Nimay Ndolo on Learning AI Without Losing Creative Control

From the NAB New York show floor, Shira Lazar welcomes Nimay Ndolo, a creator, activist and former front-end developer. Lazar introduces her work across politics, identity, mental health and environmental issues, and asks how she is approaching an AI-driven world.

Ndolo says technology has long been central to her work: before creating content, she worked as a contract front-end developer. She sees AI as a new frontier of the internet that intersects with the politics, style and other subjects she discusses.

Her immediate concern is learning enough to avoid feeling left behind by a technological shift. Born in 1994, she sees the internet, the iPhone and AI as three major changes in her lifetime. She wants a balanced view: she is curious about the tools, but worried about impacts including water use and believes regulation is needed.

Lazar asks how access can extend across ages and communities. Ndolo recalls growing up with a computer room and then moving to smartphones. She says some people in her generation are comfortable with the internet but resist newer technologies, and recognizes that resistance in herself.

Ndolo says she sometimes uses ChatGPT to vent but has resisted asking it questions she could work through herself. Lazar describes using AI as a sounding board. A recent voice demonstration of Microsoft Copilot made Ndolo realize that her own reluctance to try voice interaction may limit her ability to learn.

Lazar asks whether mistrust reflects privacy and data concerns created during the social media era. Ndolo thinks lack of regulation contributes to that mistrust. She points to a proposed ten-year restriction on AI legislation as an example of why she doubts policymakers are keeping pace, and argues that guardrails could give people more confidence.

Asked about policy, Ndolo expresses pessimism about the administration at the time and hopes for younger political leadership. She argues that perspectives closer to the working population could bring different ideas. She also offers her view that sustainable capitalism and democratic socialism could complement one another.

Lazar asks what sustainable capitalism might look like in an AI era. Ndolo brings up decentralized autonomous organizations, or DAOs, and says her environmental nonprofit is considering aspects of that infrastructure. She contrasts computer-based work threatened by automation with environmental and sanitation work that she believes is undervalued.

Ndolo argues that companies can attract people by paying well and giving them agency over their work. Lazar adds that disruptive companies also fill gaps and solve problems. Ndolo imagines a system combining worker agency, fair compensation and potentially blockchain-based structures, while acknowledging that the details are more complicated than she can explain briefly.

She says she has spent time learning how to explain the nonprofit’s mission simply, but has not yet worked out how to integrate NFTs or a DAO. City Aesthetica studies links between human behavior, architecture and infrastructure, including how people respond to their built surroundings.

Ndolo can imagine using AI for administrative paperwork at the nonprofit. She draws a distinction between repetitive tasks and writing, including grant writing, which she considers creative and wants to keep human-led. Whether she adopts such automation, she says, depends on how her assessment of AI develops.

Discussing reactions from her audience, Ndolo repeats that she does not want to become technologically illiterate. She compares resisting AI outright to resisting the internet in 1995 and urges people to learn and adapt. At the same time, she says water use, data centers and energy demand require attention.

Lazar asks how people of color, Black people and LGBTQ people can avoid being left behind. Ndolo emphasizes systemic change and calls on venture capitalists and philanthropists to fund Black women and people with varied perspectives. She argues that people who know their communities can help carry change to them.

On mental health, Ndolo explicitly identifies herself as a layperson rather than a clinician. She offers her personal view that professionals should explore how to work with AI, while acknowledging dangers including AI-associated psychosis and the need for guardrails. These are her opinions in the interview, not clinical guidance.

Asked about her own creative workflow, Ndolo says she does not want AI writing scripts for her content or films. She studied theater and film and wants to preserve her artistic voice. She does occasionally ask an AI tool whether a joke or comparison makes sense, then continues working on it herself.

Ndolo says she has hired two human editors, partly to avoid burnout. Looking ahead five years, she hopes her digital self will reflect who she is, but she is unsure how technology will develop. She is reluctant to use an avatar, citing ownership questions and environmental concerns, and wants to keep her own AI use low.

Asked about her confidence, Ndolo mentions shadow work and years of being bullied, including online ridicule. She says those experiences have made her less sensitive to criticism and helped her continue when her way of working feels effective and true to herself.

Ndolo worries about low-quality AI-generated content and the potential for synthetic media to contribute to social discord. Her current advice to creators is not to integrate it into their content, though she acknowledges that her view may change as technology develops. Environmental impact remains her central concern.

In closing, Ndolo thanks her audience and describes City Aesthetica’s micro green space proof of concept in New York City. She says regulation may lead the organization to explore other locations, mentioning the Midwest and Africa. Lazar thanks her for her work and emphasis on mental health.