All July Programming Will be Dedicated to Climate Technology Innovation and Sustainability

Climate change is an important issue with severe long-term consequences for society that we must address now, and continuously. Climate change, driven by factors like greenhouse gas emissions and deforestation, poses significant risks to our environment, economy, and society. Rising temperatures, severe weather events, and biodiversity loss are just a few consequences of inaction.

So, I am excited to announce that all of our July programming will be focused on climate technology innovation and sustainability. Understanding climate change contributors, associated risks, and the urgency of action is crucial to inducing action and to increasing support for change. Climate change threatens food security, water supply, and economic and political stability. Immediate action and innovative solutions are essential to mitigate these threats and transition to a sustainable future.

Please register for and participate in our upcoming July events and listen to our July podcast episodes to gain insights and practical advice on how you and your company or organization can support climate tech innovation. Your proactive steps can help address climate change. All events are posted on our website, and our podcast interviews with climate tech innovation experts will be recorded and available wherever you get podcasts in July.

Jay Boisseau, Ph.D.
Executive Director & Founder

Shifting Focus from Livestreaming to Recordings, YouTube Growth

Austin Forum friends, we are changing how we deliver the monthly presentation events for online attendees. When the coronavirus pandemic happened, we realized that the community could and should be sustained and that online tools could help, so we changed to having our presentations delivered online—and we added online small-group discussions about technology and society books. After vaccines and other conditions eased health concerns, we resumed in-person events with networking but started streaming the live in-person presentations to those who wanted to continue participating online. Our programming has thus grown to include hybrid presentations, in-person networking, online book discussions, in-person meetups and workshops, and online podcasts.

However, while the world has embraced remote meetings and work, hybrid large-scale events remain challenging to execute well. Technical issues with sound and video in large event venues can make for poor experiences online, and dealing with those glitches can make for poor experiences for in-person attendees as well. Also, networking for online attendees in hybrid events has never been effective. Additionally, we see with attendance at SXSW and numerous other conferences, workshops, and large-scale meetings, that even remote workers are willing, even wanting, to gather in person for occasional larger-scale gatherings and events.

So, we have made the decision to pause our real-time hybrid large-scale events—but we will continue to do our best to record these monthly presentations and post them on our YouTube channel so people can continue to enjoy this content from anywhere they choose. Separately, Google recently eliminated Google Podcasts and moved all podcasts to YouTube, so we now have far more content on our YouTube channel! Thus, we are going to lean into YouTube for our presentation recordings and our podcast recordings. We will aim to curate a YouTube channel that is informative and professional. We will of course continue to offer a mix of in-person and online events, and we will be even more regular about recording podcasts. Finally, we will leverage our Slack community (2300+ people in it!) more to help us all connect, no matter our locations or schedules!

We hope this one change to the delivery of presentation event content is satisfactory to our online community, and we remain committed to delivering great content to our online attendees and a space for everyone, everywhere, to learn, feel connected, and be inspired.

Jay Boisseau, Ph.D.
Executive Director

AI April

AI is everywhere in 2024, and the Austin Forum on Technology & Society can help you learn, share, and connect/collaborate with professionals to use AI in new ways for your work and your lives. As we approach our third “AI April”–a month of presentations, events, and podcasts dedicated to AI capabilities, applications, future impacts, challenges, and more–we are excited that our AI programming for April is bigger than ever! It’s so big that we have to start early: join us on Wednesday, March 20, for an online discussion of the new book “Introduction to Generative AI” by Numa Dhamani of KUNGFU.AI (an Austin Forum annual partner) and Maggie Engler of Inflection AI–and these brilliant co-authors will be the moderators of our discussion! 

As April formally begins, we start with two incredible speakers in the first week! On Tuesday, April 2, Joey deVilla will deliver an online presentation to help our (now global) audience ramp into AI! Joey will explain how anyone can get started and will have lab exercises you can try out while listening to the presentation online. This online-only format enables anyone from anywhere to participate while using their personal computers for the labs. We are excited to try this online, interactive format for a presentation event! On Tuesday, April 4, we have Dmitri Alperovitch–strategist, thought leader, and author–in Austin for an in-person presentation discussing the crucial importance of the US leading in the race to advance AI and other key strategic technologies at Capital Factory. These amazing, complementary events are followed by our monthly hybrid presentation + networking event on April 16 with globally renowned AI expert Paco Nathan delivering his take on where AI is now and where it’s going–and what you need to know. The three April presentation events will be complemented by other events including an online discussion of the book “A Brief History of Intelligence” moderated by myself on April 23, and other events–a meetup, a workshop, and a movie screening w/Q&A– to be announced soon. Finally, we will publish four new episodes of the Austin Forum Upload podcast on AI topics in April. By the end of April, you will have a great understanding of the nature and importance of AI, how to use AI in your careers and lives, the potential rewards and risks of AI in the future, and even how to become an AI expert if you wish!

We will continue to revisit AI throughout the year alongside other emerging and impactful technologies. Future topics in 2024 include misinformation/disinformation, robotics, energy tech, climate and sustainability tech, health tech, cybersecurity, gaming & gamification, AR/VR/XR, space tech, gene editing and synthetic biology, fintech, and more. AI is enhancing all of these areas as well, so there will be nearly continuous coverage of AI’s impact and influence in our future programming. 

Thank you for being part of the Austin Forum, and we look forward to seeing you at our events–AI and otherwise–in the weeks and months ahead!

Jay Boisseau, Ph.D.
Executive Director

Why 2024 Will Be Our Biggest Year Yet!

The Austin Forum on Technology & Society is growing in almost every way: the number of people reached by our programming (most important!), the size of our events audiences, the total number of events and podcasts, the number of partners and supporters, and more! We are especially excited that we kicked off the new year of programming with our largest event attendance possibly ever: our Tech Trends for 2024 (and Beyond!) drew over 350 attendees in person and online, with many more viewing the event recording online afterward! It was a fitting start to what will be our biggest year ever. We are adding workshops to our event types to help teach and sharpen technical skills, starting with workshops on AI and quantum computing. So, many months will now have four events (presentations, meetups, online book discussions, and workshops). We are also podcasting more frequently, and most months will have 4 podcast episodes. (Please check out our first episode of 2024, about SXSW 2024’s tech program with Hugh Forrest himself!). There will be some special events as well, so we expect close to 100 total events and podcasts by year covering all of the emerging and high-impact technologies you and your company/organization should know about. We believe we are both the best place to track and learn the diverse set of technologies you need to know and use and the best tech community to be part of to meet new colleagues, partners, and friends. 2024 is going to be a great year for Austin Forum fans!

As we kick this year off, we are excited to welcome a new partner, Civo, to our team and our advisory party. Civo is a cloud provider focused on modern, cost-effective, Kubernetes-based solutions, and they bring a wealth of technical expertise to our advisory board that will help influence our programming. (Also, please check out their awesome Civo Navigate conference on February 20-21 in Austin, and let us know. If you would like a special discount code for Austin Forum community members!) We have three more partners joining soon as well that will further complement and broaden the advisory board’s expertise and perspectives, helping us create the most comprehensive, balanced Austin Forum program event. 

We look forward to seeing you in person or online, including our growing national and international audience. Please let us know how we can best help you and others keep up with the latest technologies and their applications and impact and share your voice and ideas in our Slack workspace in addition to our events. And above all, have a great 2024!

Jay Boisseau, Ph.D.
Executive Director & Founder

Upcoming Book Discussions

The Austin Forum on Technology & Society monthly online book discussions have become one of my favorite activities over the past two years. We have wonderful conversations among intelligent, curious people about books by thought leaders on the societal implications of diverse technologies. We limit these events to about 20-25 participants, and people can contribute to the conversation if they wish, or just sit back and enjoy it like a radio show or podcast conversation on an interesting topic. Everyone participates from the comfort of their own home, after work/dinner, often with a drink in hand (and occasionally a pet on hand!). The conversations are always thoughtful, respectful, and enjoyable.
 
As we enter December and the weather gets colder, we have some great books coming up—so stay warm and join us for any of these upcoming book conversations. As always, we encourage reading the book, though it is not required—but you will get even more from the conversations if you read the book, or at least a book summary. (All times are 7:15 pm-8:30 pm, Central time.) 
 
Tuesday, December 12: Discussion of “AI 2041: 10 Visions of Our Future” by Kai-Fu Lee, moderated by Nancy Giordano.
 
Thursday, January 18: Discussion of “The Age of Surveillance Capitalism” by Shoshana Zuboff, moderated by J. Craig Wheeler
 
Thursday, March 20: Discussion of “Introduction to Generative AI: An ethical, societal, and legal overview” by Numa Dhamani and Maggie Engler, moderated by author Numa Dhamani.
 
I am excited to read and discuss all of these books and look forward to seeing you online and hearing your thoughts about these topics!
 
Jay Boisseau, Ph.D.
Executive Director

Hot summer, hottest tech topics!

Summer is about to begin officially, though it’s already a hot one for our friends in Austin, around Texas, and across the southern US. It can seem like stepping out of your home is like stepping into an oven, but the Austin Forum has you covered with great events–both in-person events (in air-conditioned spaces, we promise!), and online events you can from the comfort of your own homes anywhere in the world (and remember, like SXSW and Austin City Limits, the Austin Forum is for everyone, not just Austinites!). Most importantly, we are covering the most important technologies of our time this summer: AI, misinformation/disinformation, synthetic biology, energy transitions, digital privacy, and even quantum computing! So, join us for one or more of these events to learn more about the technologies shaping society, and if you are able to attend in person we hope you will stay afterward for networking and cool beverages!

So, please join us to learn, discuss, connect, and be inspired to collaborate and innovate–and to sound even smarter at summer picnics :-) 

Jay Boisseau, Ph.D.
Executive Director​

Generative AI is Everywhere--including AF June events!

Friends, we were thrilled with the response to our multiple "AI April" events. We had five events--ok, one was rescheduled into early May--and three AI-related podcasts. And yet, it wasn't enough! Interest in AI is exploding right now due to generative AI tools like ChatGPT, Bard, Stable Diffusion, MidJourney, and more, but we covered AI more comprehensively in our April programming. So, we're going to focus on generative AI specifically in June, with three events you won't want to miss!

• June 6: Our Monthly Presentation Event will help you understand and use generative AI (GenAI) tools for work/productivity. This month we will have tables instead of theater seating, and each table will focus on a different GenAI tool (after the main presentation) and have an expert provide demos and hands-on instruction (for those who bring a device).

• June 14: Our Monthly Online Discussion Event will discuss the book "Superintelligence" by Nick Bostrum, a book about the potential extreme capabilities for AI that seems less far out in the era of GenAI than it did just 5 months ago!

• June 20: Our Monthly Meetup Event will focus on large language models and how to not only use but improve them. Experts welcome (and laptops, too!).

So, we hope to see you for more practical information, usage instruction, and discussion of the potential and pitfalls of GenAI in June!

Jay Boisseau, Ph.D.
Executive Director​

Miss SXSW? We Have You Covered!

Our annual partner (and original inspiration) SXSW just completed the Interactive (tech) portion of the SXSW 2023 festival, with an incredible number of speakers and presentations spanning AI, metaverse, digital identity and trust, cybersecurity, Web3, climate tech, energy, gaming, quantum computing, and much, much more. We understand not everyone could attend, and even attendees could only participate in a small fraction of the content—so how can you learn more about the tech highlights of SXSW Interactive? If you’re in Austin, one way is to join our in-person meetup event on March 23 at which Hugh Forrest, Co-President and Chief Programming Officer of SXSW, and a large number of SXSW (and Austin Forum!) attendees will come and share their top highlights. After these quick highlights, we’ll have a meetup-format event to discuss what they've heard--and what they want the Austin Forum to cover in the year ahead! So, whether you attended SXSW or not, you’ll enjoy this event! And for the non-local folks and the ones who cannot attend in person, we have an Austin Forum Upload podcast reviewing SXSW Interactive with Paul O'Brien, CEO and founder of MediaTech Ventures and a longtime attendee of SXSW, discussing his and our observations, highlights, importance, and resulting recommendations for companies, professional, and everyone for attending SXSW Interactive. 

​Jay Boisseau, Ph.D.
Executive Director

KUNGFU.AI Becomes a Partner for the Austin Forum!

I am pleased to share that one of Austin’s most notable, successful AI startups, KUNGFU.AI, has become a partner of the Austin Forum on Technology & Society. Dr. Steve Kramer, Chief Scientist, and Stephen Straus, Managing Director, will represent KUNGFU.AI on the advisory board. They will both help ensure that the Austin Forum programming reflects the growing importance and capabilities of AI in business, government, entertainment, and daily life and that we provide societal context and discussion around AI ethics. Our incredible, talented, and supportive partners provide the expertise to help craft comprehensive programming about diverse technologies and their impact. They make it possible for us to deliver great content to help you advance your knowledge and careers, augment your companies and organizations, and understand the importance, impact, and interplay of key emerging and pervasive technologies. 

Jay Boisseau, Ph.D.
Executive Director​​

Austin Forum Interview of ChatGPT

The Austin Forum on Technology & Society covers the influence and impact of both pervasive and emerging technologies in our lives, companies, organizations, education, entertainment, health, climate, transportation, and energy— in society. In our first article of the rebooted Austin Forum Update blog, we present an interview of ChatGPT itself that shows the power and capabilities of this amazing tool — and shows a couple of limitations, too.

​Read the article here!

Jay Boisseau, Ph.D.
Executive Director​​

A GREAT Year of Programming Coming in 2023!

Welcome to a brand new year and an exciting new chapter for the Austin Forum on Technology and Society! As we begin this new year, we are filled with hope and anticipation for all that is to come. The Austin Forum has always been a place where passionate individuals can come together to discuss and explore the many ways technology shapes our world.

In the coming year, we have an incredible lineup of events, speakers, and discussions planned that we can't wait to share with you. From discussions on the latest advancements in artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, to conversations about the role of technology in social justice and equality, there is something for everyone at the Austin Forum. But it's not just about the events and speakers - it's about the community. At the Austin Forum, individuals from all walks of life and all levels of expertise come together to learn, share, and grow. By fostering a sense of community and collaboration, we can make a real difference in shaping the future of technology.

So join us, won't you? Whether you're a seasoned tech expert or simply someone curious about technology's role in our world, we welcome you with open arms. Let's make this an exciting and meaningful year for the Austin Forum on Technology and Society.

—

The above was generated by ChatGPT as an experiment--because we, like you, are curious about technologies and want to understand how (well) they work so we can think about new uses and features. We asked it to "write a blog post to welcome people to an exciting new year for the Austin Forum on Technology and Society," and as you can see, it captures the flavor of the Austin Forum on Technology & Society very well. This is possible because the text required for understanding the Austin Forum is on the web and because it knows how to write in many styles and formats: news and articles, blog posts, poems, scripts, song lyrics, etc. ChatGPT is such an exciting technology that we restarted our Austin Forum Upload podcast for 2023 with an episode dedicated to ChatGPT (but discussed entirely by real humans :-)), coming out soon. Of course, the ChatGPT text above is not perfect: we're starting a new year but not a new chapter, and it doesn't (and can't) know about future topics that are in planning but are not yet posted. Still, it's pretty spot-on!

We are working on presentations, discussions, and meetups for a wide variety of topics in 2023, including AI, misinformation, multiverse/AR/VR, cybersecurity, EVs/AVs, climate tech, health tech, 3D printing and robotic manufacturing, IoT, consumer tech and gaming, tech for defense/national security, tech for money/finance, and much more. We will also increase our use of technologies in our events and content in 2023. We even hope to instrument the physical venue for the IoT presentation with a variety of sensors and to use a multiverse venue for that presentation event. And most importantly, we look forward to connecting with tech professionals, tech leaders, and retch enthusiasts throughout the year, which helps us all develop new collaborations, friendships, and opportunities. 

We hope to see you online or in person often in 2023, including at the popular Tech Trends for 2023 (and Beyond) event on January 10. And now, we close this article with ChatGPT's words as well, this time as a haiku:

Tech talks fill the air
Insightful conversations
Austin Forum thrives

Jay Boisseau, Ph.D.
Executive Director​​