Silicon Valley and the Thames Valley may be 5,000 miles apart, but like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito in Twins, they were separated at birth.
On the surface, that is a tad deranged. One valley has eternal sunshine, the Pacific Ocean, and the Santa Cruz Mountains. The other valley has regular drizzle, the River Kennet, and the Chilterns.
And it is not just the geography: historic pubs, humour, and modesty are in far greater abundance on the M4 corridor, than in the Bay Area.
But before you reach for the strait jacket, let me explain what I am on about.
First off, the Thames Valley has its fair share of silicon. The actual Silicon Valley may have the “FAANG” (Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google) OGs, but the Thames Valley is the European stronghold of the “MOCA” (Microsoft, Oracle, Cisco, and Adobe).
Secondly, both valleys are in the movies. On one side of the pond, there is Pixar, Lucasfilm, and Industrial Light and Magic. On the other, there is Pinewood, Bray and the shiny new Shinfield Studios.
Given the area’s technological and cinematic traditions, it made sense for the Thames Valley AI Hub and REDA to host an “AI In Film” event at the University of Reading.
I was delighted to be invited to speak, along with Dominic Lees (drama director, associate professor, and leader of the Synthetic Media Research Network), Afia Nkrumah (prolific writer/director and Google Labs Tester), Neil Linford-Relph (ex-McKinsey and Accenture consultant, Design Director and AI specialist), and screen studies supremo Sarah Byrne.
Ably MC’d by REDA’s Mark Pearson, the discussion covered everything from AI as a pitching tool, to face-swapping technology, and the large audience of filmmakers, academics, tech entrepreneurs, and AI creatives were incredibly engaged.
This was a million miles away from the pro-AI and anti-AI slanging matches of yesteryear, and the whole event was buzzing with the possibilities of combining human ingenuity with AI tools to make things happen.
Many audience members seemed to have an AI-related project or business on the go, and there was even an Apple Technical Partner who had brought along his own unicycle!
Who needs the Golden Gate Bridge, when you have got the Elizabeth Line and bags of enthusiasm?
