A former rock star. A UBC PhD. And a $280 experiment that became an anti-slop creative tool. Dr. Rachel Horst — lecturer in UBC's Master of Educational…
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Published: · 59:07
A former rock star. A UBC PhD. And a $280 experiment that became an anti-slop creative tool.
Dr. Rachel Horst — lecturer in UBC's Master of Educational Technology program and arts-based researcher — takes the Vancouver AI May 2026 stage with a story that breaks every stereotype about who uses AI and why.
From living on a reservation on the Sunshine Coast to building an agentic creative tool with Claude Code, Rachel interrogates the "AI slop" narrative head-on. She argues that students aren't just submitting garbage — they're figuring things out, bringing their own thoughts, and doing real work with AI that deserves more than a dismissive label.
Featuring:
• Rachel's journey: rock photographer, music teacher, PhD, AI researcher
• Building an agentic anti-slop creative tool with Claude Code ($280 in tokens)
• Arts-based research at UBC's Master of Educational Technology
• "AI slop" — why the label is lazy and what's actually happening
• The student perspective: working, thinking, and using AI at the same time
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