Strands of Genius: Quantifying Meta Trends, AI Generated Text-To-Image Art is on Fire, Metaverse On Our Minds
Guest curated by Ilya Petrov
Each year we aim to highlight 50 creative thinkers that have inspired us by giving them the opportunity to guest curate this newsletter, Strands of Genius. This edition is guest curated by Ilya Petrov Partnership Transformation Director @ Nike
:: A BIT MORE ABOUT GUEST CURATOR, ILYA PETROV::
LOCATION: Amsterdam
PLACE OF EMPLOYMENT: Partnership Transformation Director @ Nike
Hoi! Met Ilya Petrov. I'm a practical dreamer and responsible futurist. I'm spending my days thinking about three fundamental questions: what are the variations of the possible future, what is the best fit for a brand in it, and how to handle the shift? Today, I'm a partnership transformation director at Nike, planning horizon 2 for our crucial e-commerce partners in Europe across consumer experience, loyalty, and sustainability. I like to turn everything into a project. Since 2016, I've been reading most of the trend reports available online and publishing the summary on my website. Even earlier, about nine years ago, I joined Proximity (part of BBDO Group) as a digital strategy director. The idea I had at that moment was to formalize my learnings on planning frameworks in the shape of one deck of tip cards. By now, the Strategy Deck app was used by 50 thousand planners worldwide and is about to get a first relaunch in 9 years (https://ilyapetrov.com/strategydeck/). Back then, I was trying to give it a first spin and was writing to some random folks from the community to spread the word. That's when I twitted Faris, who was a strategy legend already. Long story short, he twitted me back.
Editor’s Note (Genius Steals): We’ve been in contact with Ilya off and on over the years about his Strategy Deck app with classic gold communication strategy frameworks. We love what you’re doing, Ilya, and cannot wait for the relaunch! Also, how cute is the photo below?! Congrats on the baby girl! Thanks for being here and thanks for the wonderful links!
:: THE LINKS ::
QUANTIFYING META TRENDS
Matt Klein and Sarah DaVanzo are applying AI to evaluate the most influential trend reports. The AI declares that what we humans thought was most important was not actually the case. While failing to identify the trends behind the trends, the algorithms are great at highlighting something we've missed. Check Part II for the top 40 ranked, overlooked micro-trends discovered by the AI: from Inclusive Insurance to Media Anxiety. (Zine)
AI GENERATED TEXT-TO-IMAGE ART IS ON FIRE
Go to www.midjourney.com, join their Discord (it's free), and keep any channel open for a while. The results are amazing. What fascinates me most is studying people's queries and getting insights into the nature of creativity. Imagine you can get a picture of whatever you can imagine. What will it be? Surprisingly, not much. Katherine Conaway is reflecting on her MidJourney-inspired thoughts, comparing the briefing of the algorithm with a briefing of a creative team. (Medium)
METAVERSE ON OUR MINDS
Since Facebook turned Meta in October 2021, the metaverse become a part of everyone's agenda. Still, most people talking about this topic are pure theorists and have never worn a VR helmet. So, how does the meta-world look? Well, now you have a movie about it. HBO has just released the We Met In Virtual Reality movie. This is a documentary shot in VR Chat, the most developed and immersive virtual world out there. Cinematic value aside, I'm sure you'll get some anthropological value. (HBO)
Looking for more from Ilya Petrov? Those enrolled in The School of Stolen Genius will receive a deep dive from him in their inbox shortly! You can access all our expert interviews for SOSG here.
:: AND NOW… SOME FAST FAVORITES ::
:: Game :: Pretending to be a decent adult
:: City :: Amsterdam, because of creative energy free of judgement
:: Book :: Transmetropolitan by Warren Ellis
:: Podcast :: Baby Sleep White Noise 8 hours
:: Album :: Cry by Cigarettes After Sex
:: I’M HOLDING MY FUTURE IN MY HANDS ::
Ilya Petrov
Future: Science & Fiction
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It's called Genius Steals because we believe ideas are new combinations and that nothing can come from nothing. But copying is lazy. We believe the best way to innovate is to look at the best of that which came before and combine those elements into new solutions.
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