The future of creativity; a conversation with Lucy and Andrés (IAM)

Lucy and Andrés are the founders of IAM, a platform that explores the possible futures of some of our favourite topics, including media, arts, education and the Internet.

Apart from being responsible for one the most unusual events in Barcelona (they organise an annual festival called IAM Weekend), Lucy and Andrés were early testers of Triggers.

We wanted to ask them a few question on creativity, randomness and the future. We hope it sparks some interesting thoughts in your head.

Triggers: What does serendipity mean for you? Why is it so important?

Lucy and Andrés: For us, serendipity is about being open-minded and curious, trusting the randomness of the Internet. It is very difficult to describe it in a few words; it is something that emerges from complexity and our hyper-connectivity. Sometimes it may feel like pre-fabricated good luck resulting in unexpected and non-obvious connections which we experience as 'happy accidents'. It is deeply integrated into our lifestyle and the classic mechanics of the Internet. We think it is important because, at its core, it refers to trusting the goodwill of humanity. It is a complex message of hope.

Triggers: In your event, you'll debate about post-work, post-labels and post-advertising. What could post-creativity mean?

Lucy and Andrés: Post-creativity may be a way to refer to the idea of augmented creativity that researchers as Samim Winiger have been exploring recently. He developed the concept in this talk he gave at IAM Weekend 16. The product of applying advanced technologies like machine learning and/or artificial intelligence in any creative process may be an early signal of post-creativity. 

Triggers: Does the future(s) need creativity? Will it be a substantial value in the future?

Lucy and Andrés: We like to think that, in the near future, creativity will be an essential part of a post-work lifestyle, for everyone, not just for those who currently belong to the so-called creative industries. To get there, we now need to recover the value of collective imagination and apply creativity to solve the most complex and relevant issues that our society needs to deal with: from climate change to the refugee crisis to finding new business models for the Internet. It has been a significant value in the history of civilisation and, possibly, the shift for the upcoming decades will be towards mastering collective creativity.

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Don't miss IAM Weekend this April in Barcelona. Honestly, you should come.