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Restraint — What Live Performance Teaches About Building AI That Knows When to Stop

Performance Lessons for Human-Facing Technology: How timing, restraint and attunement keep an interaction safe

Shannon Harvey brings a background in performance and embodied practice to 15+ years of building human-facing technology, where timing, restraint and attunement decide whether an interaction stays safe. On stage, a performer reads the room and holds back when a moment calls for it, while most technology is built to respond faster and say more. Shannon argues that the performer's discipline is a missing design skill for technology that works with people in sensitive settings, and explains how it shapes the way a system paces itself, pauses and knows when not to act. Listeners leave with a new way to judge whether a product is built to serve people or simply to keep them engaged.

About Shannon Harvey

Shannon Harvey, podcast guest

Founder

15+ years Founding and leading studios and research initiativesApple TV+ Virtual production leadership on Silo and HijackProduction Park Established its research labReflection Labs Founder, independent governance for human-facing AI

Shannon builds ventures and innovation systems at the intersection of technology, creativity, and human experience.

Over the past 15+ years, he has founded and led studios and research initiatives, built and scaled complex technical and creative systems, and worked across industry, academia, and cultural institutions. His work focuses on translating advanced research into real-world deployment, particularly where technology shapes trust, behaviour, and lived experience.

He is currently building an early-stage venture in stealth focused on responsible human-facing technology in high-trust settings. His approach is shaped by a background in performance and embodied practice, where timing, restraint, and attunement determine whether an interaction remains safe. The work sits between applied research, venture building, and real-world delivery. Further details are available privately.

He has worked in senior roles across immersive media, real-time systems, and large-scale production environments. This includes virtual production leadership on Apple TV+ productions including Silo and Hijack with Lux Machina, early platform adoption work with disguise (d3), and research leadership at Production Park, where he established a research lab and contributed to the ERDF-funded XPLOR programme.

He supports early-stage founders and teams working at the edge of research and deployment, particularly where responsibility, risk, and operational reality matter.

He was Course Leader for the BA (Hons) Visual Production degree at Backstage Academy, now the Academy of Live Technology.

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