Artificial Intelligence and Creativity: Opportunity or Threat
Apr 15, 2025
Location
Loughborough University, London
Description
Until recently experts believed that creative jobs and businesses would be among the least vulnerable to AI and robotisation. However, in recent years these views have changed with the acceleration of Generative AI tools, which are already used as a low-cost substitute for creator labour previously done by humans. Undoubtedly, AI systems not only have made an impact on human creativity but have gone as far as generating new and original content, prompting some scholars to describe machine-based generative outputs as ‘artificial creativity’ (Moruzzi, 2021; Runco, 2023a, 2023b).
There are currently two discourses: on the one hand, there are enthusiasts who stress that the adoption and use of AI as a tool brings increased potential for creative tasks, expanding the reach and speed of search beyond the localised imagination of people, and ultimately resulting in augmented human talent and creativity. Digitisation of creative content has made professionals more productive and saved thousands of hours of tedious “grunt work” in activities like animation, where AI can substitute for repetitive rendering, freeing workers attention for higher-level and potentially more creative tasks.
Against this promise and opportunity sceptics report that work is already being lost, particularly in the more precarious freelance sector. Moreover, AI models depend on creative content produced by humans, which is exploited without regard for the human sources and their remuneration, since Intellectual Property enforcement is difficult with online content. From this respect, there are concerns that AI systems will eventually diminish human creativity and jeopardise the future of jobs, businesses and entire industries, including education institutions serving those industries.
This event will bring together these two contrasting perspectives to consider both sides and debate the opportunities and threats of AI for creativity.
Applying the Right UX based on Users' Needs and Future Trends of UX
Oct 18, 2024
Location
BINUS Business School campus, Jakarta, Indonesia, and online.
Description
In this guest lecture, delivered to students online and at campuses across Indonesia, Dr Jackie Cameron provides a comprehensive overview of user experience (UX) principles and their application in digital marketing contexts. Covering key definitions, industry practices and current research, Dr Cameron explores the subjective and dynamic nature of UX, emphasising its impact on user satisfaction and brand loyalty. Through practical examples, an examination of findings from contemporary studies and exploring likely future trends, the lecture highlights strategies for aligning UX design with evolving user expectations. It encourages participants to incorporate a user-centred approach in their digital strategies.
This lecture was delivered during the 6th BINUS Business School International Lecture Week, October 18-23, 2024. Theme: "AI Integration in Business and Education: Practices, Research, and the Way Forward. A Collaboration of Academic Research & Industry Practices."
Employability attributes: Meeting deadlines, time management
Jun 26, 2024
Location
Craiglockhart Campus, Edinburgh Napier University
Description
This talk aimed to excavate marketing practitioner insights on whether meeting deadlines and time management are important graduate attributes that should be carefully considered in an employability-focused curriculum. The presentation sets out the debates on the value and role of assessment deadline extensions in university education and shares progress on a quantitative study that aims to inform assessment policy.
Gender and Sexuality Research at Edinburgh Napier University
Mar 6, 2024
Location
Merchiston Campus, room: MER_H11
Description
Let’s get together and listen to colleagues working on gender and sexuality! And then let’s talk about their fascinating ideas, and how they relate to our own work and topics! This event is envisaged as informal and friendly gathering, following the success of similar gathering in 2023. We want to continue on this good tradition, and build new connections, learn about inspiring research we are doing across the university, feel inspired and nurtured.
Please send any queries to: Dr Roberto Kulpa (r.kulpa@napier.ac.uk)
SCHEDULE
14:00-14:10
Welcome (Roberto Kulpa)
14:10-15:00 TRANS LIVES
GUEST: Gina Gwenffrewi (University of Edinburgh) will start with an input about trans* people's cultural production online (i.e. YouTube, Twitter/X), framing the moral panic, and its impact on the trans* communities.
Rob Clucas (Law) will speak to the latest ‘gender critical’ challenge to the Gender Recognition Act 2004 in the appeal to the Supreme Court in the For Women Scotland case. He suggests that a solution to the current poisonous polemic around trans* rights can usefully be sought in the dialogic theory of Martin Buber (Buber 1958).
Toni Kania (Social Sciences) will introduce their PhD project about conceptualising bodily autonomy and sovereignty of trans* people – and from trans* peoples’ perspective – in Poland.
15:00-15:10 Coffee and pastries break
15:10-16:00 GENDERED VIOLENCE
Amy Beddows (Counselling) will speak about the potential of horror texts as tools for survivors processing the experiences of gendered violence.
Anne Schwan (English) will reflect on femicide, perpetrator narratives and the challenge of restorative justice, drawing from her analysis of Em Strang's novel “Quinn” (2023).
Fiona McQueen (Social Sciences) will conclude this section pondering on her project on Scottish young men’s attitudes towards prevention messages on violence against women, incl. queer & trans men’s accounts and insights.
16:00-16:10 Coffee and pastries break
16:10-17:00 REPRESENTATIONS
Yen Nee Wong (Social Sciences) will introduce us to queer cultures of ballroom dancing and the role of Strictly Come Dancing’s representations and mainstreaming.
David Bishop (Creative Writing) will speak about his creative writing PhD, instigation into the scarcity of queer sleuths in historical mystery fiction set before the Victorian era, and the politics of outing and authorship.
Phiona Stanley (Tourism) will talk about labels – ‘spinsters’, ‘crazy cat ladies’, ‘witches’. It is also, in theoretical terms, about queering queerness by negotiating the queer and deeply gendered queerness of spinsterhood.
17:00-17:10 Coffee and pastries break
17:10-17:45 POP!
Ashley Stein (Music) will introduce their PhD project on how hyperpop and other electronic music practices can be used to destabilise gender binaries.
Frederik Byrn Køhlert (English, Visual Cultures) will close this input section with a reflection on the representation of gender and sexuality in comics & graphic novels, incl. examples from work as editor of a Routledge series on Gender, Sexuality, and Comics.
17:45-onwards: Post-Event Drinks & Food at nearby The Golf Tavern
30-31 Wright's Houses, Bruntsfield, EH10 4HR
Event Organisation:
Dr Roberto Kulpa
School of Applied Sciences: Deputy Research Degrees Lead
Co-Director: MSc Applied Social Research
Co-Investigator: (2022-2026) ‘RESIST. Fostering Queer Feminist Intersectional Resistances against Transnational Anti-Gender Politics’ (EU Horizon Europe grant no. 101060749).
Smart Connected Vehicles Innovation Centre, The first academic research lab in Canada's largest technology park, and University of Ottawa's Kanata North campus, Ottawa- Canada.
Description
An Invited Talk from University of Ottawa's Kanata North campus, Smart Connected Vehicles Innovation Center. The talk is about Digital Twin Networks in 6G ERA: The Real-Time Connected Intelligence
Lions' Gate Garden free event as part of the Climate Fringe and the Great Big Green Week, supported by the Permaculture Association.
At 3.30pm influential, Emeritus Professor of Social Anthropology at Aberdeen University Tim Ingold, presented his latest work ‘Generation Now‘ from our Storytelling Chair.
Tim has made a huge impact on design philosophy, and was a favourite of Edinburgh Napier’s late, great Prof. David Benyon, whose own design work on Blended Spaces has fundamentally informed The Lions’ Gate.
Other wholesome and life-affirming activities of the day included:
Holistic Therapies by Emma J @ Blue Butterfly Therapies
Student exhibits from the School of Arts and Creative Industries
Campus-grown food
Cocktails and drinks
Music, including DJ Someone’s Dad and Blue Heron
Garden tours
The Lions' Gate Garden: ENU, 10 Colinton Road, EH10 5DT
Description
Over 30 attendees ate, drank, blethered, engaged, questioned, laughed, listened, chilled-out, and learnt a thing or two about what living sustainably actually is.
We unveiled our interactive storytelling chair and memorial to Professor David Benyon, crafted by Neil Fyffe (https://www.facebook.com/Neil-Fyffes-Workshop-1405191703026383). Brian Davison demonstrated an environmental sensor network developed in collaboration with students. Kris Plum exhibited an interactive plastics-recycling bin. Aisling Murphy delved into the wildlife and plants of The Lions' Gate and demonstrated Shona Burns' interactive Lions' Gate audio tour. Graham Bell talked eloquently of the history of Hasten Slowly (Festina Lente), the impact of climate collapse, and shared insights into how to live sustainably. Participants added their wishes to our COP26 Wishing Tree on tags with seeds embedded in them, that we'll plant up as a COP26 garden. Juliete, Sally and Zhoa served up - herb teas, courgette cake and pizzas. Allan MacMillan provided soothing background to it all with delightful acoustic guitar work.
We kept the door to the library open, and inside was a wee chill-out area next to our book case.
(Re)presenting cover girls: Exploring female diversity in magazines
Feb 20, 2020
Location
Merchiston Campus
Description
This event explores female diversity on magazine covers, in magazine publishing businesses themselves, and throughout the creative industries.
Magazines play an important role in perpetuating stereotypes that fail to represent society. This misrepresentation impacts on self-perception and helps to maintain socioeconomic disparities.
The event begins with a research-based talk presenting the shocking reality of misrepresentation in British magazines, and is followed by a panel session, inviting media practitioners and the public to contribute ideas, promote change and tackle this historical issue.
SICS-sponsored workshop to:
1. Establish the current state of play for research into Graduate Apprenticeships in Scotland and share initial findings.
2. Discuss what research is needed and what data is available.
3. Organise collaborations and joint dissemination.
5th International Conference Big Data in Cyber Security
Jun 4, 2019
Location
Edinburgh Napier University - Craiglockhart Campus
Description
The 5th International Conference in Big Data in Cyber Security runs over 4th and 5th June, 2019. It includes a wide range of businesses, universities, non-profit and Scottish Government organisations.
"The M Word" with the International Magazine Centre
Apr 24, 2019
Location
The M Word
Wednesday 24 April 2019
5.30 (for 6pm) to 8pm
Lindsay Stewart Lecture Theatre, Craiglockhart
Description
The M Word
The first International Magazine Centre event
Keynote speaker – Simon Kanter, Creative Director at Haymarket Media Group
Simon Kanter led the redesign of Campaign magazine, as well as the multi-award winning 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games daily programmes. He'll be sharing his insights gained from these projects as well as his work on magazines as varied as People Management, Work, Forever Sports, FourFourTwo, Stuff and The Net.
Opening Speaker – Rosalind Tulloch, Editor at 2A Publishing
Ros has been the Editor at 2A since its inception in 2011. She's worked on titles in healthcare and disability for more than ten years, working across all aspects of publishing. Ros is Editor of PosAbility Magazine, an innovative disability lifestyle publication that focuses on the opportunities available to disabled people today.
This public event was free for all students (and staff of Edinburgh Napier). Attendees included publishers, designers and advertisers, with the event being marketed across the magazine publishing industry.
School of Computing PhD Workshop Series - Final Event
Oct 31, 2018
Location
16:00 in CoRe44 (room C44) Merchiston Campus
Description
Please join us for the closing event of the PhD masterclass. As a reminder, PhD masterclass was a seminar series run last semester to promote knowledge and skills exchange between students. For this closing event, there will be 4 short talks on:
How can students take a step towards research impact?
Lindsey Middleton
How to simplify reality ? An introduction to the purposes and approaches of modelling
Cedric Perret
Why statistics matter
Sean McKeown
Visualising your results and other tricks with R
Andreas Steyven
The seminar starts at 4pm in C44 and it is followed by a social gathering (including a lot of food).
All students and staff welcome.
RIVAL (Research Impact Value and LIS) #lis_rival
Jul 11, 2018
Location
Room 1/10, Craiglockhart Campus
Description
Entitled Research Impact Value and LIS (RIVAL), this event brought together members of three main groups – creators, users, and end-user beneficiaries of LIS research output – to explore concepts and examples of the impact and value of LIS research to services delivery in practice. The format of the day encouraged the strengthening of links between these interacting communities, narrowing of gaps between LIS research and practice, and laying the ground for future research-related support and collaborations across the sector.
There were practitioner delegates from a range of libraries (academic, health, national, prison, public, special), plus others from the research community, the main UK professional body for library and information professionals, and independent consultants. Organisations represented were:
Birmingham City University
British Library
Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP)
City of Edinburgh Council
Department for International Development
Edinburgh City Libraries
Edinburgh Napier University
Goldsmiths, University of London
Healthcare Improvement Scotland
LKN Foundation
National Library of Scotland
Northumbria University
Scottish Poetry Library
Scottish Prison Service College
University College London
University of East Anglia
University of Edinburgh
University of Salford
University of Strathclyde
The German Diaspora during World War I: Remembering Internment Camps in Britain and the Commonwealth
Mar 9, 2018
Location
The National Archives, Kew.
Description
Invited talk to promote the above project at one-day public event on Cultural History in Practice: Spies and Spying. Public study day, c. 25 attendees from both academia and general public. (https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/cultural-history-in-practice-spies-and-spying-tickets-42859779755)
Time Management in Research - School of Computing PhD Workshop Series
Mar 7, 2018
Location
CORE 44, room C44 Merchiston Campus
Description
The presentation will discuss concepts, tips and common issues of time management, focussing on tackling long-term projects, maintaining motivation and achieving a good work/life balance.
Juanjo Mata De Acuna, studied Computer Engineering in Spain and came to Napier to study the Msc on Advanced Security and Digital Forensics. Currently he works as a KTP associate with Edinburgh Napier and Satisnet, researching on how to improve the way that computer security training is delivered on e-learning and virtual platforms.
