Hacking The Heart: Creative Technologist on Emotional Digital Intelligence, Omar Karim
- S1E7
- 53:16
- April 29th 2025
In this week’s episode, Orlando sits down with AI Creative Technologist (Ex Meta, Ex R/GA, Ex Anomaly) and artist Omar Karim to explore the messy, playful, and sometimes deeply personal intersection of human emotion and machine intelligence.
Omar, whose unconventional career has taken him from groundbreaking ad agencies to leading creative tech at Meta, discusses the art of experimentation – why it’s the secret sauce in a world of generative AI, and how he’s turned tools meant for productivity into vessels for performance art and emotional exploration. The conversation delves into Omar’s viral “Mum AI” project – a digital companion built not just to automate, but to nurture and heal – and what it taught him about the limits and potential of emotional AI.
Orlando and Omar unpack the punk, pirate attitude behind creative repurposing of technology, the value of lateral thinking, and why failure is a necessary ingredient for innovation. The episode moves fluidly from the philosophical (what kind of questions are worth asking AI?) to the practical (the wild world of 3D printing, emotional feedback loops, and museum “heists” made possible by generative models).
Expect candid insights on what makes creativity truly human, how digital tools can be bent into unexpected shapes, and why the most interesting uses of AI are often the least expected.
Orlando & Omar cover:
- How Omar’s playful approach to experimentation unlocks new possibilities for tech, art, and emotion
- The story behind Mum AI - building a digital companion that offered real support and sparked global conversations
- Why failure, creative risk, and lateral thinking are essential in an era of generative tools
- The ethics and artistry behind Omar’s digital “museum heist” and 3D-printed artifacts
- Why emotional intelligence, intuition, and a punk attitude matter more than ever in creative technology
Useful Links
- Omar Karim’s website: https://omarkarim.party/
- Follow Omar on Instagram: Omar Karim (@arthur_chance) • Instagram photos and videos
- KoobrikLabs website: KoobrikLabs - KoobrikLabs
- Connect with Orlando on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/orlando-wood/
KoobrikLabs Podcast
The Koobrik Labs Podcast explores how technology and AI are transforming the creative industries.
In a world where creativity and technology increasingly intersect, artists, designers, and storytellers need to embrace new tools to streamline workflows, eliminate inefficiencies, and unlock their full potential.
How can AI enhance the creative process without replacing the human touch?
What emerging technologies are reshaping content production?
How can creative teams stay ahead in a tech-driven landscape?
These are the questions that our host, Orlando Wood, seeks to answer on this show.
In each episode, we sit down with leaders from media, entertainment, publishing, advertising, and beyond to uncover how they’re leveraging technology to elevate creativity and solve industry-specific challenges.
You can learn more about Koobrik Labs at KoobrikLabs - KoobrikLabs