Teach Inspire Create Conference 2024: meet Sophie Deen
- Written bySophie Deen
- Published date 28 August 2024
UAL Awarding Body is excited to announce that our Teach Inspire Create Conference is returning on Friday 22 November!
We are also delighted to announce our first keynote speaker for event day is Sophie Deen, a powerhouse entrepreneur, children's author, and passionate advocate for using AI ethically. As the CEO and founder of Bright Little Labs, a trailblazing kids' media company she launched in 2015 (backed by Warner Bros.), Sophie is all about creating inclusive role models and fun, learning-inspired stories that teach kids essential digital skills like coding, computer science, and critical thinking.
Through her awesome "Agent Asha" series, Sophie brings together tech education and storytelling, blending spy adventures with STEM concepts to make learning a blast. With a diverse background as a lawyer, tech enthusiast, and children’s play therapist, she brings a unique touch to every educational initiative she’s part of. Sophie's work, celebrated for sparking creativity and boosting digital literacy, includes exciting partnerships with big names like Google and the UK Department of Education, all with the mission to empower kids to be creators and critical thinkers.
We reached out to Sophie to find out more about her creative journey, why she thinks it is so important to make tech skills accessible for children, and what she will be speaking about at the Conference!
Why do you think creative education is important for young people?
If we don’t know who we are, then we have a huge crisis on our hands - we can all be swayed by whatever anyone tells us we are. Creative education is vital because it helps young people discover who they are and how they can uniquely express themselves. It's not just about making beautiful things – it's about empowerment, developing critical thinking skills and self-awareness.
By fostering creativity, we empower kids to chart their own paths rather than blindly following the crowd. Creativity drives societal evolution and innovation. It's what pushes us to question the status quo and envision better systems. It’s also totally human - helps us process our emotions, understand ourselves and the world, and I personally believe, it gives us the opportunity to get into a flow state and brings about a contentment unmatched in any other non-creative pursuit. It’s vital for our psychological well-being.
You’re a former lawyer turned technologist, brand builder and author. Can you tell us about what inspired your journey towards the creative industries?
Growing up in a third-generation immigrant family, the focus was on financial security rather than artistic pursuits. So, I took the "sensible" route of becoming a lawyer. But I've always had a creative streak – that kid who loved to read, write, and live in imaginary worlds.
My pivot to the creative industries came from working with children and noticing the lack of diversity in the stories they consumed. The protagonists were predominantly white boys, cast as leaders, coders, engineers, and heroes. It made me dig deeper into the subtle messages we were sending kids about what they could achieve and who they should be based on their gender, ethnicity, or background. I started questioning who was crafting these narratives and why. I wanted to put different stories out there, ones that showed a wider range of possibilities and inspiring role models. Ultimately, I wanted stories that help us question the system.
Why is it important to challenge stereotypes and make tech skills accessible for children?
The digital divide exacerbates social divides. Studies show kids internalise stereotypes about what roles and jobs are "not for them" as young as 4 years old. We need to challenge these limiting beliefs early on.
Technology isn't just for the stereotype of a lonely kid sitting in a dark room, unable to function in the "real world". We live in a digital world - so much around us is built on code. Just like we need to read and write to navigate our society - but we don’t all need to be authors or playwrights, we need basic tech skills and digital literacy to be empowered in our increasingly digital landscape.
If a lot of our world is created using technology, then we need diverse creators to build the best possible version of that world. And by making tech skills accessible to all children, regardless of background, we're giving them the tools to be creators and innovators in our future, not just passive consumers. And we desperately need this diversity - in the UK, only 19% of the tech workforce are women, and just 22% are from ethnic minority backgrounds, according to the 2022 BCS Diversity Report.
In what ways do you see technology transforming the landscape of creative education, and how is Bright Little Labs innovating within this space?
Technology is lowering barriers to entry in creative fields. There are now tools and apps to help aspiring writers, artists, videographers, and musicians bring their visions to life without needing expensive equipment or formal training. You can create or co-create in small groups and showcase your work to a global audience. That's brilliant. On the flip side, there's perhaps too much emphasis on speed and efficiency, which can impact the reflective nature of the creative process. There is also a risk of homogenisation as everyone uses the same tools, and potential issues with overreliance on technology.
At Bright Little Labs, we're exploring how creators with wholly owned IP can use AI as an editing companion - something that knows your creative world inside out. We're excited about tools that can take some of the administrative burden off creatives (for me, that's production schedules), freeing us up to focus on the fun bits (like doodling!). We're also looking into animation pipelines - can we use a game's 3D engine to create a single asset base for kids' IP, streamlining rendering, speed, and asset control? These are just a few ways we're innovating in this space.
In today's fast-paced digital world, how does Bright Little Labs balance the use of technology in education with the importance of fostering offline creativity and critical thinking skills?
At Bright Little Labs, we've always prioritised core creativity and critical thinking skills over the use of technology. If you don't know your own values or how to think critically, you're sort of like a slow robot.
We teach kids about technology predominantly through offline means - chapter books with compelling narratives. Our Agent Asha spy series showcases tech as a tool - powerful in the right hands, scary in the wrong ones. We explore what shapes those "right" and "wrong" hands, delving into the ethical and philosophical questions at the heart of our technological age.
Our goal is to equip kids to navigate online misinformation and cyberbullying, but also to know where to find truth, peace, and positive relationships. This has always been challenging, even before the digital age - books, newspapers, and maps often replicate societal biases. That's why developing critical thinking skills is paramount for us.
The Children's Spy Agency in our stories has a motto that encapsulates our approach: "Question Everything, Think for Yourself." We're not just teaching kids how to use technology; we're helping them thrive in the 21st century. Our focus is on fostering resilience, kindness, and confidence alongside digital skills. That's the unifying theme behind all our work at Bright Little Labs.
What will you be speaking about at this year’s TIC conference?
At this year's TIC conference, I'll be offering a hands-on look at how I use AI in my own creative process. I'll start with a rather timely example: how I used AI to help edit my latest Agent Asha book while racing against my own biological deadline - a rapidly approaching due date! Expect a mix of personal anecdotes, practical tips, and a few things that scare me too!
Tickets for this year's TIC Conference will be will be released next month, so stay tuned for our communications with the link to book your place. In the meantime, why not find out more about the Teach inspire Create Conference and what you can expect on the day?