Learn about creativity and the benefits of AI
Amid the gloom of the opening part of the year, an event aims to help see what makes people happy.
The Wolverhampton Suicide Prevention Stakeholders’ Forum Charitable Trust will be inspiring, creating images, writing and much more, to support everyone and celebrate activities which bring joy to people's lives in the middle of winter as part of Wolverhampton Literature Festival.
The event on Friday, February 2 aims to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to create a visual image of what makes people happy and help people keep a positive outlook inside what organisers have said can be a bleak month for many in January.
The talk and presentation are an end-of-exhibition celebration of the creative work that has been produced by local people visiting the What makes you happy events and exhibition at the Mander Centre’s Community Hub throughout January.
Academic lead for mental health and wellbeing at Wolverhampton University, Claire Dickens and Outside Centre CEO Dr Paul Darke will be leading the event, with Dr Darke explaining what the idea behind the exhibition and talk were about.
He said: "January is, notoriously, a bleak month, particularly in relation to suicide, and I'm part of the Suicide Prevention forum, which gained funding from the Wolverhampton Mayor's charitable trust.
"This allowed us to hire the hub for a month and community groups have been coming in and being surrounded by art and culture to brighten up the month and offer advice and support and think about what makes people happy.
"The key thing we're doing is getting people to come in and verbalise, using AI, what makes them happy, then add that to AI apps and websites and help them visualise the very things that make them happy."
Dr Darke said the aim was also to help ease people's anxieties about AI, saying that it was a great tool for people to be creative with, but also overcome the anxiety many people were feeling about AI.
The exhibition at Mander Centre Community Hub and the event on February 2 is also being attended by a number of community organisations, such as the Samaritans, Wolverhampton Welfare Rights, the African Caribbean Community Initiative, Wolverhampton Homes and Healthwatch.
Dr Darke said the groups would be there to talk to people about matters concerning them and said he hoped people could take away a knowledge of AI, as well as a need to be creative.
He said: "I hope people will take away a knowledge of AI, its creativity and its accessibility to everyone and to create things that make them happy.
"The other thing about the festival event is about exploring personal safety plans in relation to suicide prevention, such as creating a little document and bullet pointing what makes you happy as a person when you're in those dark places.
"I will say be creative and not put off by the anxieties of this world."
"What makes you happy" takes place at Wolverhampton Art Gallery on Friday, February 2 at 3.30pm.
To find out more and to book tickets, go to wolvesliteraturefestival.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/shows/1173638119
