From the depths of human consciousness to the vast Metaverse, new Shark Tank shark Catriona Wallace says the show entwines her journey through the shadowlands within both worlds.
Conversations about artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual reality (VR) are no longer just the realm of science-fiction. From ChatGTP to the Metaverse, technology is becoming part of daily life, bringing back all the questions which plagued us when Isaac Asimov wrote his eerily prophetic novels: are machines replacing humans? And now: Can an AI chatbot have feelings?
Entrepreneur Catriona Wallace has a home at Newport and is one of the new sharks on Channel 10’s Shark Tank. Catriona, who is founder of the Responsible Metaverse Alliance and an advocate for ethical AI practices, has been exploring these questions closely.
Her AI exploration started about 10 years ago when she built one of Australia’s first artificial intelligence companies, Flamingo AI. This made her the second female chief executive officer to have a listing on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). That was until the COVID-19 pandemic arose, and competitors such as Google and Apple irrupted the market with similar but more accessible products. She had to sell the company and initiated a journey ‘through the doors of hell.’
“We went from being kind of the darlings of it all, and the pioneers and the great Australian story, to it being tough. For being a public company, I had 3,500 investors, and I had to take responsibility. It was hard. It was brutal, it was exhausting, and it was a failure,” she adds.
With that burden on her shoulders, Catriona decided to take herself out of the ‘hell’s dungeon’ she felt she was in, and walked out of that path by looking inwards. Between her business travels to the United States of America and her house in Newport, she decided to add a more in-depth trip to her life, initiating her journey of self-exploration and healing through psychedelics.
“The first time I sat and drank the medicine, I went on seven hours of the most horrendous hell ride into my shadow self. I saw I was ego-driven, identity-focused, and disconnected from my children. That I have been working on for the last three years,” she says.
This ‘life-changing’ experience not only helped her to feel happier and more connected, but also gave her the ‘right tools’ to take AI to the next level by giving it more regulation. To do so, she founded the Responsible Metaverse Alliance, has become a keynote speaker and advocate of psychedelic treatments, attending more psychedelic retreats overseas (where it is legal), and inspiring her to develop a podcast called Psychedelics for Leaders, which will be released next year.
She believes these journeys will expand the consciousness of the decision-makers and leaders and ensure that whatever AI is used for will be for the greater good and will not cause harm.
Catriona says her experience in business and implementation of ancient knowledge to improve ethics in the technological world has made her a great addition to the new season of Shark Tank. Identifying herself as a wobbegong shark (toothless – she doesn’t bite), Catriona said she would ‘absorb’ this new experience in her career and share her experience as an entrepreneur.
“I will look for diversity, inclusion, ethics and responsible business. You will see (in the show) great ideas and emotions. I even cried at the story of some participants! And for all those thinking of becoming entrepreneurs, I would say that the keys to success are knowing the market, finding a need and knowing if people would pay for and learn ‘what not to do’ from others that have gone through business before,” she says.
Watch Shark Tank week nights at 7.30pm or on 10 Play.