General Seminar S05/E01 - 15:00 PDT / UCT-7

​GS S05/E01 wanders into a possible future in which Artificial Intelligence is as normal, ordinary, and everyday as televisions we command through conversation, and luggage with wheels.

But we want to make sense of what this world would be like to inhabit, and what kinds of AI worlds we'd prefer to inhabit.

​Let's cut through the hype, the noise, the prognostications, and predictions — and ask ourselves, "Yeah. Okay. AI. But what's for breakfast in an AI future when it's all said and done? And how did we prepare it? What's 'work' in an AI future and what do I do, and how did I learn how to do it? What might it be like to vacuum a dirty rug or take the dog for a walk? How do we book a vacation or arrange for pickleball lessons? How might we make a dinner reservation — and get to the restaurant? Who's our date to that dinner and how did we meet?"

General Seminar will be offered twice on March 20th, 2024 to accommodate a global audience: 10AM PDT (UTC-7) and 3PM PDT (UTC-7). Please carefully note the time for the ticket you are purchasing!

THIS TICKET IS FOR 15:00 PDT (UTC-7).

In General Seminar we deliberately move away from the speculation and hyperbole and try to use our imagination to construct worlds inhabited by humans with their typical cares, concerns, and basic human needs. Call it the Future Mundane, or the Normal, Ordinary, Everyday Futures, we want to avoid fetishizing the technology — if only for 90 minutes — to really immerse ourselves in the experience of what life and typical human experiences and user scenarios might be like.

​Join me and about 24 others as we hop into the Near Future Laboratory's hand built time machine and workshop our way into a Possible AI Future.

General Seminar meets on Zoom. Links will be shared 24 hours ahead of the event. We record our workshops to provide you with an after-action report and annotated audio recording.

Sign up now! Spots are limited!

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General Seminar is a platform for sense-making through discussion.

​One-to-many “expert” platforms like podcasts, TED Talks, and Masterclasses serve a role in the dissemination of ideas and opinions of a small group of experts. By their nature these are largely one-way, where ideas flow to a mostly passive audience who still must make sense of the topic on their own.

​General Seminar provides an alternative.

Each session consists of a focused, facilitated 90 minute discussion with a group of thoughtful, engaged and curious individuals. It is a place where meaning is made and insights developed through conversation and active contemplation.

​General Seminar is built on the principle that group discussion helps to activate the mind and invigorate the imagination in ways that watching, reading and comment threads cannot. Everyone has an opportunity to find their voice, express their insights, ask their questions and build their own understanding of the topic at hand.

​Discussion and conversation are like exercise for our minds — General Seminar is the imagination’s gymnasium.