Laurens Vreekamp

Laurens Vreekamp

Laurens Vreekamp (1980) is a journalist, design thinker and founder of the Future Journalism Today Academy. His book The Art of AI, a practical book about AI and machine learning, was published in 2022. The book is mainly aimed at media makers and offers an overview and explanation of more than 70 applications that can assist you in the different phases of creative productions. Furthermore, it contains twelve interviews with various AI pioneers in the creative industry.

Laurens works as an independent researcher, teacher and designer for, among others, RTL Nieuws, Nu.nl, Dentsu, Aegis, the Financieel Dagblad, NPO Radio 1 and the KRO-NCRV. He previously worked as a Teaching Fellow at Google’s News Lab and was a lecturer-researcher UX Design at Hogeschool Utrecht, where he received the Teacher of the Year Award in 2013. In 2003 he graduated cum laude from the University of Portsmouth as European Media Master of Arts in Interactive Media.

Laurens talks about:
– The power of AI. Everyone can use the power of AI: you no longer have to program yourself to use AI in your work. Laurens explains with practical examples how everyone in the media, journalism and creative industry is already deploying (or can deploy) AI.

– AI tools for the innovation process. Do you need new ideas, do you want to approach concept development differently or are you unable to figure it out yourself? Don’t worry, there are AI tools for every part of the creative process: research, insight, creation and production.

– Demystification of AI. The world of professionals who work with information is constantly changing and AI technology plays an increasingly important role. Knowledge about how AI works and its possibilities is important: if you understand AI, you no longer have to be afraid of it. You’ll discover that it is not magic and, more importantly, you become equipped to use its new possibilities.

Laurens writes a newsletter about AI for creatives and has been a member of the Council of Europe’s Expert Group on Increasing Media Resilience (MSI-RES) since 2022.