Join York St John University Chancellor, Reeta Chakrabarti, and her guest Mark Fordyce: Could AI Kill Creativity

This year we are delighted to welcome Mark as our guest speaker, and look forward to hearing more about his journey into the world of AI and questioning whether he feels current advancements in AI have the potential to stifle human creativity if over relied upon.

While AI thrives on massive datasets, high speed computational power and advanced algorithms to identify patterns, automate tasks and generate insights it currently lacks explainability and transparency that can only be found from human interaction. Mark will lead us in a discussion through the complexities of this technology addressing the one question many people are asking, ‘Could AI Kill Creativity?’

About Mark

Mark started his career as a recording artist signed to RCA records in the early eighties going on to sell over a million records. He is the founder and Managing Director of York Data Services Limited, a business ISP and Cloud managed services provider based in York serving over 700 businesses across the UK. Mark sold York Data Services in 2024 to equity backed Communicate Group in a multi-million pound deal. He holds directorships in several northern-based companies from high technology to music publishing and is a founding board member of IXLeeds, a neutral not-for-profit Internet Exchange Point based in the UK. Mark is now building a new recording and media rights company, Sugarstar Limited, bringing his journey full circle.

Doors Open: 5.45pm

Event starts: 6.00pm

Lecture finishes: 7.00pm

Followed by a drinks reception, canapés and informal conversation with Mark until 7.30pm.

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