The case for making art in a crisis | Yiyun Kang | Your Body on Tech

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER_04] Hey everyone, Sherrell Dorsey here. This year on TED Tech, we've dug deep into ideas that are changing our world. But over the next few weeks, I want to turn the focus into how technology is changing ourselves. To do this, I'm enlisting the help of my colleagues from the TED podcast world. Journalist and TED Radio Hour host Manoush Zomorodi took over the TED Talks Daily feed earlier this year.

[00:00:27] [SPEAKER_04] She produced a special series examining how our digital habits and changing technologies are rewiring our minds and our bodies. Over the next few weeks, you'll be hearing from Manoush and the speakers she curated at this year's TED conference.

[00:00:45] [SPEAKER_04] Today, artists Yiyun Kang and Manoush talk about what art can do to help us understand ourselves in a data-driven world. I'd love to know what you think about the series and our show in general, so feel free to leave us a review or a Spotify comment. Thanks for listening and enjoy the show.

[00:01:07] [SPEAKER_02] You're listening to TED Talks Daily, where we bring you new ideas and conversations to spark your curiosity every day. I am Manoush Zomorodi. I am a journalist, an author, a two-time TED speaker, and you may recognize my voice from the TED Radio Hour podcast over on NPR. This week, I am taking over for Elise Hu with a series of episodes all about how you can live a healthier life in our high-tech era.

[00:01:33] [SPEAKER_02] So why am I here? I had the honor of guest curating a session at TED 2026 full of speakers whose work will make you think differently about your body, technology, and what is keeping us human in this digital age. One of the many things that feels so strange and disconcerting about our modern era is that we are surrounded by invisible systems that shape our behavior. Take AI. It is run by algorithmic black boxes.

[00:02:03] [SPEAKER_02] We see the data coming in, and we see the text or messaging or information that comes out, but we don't know exactly what's going on inside the machine. We can't touch it or see it. We don't even fully understand it. Yiyun Kang is a mixed media artist whose work is about spanning that gap between us and those invisible forces.

[00:02:30] [SPEAKER_03] My mission became clear, to render the invisible visible. I want to translate these wicked problems into physical experiences so that we can truly care.

[00:02:43] [SPEAKER_02] And when I say mixed media, I mean mixed. She is trained as a painter, but now works with data, lasers, graphic design, and of course AI too. She is as high-tech as the technology she interrogates. But the beautiful stories she tells feel connecting rather than alienating. Because art, as she says, isn't a nice add-on to science and technology.

[00:03:08] [SPEAKER_02] It's a crucial bridge between information, humanity, and our well-being on this planet.

[00:03:16] [SPEAKER_03] Arts is the vital bridge, a missing link that has undeniable power to restore our lost connection. But now, we face even deeper crisis. One that challenges the very definitions of human intelligence. The unfathomable AI. The technology is advancing in a staggering pace, and we have to accept an uncomfortable truth.

[00:03:43] [SPEAKER_02] Her talk, as you might expect, is very visual. So, just for you, we asked her to describe each work that she presented on stage, so that you two can feel the emotions she stirred up in the TED theater. Yiyun Kang's talk and our conversation coming up.

[00:04:11] [SPEAKER_02] Our TED Talk and conversation of the day.

[00:04:22] [SPEAKER_03] This is a glimpse into one of my artworks, Vanishing. What you see, this is a tribute to the species extinguished by us, humanity. I dedicate my career to translating the invisible crisis of our time as vivid as the images before you. That includes climate change, artificial intelligence, and even the crisis of our own humanity.

[00:04:50] [SPEAKER_03] We're living in an era of wicked problems. The crises are so massive that we cannot grasp them. We can feel a paper cut, but we cannot feel a collapsing planet. I'm an artist working with a lot of immersive technologists. So, what kind of work should start my TED Talk? I thought about The Vanishing.

[00:05:14] [SPEAKER_03] Vanishing is originally put in one of the largest LED façade in Seoul. It's like 16 meters wide. It's an arts work, but outside of gallery or museum, it's a completely public space. And it was happening over the COVID-19. So, okay, I thought about what kind of story should I tell? What is the vanished entities of our time because of the human activities?

[00:05:42] [SPEAKER_03] So, I put a huge images of animals that once lived in the earth but vanished because of our behaviors. The TED projection screen is 30 meters wide. But then the TED stage is quite small. We're such a tiny, tiny entity.

[00:06:03] [SPEAKER_03] So, wanting to show the dramatic difference between the human scale and the massive, mysterious power of nature somehow, I decided to remove any color. It was entirely black and white. And I decided to start my talk in the darkness. Behind me, there is a massive scale screen. And out of the darkness, mysterious continent emerges.

[00:06:33] [SPEAKER_03] And inside of the continent, fossilized skeletons swoops across the screen. And then they disappear. And after that, a massive scale wings appears. And with the continents, they started to scatter away. And it falls apart into tiny little pieces, into the darkness.

[00:06:56] [SPEAKER_03] In an endless chase of progress, we have turned our nature and technology into monumental threats. Paradoxically, we have devastated the very habitat we live in and jeopardized the very intelligence that makes us human. The result is great anxiety. But we must ask ourselves, was this collapse truly unseen? We have more data than any generation in history,

[00:07:26] [SPEAKER_03] yet reality feels further away. We're drowning in information, but starving for meaning. The chain of understanding is broken, leaving our crisis so cold and abstracts. We have lost the connection and the ability to care. Living at the intersection of art and technology, our mission became clear, to render the invisible visible. I want to translate these wicked problems into physical experiences

[00:07:56] [SPEAKER_03] so that we can truly care. But how do we translate the intangibles? Let me take you on my journey. I began with the most vital data set, the Earth. Specifically, our water. Half of humanity will like clean water by 2050, and many already do. To expose the crisis of this vital resource, I spent an intense year with Google.

[00:08:26] [SPEAKER_03] They were searching for an artist to bridge the gap between complex data and creative storytelling. And an amazing door opened, NASA joined the team to offer me an exclusive access to the satellite data. This rare gift becomes the soul of my artwork, passage of water. My goal is to turn these NASA numbers into visceral experiences, dramatize them,

[00:08:52] [SPEAKER_03] so that we can truly see and feel what is happening to our fresh water. Look at this. This is the raw satellite data that captures the water situation. Here, I wanted to deliver the overwhelming feeling of the massive amount of data. Behind me on three giant screens are column after column of tiny white numbers endlessly scrolling up so fast,

[00:09:20] [SPEAKER_03] up to the point we don't even know how to comprehend them. We have the most sophisticated technology over time, but who can actually understand what is happening here? There is no visibility. That's the point. So data is there, numbers there, but it doesn't have any meaning. So we have to have a scientist, we have to have a researcher, engineers, or sometimes artists, designers, to translate it, to give an accessible form to it, so that we can understand.

[00:09:49] [SPEAKER_03] What happens if we change the interface? I spend months obsessing over how to turn these numbers breathe, and now I can present the outcome to you. What you see is 20 years of water patterns turned into a breathing landscape. This is passage of water. It lives on Google's platform designed for you to fully interact with. This is the interactive Earth landscape.

[00:10:17] [SPEAKER_03] Imagine yourself in space, and there is a line which you can rotate around along any point of the axis. On one side of the line, you see blue, and on the other, red. The blue is the fresh water that still exists. The red is its loss. Let's see the dramatic change between 2002 and 2023. If you scroll on the timeline,

[00:10:45] [SPEAKER_03] the red expands seemingly and endlessly into space, and the blue gets smaller and smaller. We are losing our fresh water fast, and we are the reason. Here, the numbers become instinct. You don't just see the data, you feel it. This is where artistic creativity becomes an essential, not a luxury. It is the language that allows me to tackle those wicked problems

[00:11:13] [SPEAKER_03] and turn them into something we can grasp. We brought this project to COP28. There, we spoke with climate scientists, policymakers, indigenous people who face water scarcity every day. Seeing their reactions in front of my artwork gave me absolute certainty. Arts is the vital bridge, a missing link that has undeniable power to restore our lost connection.

[00:11:42] [SPEAKER_03] But now, we face even deeper crisis, one that challenges the very definitions of human intelligence, the unfathomable AI. Here you are, 2026, and AI is everywhere. The technology is advancing in a staggering pace, and we have to accept an uncomfortable truth. The machines are replacing parts of us. But the real danger is hidden behind the sleek interfaces.

[00:12:12] [SPEAKER_03] AI gives us brilliant results, but the logic, the process, that remains a total mystery. And that is exactly why we call it a black box. If these algorithms are deciding our future, shouldn't we talk about the invisibles, the hidden logic governing our lives? That is why I created this project with my students in my research lab. The title of this project is SOTA, short for State of the Arts.

[00:12:42] [SPEAKER_03] In the world of engineering, it means to describe the gold standard of machine capability. SOTA is about opening the black box. We know that there's tons of input data, and that input data is go through the model, and then we see the outputs. But what is going on within the model? AI that generate our images, write our text, isn't just magic, it's a complex mathematical structure.

[00:13:11] [SPEAKER_03] Digital neurons, cluster into network, processing data through multiple hidden layers. You might assume that they are all identical grids, but as we looked deeper, we found far more diverse. What you see is living architecture of 118 AI models visualized. See how digital neurons connect and fire with its own unique geometry. The shape decides how to generate images, text, or sounds.

[00:13:41] [SPEAKER_03] To understand their intelligence, we need to see the shape first. At this point, there are visual representations of these computer neuron architectures. One is layer after layer of blue-grade squares piling on top of each other. Then a circle kind of spiral graph, lines reaching out at the circle's edge in green. We might think about AI as the same ones and zeros, but each model's architecture

[00:14:11] [SPEAKER_03] is so different that I see them as truly having their own unique shapes and geometry. When we imagine it visually, they each look completely different. Let's take a closer look at SOTA. I will show you how LLM calculates and completes a single sentence. You can see the AI models in front of you in a very big scale. 118 models looks very different, and they connect data in a very different way.

[00:14:41] [SPEAKER_03] So this one generates images, this one generates text, this one generates sounds. It's about unveiling the structure of AI. Then, oh my God, this is what AI looks like. This is how a machine works, a complex mathematical predictions governed by its architecture. This is the invisible logic of our time. When we bring the hidden machinery into the physical world,

[00:15:10] [SPEAKER_03] the artificial finally becomes tangible. To experience the shape of AI is to demystify it. This isn't just about overcoming anxiety. It is the very first step to reclaiming our human agency. But we don't want to stop in near understanding. Clarity is just a foundation. Our true task is not to see the presence, but to shape the future.

[00:15:40] [SPEAKER_03] While my previous works primarily exist within digital projections and displays, I felt a strong yearning to pull this intelligence into tangible forms. I wanted to make an overwhelming experience, something that you don't just look at, but something you inhabit with your body. We are at a threshold. To co-design a future with AI, we must ask, what is the shape

[00:16:09] [SPEAKER_03] of future AI? I built a physical answer to that question. And this is light architecture. Imagine yourself in a large circular space. There are 24 metal cylindrical rods coming up from the ground with light on top of each one,

[00:16:39] [SPEAKER_03] casting shadow all across the space. The light goes across the floor and the walls up to the ceiling. They collectively draw patterns throughout the space. The AI neurons connect and make patterns. And so here, I wanted to represent that with light. In light architecture, AI takes a physical breath. These modules are no longer flat pixels. They are living neurons. and I call them neural parts.

[00:17:09] [SPEAKER_03] They pulse with light, move through space, running on an exact logic of AI. Here, you don't just watch a model. You stand inside the mind of a machine. Together, they form a circular network feeding data into a central projection to manifest the final outputs. See the light spills outward, filling the voids. I meant for it to be a completely visceral and overwhelming physical experience.

[00:17:38] [SPEAKER_03] It transforms the entire room into one giant living block box. Why? Circular formation? Because I found my inspiration in human brain. Our brains have an incredible mechanism weaving data from cortex to deeper layers with the flexibility that AI cannot yet replicate. But it makes me wonder, with this incredible power inside our heads, are we genuinely training it?

[00:18:08] [SPEAKER_03] Or, we're simply leaning on AI, paralyzed by the fear of being replaced by a machine, only to let our creativity and curiosity wither. I designed a circular formation to raise a question. What if AI learns this neuromorphic fluidity? What would that future look like? And more importantly, is that the future we want?

[00:18:40] [SPEAKER_03] As you walk through the blinding lights and absolute darkness, you feel the vastness of AI. Is our fate to become just data providers? Is this intelligence light in our way or pulling us deeper into the dark? Some of my artwork is really dark,

[00:19:10] [SPEAKER_03] sometimes it's really super bright, it really fluctuates. I wanted to make the audience to think that, are we getting better or worse? Do we still have the power to make changes? To end, I bring a beam of light illuminating the darkness of the theater and almost a visual dance that helps you feel your connection to the architectures of AI and these other unimaginable challenges. I wanted to use that physicality

[00:19:40] [SPEAKER_03] of light. Lasers have such a strong physical volume. The light coming from the backside of the theater towards the center of the theater. We see it, we feel it. I wanted people to be fully enveloped by the lights in darkness. This is who I am. I'm an artist who builds bridges. I collaborate with scientists, I build systems, and I connect

[00:20:09] [SPEAKER_03] the physical and the virtual. My art is about building spaces where you can step inside the unseen. I do this because I believe one simple truth. that we are all deeply entangled. Nature,

[00:20:39] [SPEAKER_03] humanity, technology, they are not separate entities. It is not us versus them or human versus machine. It is a one living network. And embracing this connection is the only way to solve wicked problems. Let this light be my final message. I hope it shines not just on our daughter, but on our shared vision. By standing together,

[00:21:09] [SPEAKER_03] we can face the unknown in greater worlds where we can finally belong. Thank you.

[00:21:23] [SPEAKER_02] That was artist Yiyun Kang. In a minute, we talk about her process, the lack of funding for art here in the U.S., and why she thinks art is imperative for people so that they feel less nihilistic about their future. Yoon is

[00:21:39] [SPEAKER_00] so lovely and thoughtful. Stay with us. Yoon Kang, where are we finding you today?

[00:21:50] [SPEAKER_03] I am based in Seoul, Korea, and I'm in my studio. Is that in downtown Seoul? Yes, it's very at the heart of Seoul. It's called Itaewon. It's very dynamic area of Seoul. Half of the people is international. It's a very cool vibe. When I come visit you, that's where we are. Of course.

[00:22:14] [SPEAKER_02] So let's start by talking about how you started your TED Talk. So the piece that you start with, Vanishing, references the rapid loss of species on our planet. The number is unfathomable. The UN reports that something like 25% of plant and animal species face extinction this century. Yes. The human mind cannot sort of comprehend that. And even if you do, what are we,

[00:22:43] [SPEAKER_02] you know, little old me, what am I supposed to do? It's almost too much to bear.

[00:22:50] [SPEAKER_03] That's true.

[00:22:51] [SPEAKER_02] And that is what you are trying to do, right? To connect us to problems that almost feel too big to comprehend.

[00:23:00] [SPEAKER_03] Yes. We have so many different complicated problems. For example, climate change is so massive and it's happening so differently in every part of the earth. So some people really have to fight climate change every day in their life. Some people don't. change and on the other hand, there's AI and it's so fast, we cannot even fathom it.

[00:23:29] [SPEAKER_03] We are the reason for all these complicated problems. We made it, but we don't even know what is happening, how to understand it, how to solve the problems. So the first thing I believe that we could do is make the problems ours. And to do that, I think we need to feel it, we need to sense it.

[00:23:55] [SPEAKER_02] You use the term wicked problem. That's actually an old phrase right from the 70s from these design theorists that the idea is like all of these different problems together make us feel that we can't even conceptualize or feel just exactly what is happening

[00:24:17] [SPEAKER_03] to us. Yeah, I think that notion is still valid, even much more valid than before because of the AI particularly. For me, the reason why I found wicked problems interesting is that when we talk about, when we study about the climate change and AI unfathomable problems of our time, we first approach is that we need to study it, we need to research it, but I think slightly different. I think

[00:24:46] [SPEAKER_03] we first need to sense it, we have to know, I have to deal with two dimensional flat surface

[00:25:16] [SPEAKER_03] for a long time, but then I thought that maybe this is not my perfect medium, so I slowly move on to video, analog, and then to digital, and then to AI now, so learning new technology is kind of expanding my knowledge. At the same time, it somehow makes me really aware of, you know, technology is a huge part of society. So for me,

[00:25:46] [SPEAKER_03] using this technology as my medium means that I am very sensitive to our society in a way. Then I wondered because of the technology there's a carbon and then the climate change. So human is the best entity on the earth or are we the worst entity of the earth? So you know, that kind of question goes on and on and on.

[00:26:12] [SPEAKER_02] Can we talk about passage of water and the story behind this piece of art, which is also a story about data?

[00:26:21] [SPEAKER_03] Yeah. So the Google Art and Culture is a massive non-profit institution under Google Heart Speed of the Earth. They invite an artist and they give us a mission. The mission is really simple. You need to talk about whatever climate change issue. You need to rigorously ground it in data. And then you need to

[00:26:50] [SPEAKER_03] launch your project under Google's platform. Meaning I have to make web art. We decided to talk about freshwater. And then NASA joined the team because they have a satellite that captures the freshwater data. But the data is just numbers and numbers. It doesn't speak for itself. So how can I give the

[00:27:20] [SPEAKER_03] data a form? The data is everywhere but I don't think the data is accessible to how can I weave the story? So that's my kind of fundamental role here as an artist.

[00:27:35] [SPEAKER_01] So

[00:27:36] [SPEAKER_03] at the time that I made this project was 2023. So let's say in 2002 there was a fair balance between the water circulation but in 2022 we are losing freshwater so fast. So almost watching the visualization makes me somehow sad.

[00:28:01] [SPEAKER_01] So

[00:28:02] [SPEAKER_03] then it naturally leads you to think about it oh my god what should we do? The passage of water has four different segments and the very large segments it's actually the game. I use a game engine to give us a couple of freshwater protection methods technologies so that the audience users can kind of have a hope we brought it to

[00:28:32] [SPEAKER_03] the COP28 Dubai with the UN so it has a physical exhibition and online exhibition at the same time.

[00:28:40] [SPEAKER_02] how how did people respond at that climate

[00:28:43] [SPEAKER_03] conference? Yeah it changed entirely my thought about art before that project after the project so you know no one expects to see the work there and of course on the first day no one was visiting our exhibition but in the second day third day there was a queue people really wanted to see this experience and our audience

[00:29:13] [SPEAKER_03] is not arts lovers there is no collectors there is no arts people but whole climate scientists policymakers indigenous people our exhibition became the platform people share their ideas people talking about the freshwater crisis maybe this is something that arts can do you know working as a creative platform so we can communicate each other we can connect to each other so it changes part of me as an

[00:29:43] [SPEAKER_03] artist in a very positive way I'm

[00:29:48] [SPEAKER_00] going to take a quick break and then we'll be right back

[00:29:56] [SPEAKER_02] let's turn the conversation to your more recent work which is to do with AI which honestly of all the things that we've discussed to me is the least tangible and hardest for people to wrap their heads around what was the point for you that you were like okay it's time to figure out how we get people to connect with their bodies with their senses to this invisible force in their lives

[00:30:26] [SPEAKER_03] for me the reason why I actively started tackling the AI recently is because of the user interface the big tech products so before the chat GPT-4 the AI was still very difficult you have to have a proper coding knowledge you have to have a proper experience so that

[00:31:02] [SPEAKER_03] scary and people start to using AI like a chat bot every day so I thought that something is going wrong the technology is way much more complicated than any other technology of our time but we don't know it we don't talk about it what is going on behind the clean user interface we should talk about it and that's the very moment we start to use the term block box what

[00:31:30] [SPEAKER_02] do you think the danger is if people don't connect or if they have this

[00:31:59] [SPEAKER_03] marketing how can I say the product the salesmanship exactly for example when the big tech corporate sell their gen AI services for example

[00:32:11] [SPEAKER_01] they

[00:32:13] [SPEAKER_03] always say create something be an artist you could be creative person but if you start to buy AI is creative then it's very dangerous they're not creative they're just generative but it's such a subscription services you just click the service you start to believe that you becoming creative but generating images and sounds and videos it doesn't mean that you become

[00:32:43] [SPEAKER_03] creative but if you understand the logic of AI you start to realize that they are not creative they're just optimization machines we need to build our own literacy so that we can make the right decision okay I need this tool here I need this tool there and I don't need this tool

[00:33:23] [SPEAKER_02] it kind of looks beautiful because it's graphics changing and morphing and if you didn't know what it was you would think oh this is beautiful geometric shapes that are slowly getting connected and more connected and different and growing bigger and lots more shapes and then you start to realize that this is inputs of information that are getting connected to each other and creating new forms quite literally on the

[00:33:53] [SPEAKER_02] screen in front of you and then those merge together and create other new forms it's almost like people say creativity is taking one idea and another and then smashing them together to create something new this is almost literally seeing the graphic representation of an idea connecting to another one it's like you're seeing creativity in geometric form growing across the screen on the one hand it's very beautiful and on the other hand it's happening

[00:34:22] [SPEAKER_02] so fast and in front of your eyes that the human brain doesn't work as fast as this so it feels a little terrifying

[00:34:31] [SPEAKER_03] yeah that is so true but you know what the reality the speed is unfathomably faster than the actual artwork so particularly for SOTA the state of the art project for example we invited so many people like AI scientists they loved the project but sometimes people found it difficult to understand because they haven't even imagined the inside of the black box but that's the

[00:35:01] [SPEAKER_03] point we need to see it first because without this artwork not just my artwork without these kind of artwork we don't even know

[00:35:11] [SPEAKER_02] you say we don't even know and what I guess I love about this is like if we don't not only do we not know we also stop asking exactly and I love that this made me be like oh okay you know the black box this idea that we don't know how the technology works maybe even the coders don't know how the technology works they don't even know anymore yeah they don't even know anymore but there's something about seeing it with your eyes

[00:35:41] [SPEAKER_02] and feeling how it changes your mood and trying just attempting to conceptualize it and the feeling of beauty combined with fear it's easy not to think about AI and just use the models and then move on with your day but I think there's something about like this is what the purpose of art is right

[00:36:03] [SPEAKER_03] yes yes indeed yes because it's it's not about giving you the answer but more like giving you questions

[00:36:10] [SPEAKER_01] and

[00:36:12] [SPEAKER_03] this is our time we're already really deeply entangled with technology we opened the block box we opened the Pandora's box we created it but we don't know how to deal with it so it's a massive situation I mean everything starts from sensing it knowing it learning it so that we can have our own way of dealing it and then I believe arts can help it

[00:36:39] [SPEAKER_02] you mentioned briefly how the technologists who saw your AI artwork loved how correct it was and specific it

[00:37:08] [SPEAKER_03] communicate to

[00:37:10] communicate

[00:37:10] [SPEAKER_03] the tech people think my work is interesting because they think I communicate in a very different way using the same knowledge we analyze same satellite data but they write paper but I make artwork so we have to use different senses we send the message to the world

[00:37:40] [SPEAKER_03] but I believe there is a only thing that creativity can do and if it's an art if it's a design if it's an architect whatever that is I really happy to do it so that we can see the unseen side of the world the invisible part of the world sometimes it's a climate change sometimes it's an unfathomable AI whatever that is it will change but I will keep trying to put the

[00:38:10] [SPEAKER_03] invisible visible making visceral experiences so that we can start to sense it

[00:38:15] [SPEAKER_02] you know it was very clear with your freshwater piece the data there climate change there was a message which was this is unacceptable we're clearly there needs to be action but does your AI work have the same sort of political or activist bent what are regular people supposed to do with this information about

[00:38:40] [SPEAKER_03] AI well I really love that question the water project has a clear ending we need to protect the fresh water we have to make an action but then AI projects are slightly different because it is progress but at the same time it's a regression so it's ambiguous in a way I don't give them an answer it's rather having an opportunity to think about it how do you want to

[00:39:09] [SPEAKER_03] design your life with AI I

[00:39:12] [SPEAKER_02] mean it sounds like I hear your own feelings of exactly inflictedness because you used AI to make the artwork about AI right yes and so that must have been pretty cool and amazing but at the same time I'm you know you've done a lot of work and environmental issues you know the resources that is required to run the AI and then it sounds like you are

[00:39:41] [SPEAKER_02] curious about a symbiotic relationship with AI but also cautious and skeptical and unsure it

[00:39:53] [SPEAKER_03] is so true I'm exactly like a huge excitement great anxiety all kind of entangled inside of positive negative you know lighting and darkness because this is the technology we built so we want to share that feeling together and I want to believe that we still have

[00:40:23] [SPEAKER_03] an opportunity to make decisions proper decisions proper time so that we can progress together

[00:40:38] [SPEAKER_02] behind the scenes just so you know working with her Yoon is exacting she presented three different versions of her talk to us complete with slides and demos she travels with a team of engineers that she needs to install the lights and lasers that are part of her work but there is also just something so transportive about Yoon herself it is like she is visiting us from the future a benevolent sage who through her art takes us

[00:41:08] [SPEAKER_02] out of the moment the ordinary details and gives us a philosophical reminder of how beautiful and strange this world is and how it's up to us humans to preserve it thank you yoon that was yoon kong at ted 2026 in conversation with me manoush zomorodi please go check out yoon's full talk at ted.com thank

[00:41:37] [SPEAKER_02] you so much for being here stick around for tomorrow on the final episode of this special series about tech health and humanity a father's story about accepting what innovation could and could not do for his child's health and how he thinks we all need to think about this time we have here on earth his story will change you that's it for today if you're curious about ted's curation visit ted.com slash curation guidelines

[00:42:07] [SPEAKER_02] ted talks daily is a podcast from ted this episode was it was edited by Alejandra Salazar with editing support from Maggie Bishop Banban Chang Sanaz Meshkinpour and me Yiyoon's talk was fact checked by the ted research team our conversation was fact checked by Lucy and this episode was mixed by Matthew Polis the ted talk daily team includes Martha Estefanos Oliver Friedman Lucy Little Emma Taubner and Tansika

[00:42:37] [SPEAKER_02] Sungmarni with support from Daniela Ballarazzo Valentina Bo Hanini Banban Chang and Laini Lott special thanks to Sanaz Meshkinpour and my team at NPR's ted radio hour for all their help on this special takeover and to my co-curator at ted 2026 a very special thank you to David Diello you can hear more from these speakers on the ted radio hour with episodes coming out throughout the summer I'm Manoush Zomorodi I'll be back tomorrow with a fresh idea

[00:43:07] [SPEAKER_02] and conversation for your feed

[00:43:09] [SPEAKER_00] thank

[00:43:10] [SPEAKER_02] you so much for listening