Jerica Collective, LLC
Art and Science by Humans, for Humans
Human-first learning and creativity
Jerica Collective is a multidisciplinary sanctuary for the teachers, learners, and creators drowning in the flood of AI. Founded by an eclectic mix of scientists, artists, and performers, our driving vision is that human creativity is not a worthy price to pay for slightly faster generative AI. Made up of three divisions, Jerica Collective offers services across three business areas: Science and Engineering, Arts and Experiences, and a Production Studio.
Jeff Durst, co-founder
Graduated in 2019 with a PhD in Computational Engineering. "Seperated from" the corporate AI world in 2024. Joyfully copywriting, teaching, and being a professional weirdo ever since.
Our not-so-tragic origin story
Hello, and welcome! If someone had told me 17 years ago a PhD in Computational Engineering would be a dead end career path, I would have laughed. But then, remember when the tech companies swore up and down AI wouldn't replace human workers? Now they're the ones laughing after telling 1,000s of software engineers (including yours truely) to hit the bricks. The worst part of the AI boom is the idea that better AI will solve all the world's problems. Just so long as we're willing to sacrifice the entire corpus of human creativity to train it. After all, what is someone's original creation worth when compared to saving the human race? So, a bunch of us weirdoes and creators got together to create a home for ourselves with Jerica Collective. Please, poke around, and if any of our goods and/or services strike your fancy, we'd love to hear from you.
Erica Durst, co-founder
Anthropologist, Teacher, Musician, Gardener, Crafter, Extraordinary Home Cook. Currently sitting unrivaled atop the mountain of Hobby Hoes.
Ian Stoughtenburg, co-founder
Something something French - there's your dead end career path.
Services at a glance:
Science and Engineering
Not for nothing, Jeff does still have a PhD and 17 years of experience in research and development. While he no longer works teaching AI models for AI's sake, he still thoroughly enjoys teaching humans how to use these tools to a productive end. He teaches a variety of coures on applied AI, computer vision, and science-based video gaming, along with the occasional stint in technical and academic writing.
Arts and Experiences
Want help putting in a garden? A workshop on what to plant where, maybe? Or a plant nursery of your own? We host gardening workshops, both at the Collective and in your own yard. Erica is also here for an at-home cooking experience. You pick it, she cooks it. Like, literally anything. Plus, we host hobby hoe events and sell a wide variety of strange and unusal art.
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Production Studios
Our goal is to be a haven for art in all its forms, not just visual and edible. We print and publish non-fiction and fiction books, including a few of our own. Also, for the record, video games are art, full stop. So we have some games of our own kicking around, and are only too happy to help you with your digital hopes and dreams.