Taryn Southern is a storyteller, artist, speaker and brand strategist who works with emerging technologies. She was formerly known for her work as a TV host, actress and YouTuber. Early life Southern grew up in Wichita, Kansas and landed her first starring role in a pre-Broadway theatrical production at the age of 10. As a teenager, she co-hosted a regional teen talk show for WB Kansas . At 20, Southern graduated from the University of Miami, earning a B.S. in Anthropology and a B.A. in Journalism. While in school she competed in American Idol and received a grant to travel to Peru to study the shamanic use of ayahuasca among rainforest communities. Career Emerging Technology and Storytelling In 2017, Southern received a grant from the Google Creator Lab to create experimental VR content. One piece, New World, won AT&T's 2020 Film Award and another, Life Support, was nominated for a Streamy Award. Southern was also chosen to be an ambassador for The Geena Davis Institute Gender in Media #ShesGotDrive campaign to promote female voices in media. Southern's immersive content work led her to begin producing music with AI-based musical composition tools. In 2018, she released a music album titled I AM AI, where the instrumental backing music was generated using a variety of AI-based tools including Amper, an open source product which allows users to create music based on user generated inputs, IBM Watson Beat, Google Magenta, and AIVA. Her first single, Break Free, was released in August 2017 and features music generated using Amper. Her song New World was tokenized using blockchain technology to enable hundreds of collaborators to split backend royalties on sales and streams of the track. The album received international attention, and radio play in the US. In April 2019, Southern debuted her first full-length feature documentary, I AM HUMAN, which explored the co-evolution of the human brain and technology. I AM HUMAN had its worldwide premiere at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival in New York and was co-directed and produced by Southern. The Winner of four "Best Feature" awards following its premiere, I AM HUMAN chronicled the journey of three real-world pioneers with implantable brain-computer interfaces. I AM HUMAN won numerous awards including Best of the Fest at the 2019 El Dorado Film Festival, Audience Choice for Best Feature at the 2019 Eastern Oregon Film Festival, Outstanding First Feature at the Tallgrass Film Festival, Best