My AI Learning Stack: What I Read, Listen To, and Attend
A few of my go-to resources + hi to new Sundance Collab folks!
Last Thursday, I taught “AI for Documentary Filmmakers” at Sundance Collab’s Story Forum. Over 400 people signed up for the one-hour workshop! (Thank you to everyone who joined, and hi to new friends who subscribed after attending.)
The chat was buzzing with great questions and recommendations (yes, it was recorded—I’ll share it when it goes live).
What struck me most: the anxiety has shifted. It’s giving less “Should I engage with AI? Is this evil?” and more “Okay…how do I use this ethically and intelligently without falling behind?”
So here’s how I keep up with AI tools + news in a way that’s actually sustainable—because no one has time to wade through boring AI slop, especially not boring AI slop about AI. 🙃
In this issue: 4 of my favorite go-to resources + 3 IRL communities worth knowing.
My #1 Favorite Place to Learn About AI: Hard Fork Podcast
Why I love it: This NYT podcast is theoretically about tech broadly, but in practice it’s mostly about AI (they are the first to admit it). It’s funny and casual, but they also have sharp critical takes and interview people actually building the stuff. I listen pretty much every week. Kevin Roose also has great custom instructions for ChatGPT that I borrowed for my own settings (which I shared in the workshop!) and honestly…I find myself bringing up tidbits from this podcast a lot at dinner parties, etc.
Best for: Keeping up with the overall AI industry in podcast form. Weekly download without overwhelm (~60 min of listening)
When I Need to Sound Smart: One Useful Thing by Ethan Mollick
I know what you’re thinking: “Kris, you always sound smart!” TYSM. However, it’s only because I read this newsletter. Just kidding!! But like, not TOTALLY kidding.
Why I like it: Ethan is an author and professor, and his writing is intellectual and thoughtful without veering into “overly boring academic” land. In a sea of AI-focused newsletters that are either light on prose or where the prose seems mostly written by ChatGPT... this one stands out as really thoughtful and well-written. This newsletter isn’t focused on film/creativity specifically, but he touches on these worlds a lot. And I think understanding the broader landscape is key to understanding our corner of it.
Best for: Understanding the broader AI landscape, not just film/creativity. Slightly more academic/intellectual in tone.
When I’m Catching Up On the News: Today in Generative Media
Why I like it: Comprehensive, straightforward news roundup every day. I don’t personally read it daily (it’s a lot!), but when I want to catch up on what’s new, browsing a few recent issues is a great way to go.
Best for: Quick catch-up and updates on what’s happening across the genAI landscape.
When I Want Structured Learning: Curious Refuge Courses
Why I like them: Curious Refuge has a number of great courses on AI & Film. I took their AI Filmmaking course over a year ago and learned a lot. Since then they’ve added courses on AI Documentary (which quotes this very newsletter!! Thanks Fred), AI VFX, AI Advertising, and more. They also have a solid podcast and really good, updated tool reviews.
Can you find most of this stuff from free resources online? Probably! Are you going to? Probably not! So I’m personally glad I took the course. If you’re someone who benefits from structure and enjoys self-paced learning, they do a great job. You get access to a Slack community and online events too. And I met the founders at a dinner and can confirm they are real people and super nice.
Best for: People who want a structured, comprehensive course. Self-paced with community access.
When I Want to Get Off My Screen: My Favorite IRL Events
Call me old school, but I still like to learn IRL, lol.
Artist and the Machine (LA & NY): I went to the LA conference in 2025 and really enjoyed it, despite having a migraine and being a lil out of it. Their next summit is in NY in May—if you’re NY-based and interested in this stuff, check it out! And maybe I’ll catch you at the next LA one! They also have a newsletter.
Sundance Collab’s Story Forum (where I just taught!): I’m biased, but really great lineup sessions on everything from legal toolkits for AI to Rian Johnson talking about collaboration. This happened both IRL (at the fest) and virtually. Sessions from last week will be up on their site in the next few weeks, and I’m going to check out some of the ones that I missed and it is #goals to attend IRL if they do it again next year.
Machine Cinema : Regular events (gengams) in NY, LA, and sometimes other cities, plus an active WhatsApp community where people share tools, ask questions, and support each other’s work.
If you’re in LA and know of any cool events in this space that I missed, please let me know! I’d love to attend (and/or speak at) more in 2026.
Honorable Mentions
The above was hard to put together because there are so many great resources! A few more faves, in brief: Possible is another great podcast about AI (generally)..hosted by Reid Hoffman (cofounder of LinkedIn) and EP’d by my friend Katie Sanders. I like following Zach Seward (AI @ NYT; thoughtful takes on AI & media) and Nick Thompson (my former boss and current CEO of the Atlantic)—writes and speaks a lot on AI and its implications on media. Great podcast and Linkedin posts on “the most interesting thing in tech,” which often centers on AI and especially its relation to media. On IG, Souki Mansoor is a great follow. She is a friend and former doc filmmaker and amazing community builder now at OpenAI; she highlights awesome art and artists on her IG feed and the Sora feed. Elettra Fiumi also has a great AI & Film newsletter called AI Cinema. I’m constantly shocked and appalled by the all or mostly male panels in AI, and I particularly appreciated her Power List of Women in AI Creativity (and not just because I was included, I swear). Machine Cinema was mentioned in terms of events but they also have a newsletter and a vibrant (if at times overwhelming) whatsapp group.
Funny AI Fail of the [Time Period Since Last Issue*]
I decided that instead of a cute animal gif every week I’m going to do a “funny AI fail” every issue, which I’ll call “AI Fail of the [Time Period Since Last Issue]”. I think amidst the gloom and doom rhetoric around AI either 1) taking all of our jobs and possibly taking over the world and/or 2) ushering in a new and better era, it’s nice to step back and laugh at the many spectacular ways AI totally falls on its face. Here’s this week’s:
One Ask
If this was useful, forward it to one filmmaker/storyteller friend who’s AI-curious or AI-skeptical. Learning this stuff in isolation is hard—learning in community is way better.
Also: What resources am I missing? Leave a comment or reply with your faves!
xoxo,
Kris
P.S. Some other stuff I’m reading lately:
This post titled “help! my husband is addicted to Claude Code” made me laugh…HT to my friend Sarah for sharing
For anyone interested in vibe coding, this is an awesome guide (geared towards product managers, but more broadly applicable)
P.P.S. Is anyone still reading? Well, if you are, I’m thinking of changing the name of this newsletter to reflect a slightly expanded scope. Current frontrunner: “A Computer, a Camera, and a Cat” (from an Agnes Varda quote: “This is all you need in life: a computer, a camera, and a cat.”). It speaks to making visual stories with technology (and yes, cats). Thoughts? Do you love it? Hate it? Just think I should keep brainstorming? LMK!
Great recs, Kris! Thank you for curating and for the Possible shout. This essentially sums up my AI learning media diet these days
This: What struck me most: the anxiety has shifted. It’s giving less “Should I engage with AI? Is this evil?” and more “Okay…how do I use this ethically and intelligently without falling behind?” Looking forward to that attitude coming to worldbuilding communities who you'd have thought would have been amongst the first out of the gates. Nice substack. Thanks