Saturday, November 14 | 12:15 PM

Culture Over Code

Creating With AI on Our Own Terms

  • Todd WaltonModerator
  • Paul StonePanelist
  • Melody AngelPanelist
  • Bemaji TillmanPanelist
  • Vikas SrinathPanelist

Moderator

Todd Walton

Claude City Ambassador for Chicago

Global Mixx 2026

Culture Over Code

Creating With AI on Our Own Terms

Read the room

Who here makes things?

Music, film, art, words.

Read the room

Who used AI to make something this year?

Read the room

Keep your hand up if you told anybody.

Panelist

Paul Stone

Founder & Creator, Surviving Chicago

Panelist

Melody Angel

Singer, Songwriter, Lead Guitarist

Panelist

Bemaji Tillman

Producer and Founder, iChooz Creative Arts Foundation

Panelist

Vikas Srinath

Lawyer and Founder, PraxIQ

Part 1

Make

How the work gets made.

Part 1 | Make

50%+

of new tracks delivered to Deezer each day were fully AI-⁠generated at the June 2026 peak, nearly 90,000 a day. They drew 1 to 3% of streams.

  • SourceDeezer Newsroom, July 21, 2026

Part 1 | Make

Where does AI stop and the Surviving Chicago story start?

Paul Stone

Part 1 | Make

Once Upon a Rhyme remixes fairy tales through hip-⁠hop. Where does AI fit?

Bemaji Tillman

Part 2

Protect

Drawing the line, and who owns the work.

Part 2 | Protect

Human authors only.

A work made by AI alone cannot be copyrighted, and writing the prompt does not make you its author.

  • SourceU.S. Copyright Office, Copyright and AI Part 2, Jan. 29, 2025 | Thaler v. Perlmutter, D.C. Cir., Mar. 18, 2025

Listen & Laugh | Nov. 6, 2026

Dr. Dre vs. Ice Cube on AI

Part 2 | Protect

You stood up for human-⁠made music. Where do you draw the line?

Melody Angel

October 1, 2026 | Federal Plaza, Chicago

“This is fake music, and this is real music. We should have the choice.”

Melody Angel, at the rally

  • SourceChicago Tribune, Oct. 2, 2026, via Hoodline

PhotoChris Rycroft, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

Part 2 | Protect

When an artist creates with AI, who owns what comes out?

Vikas Srinath

Part 2 | Protect

What protects an artist better: the law or the audience?

Melody Angel and Vikas Srinath

Part 3

Own Terms

What we hand to AI, and what we keep.

Part 3 | Own terms

HB 4875

Illinois law now covers AI: using a digital replica of a person’s voice or likeness without consent violates their right of publicity.

  • SourceIllinois Public Act 103-⁠0836, Right of Publicity Act, in force Jan. 1, 2025

Part 3 | Own terms

What will you hand to AI, and what won’t you?

Every panelist

Audience questions

Your turn.

Raise your hand and ask the panel.

Lightning round

On my own terms means...

One line from each panelist.

Global Mixx 2026

Culture Over Code

Creating With AI on Our Own Terms

Thank you

Thank you, Mary Datcher and Global Mixx.

17th Annual Global Mixx Music and Film Forum

Find them

Follow the panel.

  • Paul Stone@survivingchicagoshorts · @m.u.d.p
  • Melody Angel@melodyangelmusic
  • Bemaji TillmanOnce Upon a Rhyme: The Musical
  • Vikas Srinath@progress.esq
  • Todd Walton@toddbuildskingdoms