​Antiqua Et Nova: How should we relate with machines and minds?

​This is a 3-part series organized by Orbital Studies Magazine and Endemic culminating in an informed discussion of the Vatican's paper Antiqua Et Nova. Each session centers on a specific text, and while sessions are self-contained, we encourage attending all three to build a deeper understanding as we explore the material together (links to all events at bottom).

​Our discussion will take place in person at 1RG in Toronto on Wednesday evenings and online on Tuesday afternoons. This page is for the in-person gathering. To RSVP for the online version please register here.

​Participants should read each text before attending.

​We'll journey from the philosophy of neuroscience through the engineering of cognitive biological systems to the Vatican's theological and practical position on AI. Our discussions aim to foster deep engagement, helping participants develop coherent, meaningful, and actionable insights at the intersection of technology, policy, and personal practice.

​Living Things Are Not Machines (Also, They Totally Are)

​Our second reading will be much less academic, reading the somehow omnipresent developmental and synthetic biologist Michael Levin’s piece in Noema magazine Living Things Are Not Machines (Also, They Totally Are).

​This piece critiques the “mechanism vs organism” dichotomy as based on outdated ideas of what a machine is. It pairs well with the first session by speaking directly to the philosophical status of models and analogy in scientific explanation, and arguing forcefully for the utility and validity of using cognitive science techniques for understanding machines (and many other systems).

​Schedule

​Doors and quiet pre-read: 6:30pm

​Discussion: 7pm - 9pm

​Unstructured time: 9pm - 10pm

​Session 1 in-person RSVP link. Session 1 online RSVP link

​Session 2 in-person (this page). Session 2 online RSVP link

​Session 3 in-person RSVP link. Session 3 online RSVP link

​Host

​Xavier Snelgrove is a researcher, educator, entrepreneur and engineer who works with computation and mathematics to explore the world. He is Editor in Chief of Orbital Studies Magazine, and a Partner at Probably Studio a research atelier and consultancy in Toronto. He has worked with machine learning and AI in industry for over 15 years at both his own startups and large organizations, leading the development of AI-driven products from conception to data to training to deployment that have been used by millions of people. He has a particular interest in cross-fertilizing perspectives across diverse fields, regularly speaking and teaching to general audiences, organizing art/code jams, and has put on galleries and invited artists to speak at major academic computer science conferences.