Premise Session: Are the Machines Coming to Get Us?

​{PLZ do not rsvp on this event link, instead, register directly on the Premise, 👉 link is here}

Technology promises ease and connection — but at what cost? In this , we’ll explore two works that ask urgent and eerily prescient questions about our relationship with machines: The Machine Stops by E.M. Forster, a 1909 short story imagining a world of isolated, tech-dependent lives, and Her, Spike Jonze’s 2013 film about love and AI companionship. Together, they challenge us to wrestle with the tension between convenience and control, intimacy and automation.

📚 📽️ The preparation for this session will take under 3 hours.

​This event is part of Portland Startup Week and hosted by Premise, a Portland-based startup reimagining how we connect and make sense of life’s big questions. We create guided conversation experiences that are sparked by short but thought provoking writing and film.

✨ Register at the Premise link and use the code "startupweek" to join this session at no cost OR (even better!) support us and pay the registration fee!

​Join us to ask:

• ​Is technology serving us, or are we serving it?

• ​Can a machine truly meet human emotional needs?

• ​What are we gaining — and losing — as our digital lives deepen?

​Come curious. Bring your perspective, your questions, and your desire for real conversation.