Hey Vancouver,
Last week in Montréal my backpack got a visit from the bomb squad.
I set it down for two minutes to photograph Edoardo De Martin pitching emergency-response software. Security saw a bag full of laptops and battery bricks and called the bomb squad. “The heavy ones are the worst ones,” Alexis told me. Good thing I'm so squeaky clean.
That was day two at ALL IN, Canada's biggest AI conference. I wrote four dispatches, recorder running (they're at the bottom). This is what I brought home for September 30.
So. On September 30, the argument comes home.
The AI Ethical Futures Lab hijacks Vancouver AI Meetup #33.
Ottawa asked Canadians what AI transparency should mean. On August 4, about twenty of us answered from an artist's studio on Parker Street. Tanya opened the doors, Peter facilitated, Sara wrote it up, and BC + AI filed the submission on September 11.
Our take: a disclosure label is useless if nobody can change the decision. Give people a human with real authority, a record they can challenge, and a way to get the damage fixed. The consultation closes today. The argument runs longer.
And yes, we used AI to help sort the notes. We wrote that down too. Demanding transparency while hiding your own process would be a spectacular own goal.
August 4 at Tanya’s studio. Photo: AI Ethical Futures Lab.
Read the submission, then the story of the night that wrote it.
Come argue with it in person. Peter and Sara will walk us through the submission. SFU's Metacreation Lab brings creative AI demos. Love the tools. Question who sells them. I'll do both.
September 30 is also the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Jonny Williams of the Squamish Nation opens the night. Wear orange.
Wednesday, September 30, 6-10 PM
H.R. MacMillan Space Centre, 1100 Chestnut St
Doors at 6, program at 7
Earlyworm tickets are CA$40 until 11:30 tonight, then CA$60.
And if you want the three-day version, that is Futureproof Festival of AI, October 28-30, in the same building. Brewster Kahle, Amber Case, Ana Serrano, Stephanie Dick and a growing crew of builders, artists and public-interest troublemakers.
Futureproof Festival of AI · October 28-30 · Vancouver
KK-LOCAL50 takes 50% off the CA$950 Festival Pass: CA$475. This locals deal is good through Sunday, September 27.
The four Montréal dispatches, if you want the whole trip:
Bring the thing you're building. Bring the awkward question. I'll bring mine.
And keep your backpack attached to your body.
Kris Krüg
Founder & Curator, Futureproof Festival
Executive Director, BC + AI Ecosystem Association
