Bold Storytelling with AI
Pioneering content creator and award-winning AI artist Taryn Southern has worked at the intersection of transformative technology and storytelling for more than a decade. From releasing the world’s first solo pop album composed with AI to directing an award-winning film on the future of human and artificial intelligence, Taryn shares the key lessons for optimizing individual and collective creativity and demonstrates how you can use AI to craft powerful, imaginative stories.
No Limits: Future-Proof Your Life with Generative AI
Pioneering content creator Taryn Southern has always had a front row seat to the future. As one of the first content creators on YouTube, she was part of a media revolution that changed every aspect of business and personal life. Since that time, she has broken new ground across AI, blockchain, virtual reality, and neurotechnology. Then in 2019, Taryn found herself facing a series of unexpected life events that challenged her optimism and resilience. In this session, Taryn shares the mind-blowing AI technologies that you can use to inspire creativity, outside-the-box thinking, and personal transformation in your business - and life.
Themes:
- Ways to tactically transform your life with AI - productivity, wellbeing
- How to think outside the box with AI
- Changing norms: work smarter, not harder
The Future *Isn’t* What You Think (or is it?)
Award-winning documentarian and emerging technology anthropologist Taryn Southern has spent the past decade working at the intersection of science and storytelling – and she’s here to tell you the future isn’t what you think…or maybe…it is?
Harnessing the power of machine learning and neural interfaces, concepts such as telepathy, telekinesis, and decoding dreams are no longer the work of science fiction….but real-world possibilities.
In this highly visual and powerful keynote, Southern offers an anthemic view of today’s most awe-inspiring advancements empowered by neurotechnology and machine learning – and how we can harness the insights from these technologies to unlock our own potential.
The World’s First Superhumans
Imagine being able to type, create digital art, and operate a robotic arm – with just your thoughts. Long considered the stuff of sci-fi lore, superhuman abilities are now a reality thanks to the real-world magic of implantable brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), which enable direct communication between the human brain and digital devices.
In this session, Taryn shares the remarkable stories of some of the world’s first real-world superhumans - Nancy, James, and Nathan. Afflicted with paralysis, these early research participants have defied human limitations, restored lost function, and even gained new senses through their mind-bending research. While only a few dozen people globally have been implanted with a BCI, with a surge of investment in neurotechnology and AI, that number is about to multiply.
What is the future of vision, hearing, learning, and memory? How will BCIs enable new forms of communication, embodiment, and creativity? Should this technology be available to everyone, and perhaps, most importantly, is society ready?
When Things Go South: Finding Resilience with Ancient & Modern Technologies
A pioneering storyteller, anthropologist, and artist, Taryn Southern’s work has long explored the intersection of science, technology, and human potential. Then in 2019, Taryn’s optimistic mindset was suddenly shattered after a series of unexpected life events: a stage 3 cancer diagnosis, a devastating breakup, the loss of her home, and a burglary that left her with little more than a suitcase of clothes.
Caught between the slippery wheels of life-threatening disease and soul-crushing depression, Taryn embarked on an east-meets-west search for healing that took her to the outer edges of science and spirituality: from breathwork practitioners in northern California to electrifying healers in Bali. Between one stomach-churning medicine – chemotherapy – to another - ayahuasca, an unexpected vision for healing emerged: one that found room for humor, pragmatism, and a little magical thinking.
Now Chief Storytelling Officer at a leading neurotechnology company, Southern works at the bleeding edge of science. In this session, she shares the story of her unexpected pilgrimage, and how takeaways in ancient wisdom and modern neuroscience can help you find resilience and possibility in the face of extreme uncertainty.
Takeaways:
- How insights from old & new technologies can be used to reduce stress, enhance resilience, and turn pain into purpose
- Navigating uncertainty and fear
- Why sharing your story is critical for wellbeing
