Embryo feature at Pro-Mcr Creative Conference

On Friday, we had the pleasure of speaking at Pro Manchester’s Creative Conference.

The conference returned this year with the theme “The Art of Creativity”. A day focused on exploring creativity across the creative, digital, and media industries.

The conference brought together professionals from a wide range of sectors to discuss how creativity plays a role in business, technology, media, and Manchester’s culture. Each panel had a different topic, looking at key trends and challenges, offering practical insights and real-life examples.

Our CCO James, joined the panel: ‘AI & Technology – The Knock-On Effects’, and Sophie, our Head of Strategy, joined the ‘Media Landscape, TV & Advertising’, both of which we will delve into in this blog.

First, let’s take a look at some of the keynote talks from the day:

Mirage Islam – University of Salford

Mirage kicked off the day with a powerful keynote session that really got the room questioning the use of AI as an everyday tool, the origins of AI, and the impact this can have on wider political, economic and sustainable factors.

Despite the wide usage of AI by the general public, whether that be chat models like ChatGPT or built-in automation tools, he highlighted how trust is, or still should be, a big cause for concern.

Over 95% of all AI models currently available are built from just one foundational model. Meaning that the majority of AI models are all built from the same code, highly likely written by the same people/group of people. But what if there was an unconscious (or deliberate) bias from this code writing that has seeped through to a very large proportion of AI models out there today?

It’s not about the avoidance of AI tools; it’s just about awareness. The best answers from AI models are given when we question the output, something that Mirage encouraged.

Among other topics of the loneliness epidemic in the UK and sustainability issues around AI, Mirage finalised his talk with a powerful call for people to foster collaboration when using AI, and to think more ‘human&AI, not human vs machine’

Key stats:

• 20-50 questions to ChatGPT uses the equivalent of 1/2L of water
• ChatGPT uses x10 more electricity than Google
• The energy required to generate 1 AI image is equivalent to 50% smartphone battery charge
• By 2030, AI will be using the same amount of energy that Japan uses today

Stanley Chow – Founder, Stanley Chow Illustrations Ltd

Another great keynote talk from Stanley Chow!

Stanley was born and raised in Manchester. His portraits, which Stanley is probably best known for can also be spotted around the city, however he is also known for ad campaigns for Vodafone, BT, VW, McDonald’s as well as working for multiple newspapers and magazines in the US including The New Yorker, New York Times, Time, Wall Street Journal, Variety, Washington Post to name a few

One thing I loved about this talk was the emphasis on simplicity being key. But when you do things simply, it doesn’t mean that it’s simple to do.

Speaking about his design process, Stanley spoke about ‘Learning a face’ and how to do a good portrait, you need to have multiple examples and angles of a face, not just one. He works digitally, and is only speedy at his work after 30 years of repetitive processes, practice, and becoming efficient at his designs.

On finding inspiration, he spoke about it coming about naturally through everyday life. He doesn’t go seeking inspiration, as this can dampen his authenticity.

Panel 2: AI & Technology – The Knock-On Effects

Panel Host: Peter Dickinson: Founder, KUB Digital LTD

Speakers:

1 – Carla Murray: Slater Heelis

2 – James Guérin: Embryo, CCO

3 – Zahraa Murtaza

4 – Olly Moriary: BIG Partnership, Creative Director

5 – Kirsty Fairclough: MMU

Following on with the theme of AI, our CCO, James, kicked off this panel speaking about our Supertools®, and how we provide that extra added insight to our services through AI-powered insight. He added that our Supertools® are led by our clients, and the time freed up from completing a lot of admin work is left free for more creative strategies and data-backed decisions.

Working at MMU, Kirsty provided an interesting alternate angle on AI, that there is a presumption of AI adoption everywhere, when in reality a lot of students are reluctant to use AI due to the environmental impacts.

Another concern about AI use was the very vague legal implications, especially around current copyright law.

A key takeaway from each member: 

• Have a stance on AI
• Start small
• Creatively don’t be scared
• See that not everyone wants to be engaged with AI
• AI can only ever be what you want it to be

Panel 4: Media Landscape, TV & Advertising

Panel Host: Sophie Coleman – Embryo

Speakers:

1 – Amna Khan

2 – Jonny Ashworth: Founder, MightyGiant

3 – Iain MacLeod – Continuing Drama

4 – Jillian Griffiths: Head of the School of Digital Arts, MMU

The final panel of the day was hosted by our very own Head of Strategy, Sophie Colman.

This panel really opened up the conversation around the creative processes behind the scenes of large TV productions. ITV’s Iain MacLeod gave some great insight into the long-term strategies behind long-standing soaps like Coronation Street and Emmerdale.

With smaller-screen entertainment on the rise, the launch of ITVx has been a huge success, with a 30% growth in viewing over the past year. Iain added that micro episodes and short clips on TikTok also perform extremely well, with audiences being able to follow key storylines without watching a full episode.

The panel also discussed how storylines are changing, with the first 10 minutes of an episode critical to gripping an audience’s attention. Meaning more often, soap dramas will start an episode with a key plot point, instead of building up to one at the end of an episode.

Despite the rise of small screen entertainment, Jonny emphasised that this isn’t the same for short form content. The #1 most used app on Smart TVs is YouTube, suggesting that long-form content isn’t dying, but live TV and scheduled entertainment are.

As always, it was great to be involved in an event that celebrates the creative talent across Greater Manchester and the North.

Thanks to Pro-Manchester for having us!

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