Taryn Southern

Taryn Southern is a storyteller and tech anthropologist working at the intersection of AI, brain–computer interfaces, and human agency. She’s known for translating frontier technologies into emotionally resonant narratives—and for pushing new questions at the heart of our shared AI future: not just what can we build, but who it serves, how it’s applied to improve human life, and what happens when it scales.

As Chief Storyteller at Blackrock Neurotech, Southern has led communications efforts that helped raise over $250M, while shaping public understanding of implantable BCI technology for more than 50+ patients. She also established the industry’s first BCI Ethics Advisory Board, advancing governance and responsible innovation in one of the most high-stakes categories of applied AI.

Southern also teaches and consults for MBZUAI (Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence) in the UAE—the world’s only AI-first university—helping leaders and students explore responsible innovation, human-centered AI, and narrative strategy in the age of increasingly capable systems. In parallel, she invests at the frontier: AI hardware, neurotech, and personalized health, with a focus on tools that expand human capability without eroding autonomy.

Southern’s experience in AI goes back almost a decade. A former YouTube creator with 750M+ views, Southern released the world’s first pop album composed and produced with AI in 2017—an early cultural case study in human–machine collaboration and authorship. She later directed and produced I Am Human, the Tribeca-premiering documentary on implantable brain–computer interfaces, which has become a reference point in conversations about neurotechnology, augmentation, and the ethics of merging minds with machines.

As a former breast cancer survivor, Southern is passionate about the application of AI for human health and has built several AI-based tools to help those undergoing treatment. Southern now advises Fortune 500 companies, startups, and research institutions on conscious technology and human-centered design—bringing a rare blend of cultural fluency, systems thinking, and safety-first storytelling to the public conversation around emerging tech.

©Prophets of AI