Inside the Lab: A Q&A with Betty Li, Creative Technologist at Tag

In this edition of Inside the Lab, we sat down with Betty Li, Tag’s Creative Technologist. Working at the intersection of generative AI and multimedia storytelling, she’s contributed to major global campaigns and created experimental AI films showcased at festivals worldwide. Today, she shares how her journey shapes her approach to innovation, the role of AI in production, and why human creativity still leads the way.

Q: You’ve lead major digital/creative campaigns. Can you tell us more about that?

A: Some of the most meaningful campaigns I’ve led have come from teams and clients willing to move beyond conventional formats. With my background in computational arts and design, I’ve always been interested in how emerging tools allow us to rethink storytelling and create new ways to connect. We’re in a moment where AI and social media make connection feel instant, yet genuine connection feels harder than ever. The real question isn’t what technology can do, it’s how we use it differently, to augment humanity rather than overpower it. At its core, creativity is about human connection; technology simply gives us new languages.

Earlier in my career, I led digital and immersive projects for global brands including Warner Brothers, Netflix, Nike and Hugo Boss, across film, AI-driven creative strategies, and interactive experiences that generated over 200 million engagements. My role has often been translating ideas into work that delivers culturally resonant and commercially effective impact.

Q: How has AI changed how we think and work creatively?

A: As an artist and creative technologist, I am deeply interested in the evolving relationship between humans and machines. My research and practice explore questions of agency in digital spaces: who is shaping whom? With generative AI, we’re seeing what some describe as a “drop in the cost of cognition.” Information processing, ideation, even decision-making can now be partially outsourced. But that shift is profound. When AI begins to mediate not just what we create, but how we think, we have to ask: what are we amplifying, and what are we surrendering?

AI is not a replacement for creativity, it’s a collaborator, and it will inevitably transform how companies operate. The businesses that embrace it thoughtfully will move faster and build more adaptive systems; those that ignore it will fall behind. But automation doesn’t remove responsibility. Humans still need to steer the wheel, actively questioning bias and making sure that what we build moves toward a more intelligent partnership between human judgment and machine capability.

Q: What parts do humans need to take ownership of in AI?

A: Intention, bias, and interpretation. AI is somebody’s code, which carries assumptions, data histories, and embedded worldviews. If we outsource cognition without questioning it, we risk automating not just processes, but perspectives.

Inclusivity and ethics must remain human responsibilities. AI can generate at scale, but it doesn’t understand consequence. It doesn’t hold accountability. If AI reduces the cost of thinking, then our responsibility to think critically becomes even greater. 

Q: How can AI and innovation deliver real client value?

 A: AI can add value across the entire creative pipeline, from ideation and rapid prototyping to previsualisation, production and post. It allows us to test concepts earlier, iterate faster, and reduce friction between creative ambition and technical logistics. It enables smarter decision-making much earlier in the process.

I often think of AI as a set of brushes available to a painter. The value doesn’t come from the tool itself, but from how we design the system around it. As creative technologists, we build customised pipelines that scale up or down depending on the client, campaign and objectives. That flexibility allows us to solve creative problems efficiently while building adaptive production systems that respond to real business needs.

 Q: What does innovation look like when it’s truly solving a client problem?

A: The client sees results: stronger performance, faster iteration, and better ideas landing in market. But beyond that, it opens up possibilities they couldn’t access before, whether that’s new creative formats or more adaptive production systems. And ultimately, the client is happy! Not because we used AI as a buzzword, but because we solved something real in a creative way.

Q: What excites you most about where creative technology is heading?

A: It’s a space of ambiguity, and that’s where I love to work. We’re no longer just creating content; we’re designing systems of intelligence that shape how we think.

The future isn’t just about faster production. It’s about more intelligent collaboration, and that is a very exciting place and time to be as a creative technologist.