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Source: Alex Mayo / iOne
The iOne Digital team was on site at this year’s CultureCon, where they took center stage to discuss a topic sparking widespread conversation—AI (artificial intelligence). As part of the largest Black-owned media company in the United States, it was an opportunity to address this powerful new technology through the lens of diverse creatives.

The panel discussion, Unlocking Creative Storytelling with AI, spoke to a standing-room-only audience at the annual CultureCon creative homecoming in Brooklyn, New York. Panelists Markus Robinson, Victoria Fleary and Cliché Wynter-Mayo lent their perspectives on the pros and cons of AI while Allison McGevna, iOne Digital’s Senior Vice President of Content moderated the conversation.

Protecting authenticity in the age of AI
Source: Alex Mayo / iOne

The panelists agreed that, as creatives, the key is to view AI as a supportive tool that enhances the creative process, rather than relying on it to produce a final product. “The use of the tool, the knowledge behind actually knowing how to generate the right prompt, is going to weed out the people who are just there for fast output, versus actual creatives and actual artists,” said Vice President of Social, Victoria Fleary.
While AI tools offer an unprecedented range of capabilities, Fleary noted the importance of remaining authentic as creatives. “We’re not putting in these prompts in order for it to generate what we’ll then say, ‘I did this.’ It is a wonderful breeding ground for the germination of ideas,” said Fleary. “Get that direction, and then you walk down that path. Don’t let AI do it for you.”
‘We need to figure out how to safeguard ourselves as creatives.’
Source: Alex Mayo / iOne

In regards to the risks of leaning too heavily into AI, Cliché Wynter-Mayo, Director of Sponsor & Affiliate Content, shared concerns around critical thinking being diminished if “we’re running to a machine for all the answers.” She also expressed some worries around data privacy, security, and misinformation that occurs with manipulated images and video. To mitigate some of these potential harms, she proposed promoting digital literacy that better equips people to discern credible information. Additionally, she wants to see more governance policies and regular data audits to ensure compliance.
“What’s next for us? How do we protect our creative minds? For me that’s where most of my hesitation comes in,” said Wynter-Mayo. “I think we’re just moving so fast. We need to give ourselves a beat to figure things out and to safeguard ourselves as creatives.”
SVP of Product and Technology Markus Robinson is pro-AI and eager to explore opportunities to leverage its uses. However, he emphasized the importance of setting boundaries to protect intellectual property. Robinson noted that iOne Digital opts out of allowing AI language models like ChatGPT and Google Gemini to “crawl” or use content published across the iOne Digital ecosystem including publications like MadameNoire, NewsOne and HipHopWired.
“We believe our voice is unique and something that a lot of folks can’t replicate, so we’ve asked the large language models (LLMs) not to crawl our stuff,” said Robinson. “At the same time, we’re actively having conversations about licensing our content, and that’s the way it should be.”
Using AI tools to streamline work and everyday life
Source: Alex Mayo / iOne
While there’s a conversation happening around protecting creatives in the new age of AI, there are also plenty of areas in which AI has become a useful tool. From transcribing audio and video to text and facilitating note-taking, this technology has proven to be a huge timesaver in the workplace, the panelists agreed. It even has a place at home, where Wynter-Mayo uses ChatGPT to inspire dinner recipes for her family by typing prompts listing the ingredients in her fridge.

It’s clear that AI is here to stay, which is why this conversation is critically important for Black and diverse creatives, the panel emphasized. Like it or not, the iOne Digital team agreed that this emergent technology is something we all need to learn and understand, at the very least. By leveraging these tools, iOne Digital is ensuring that Black and diverse creatives are being included in the AI conversation and do not get left behind as this technology continues to evolve.
Source: Alex Mayo / iOne