Historical note, May 18, 2026: This article preserves the original six-track week-long planning model. The active 2026 public schedule is the Oct 28-30 focused-festival edition on /program and the May 15 launch post.
The planning committee met today and confirmed all six festival track leads — a full roster of practitioners, artists, and researchers who live this work year-round.
The track leads
- Monday — AI & Education Day + Youth · Anthonia Ogundele (Ethos Lab)
- Tuesday — AI & Life Sciences Day · Simon Haworth (Intellomx)
- Wednesday — Hackathon + Expo + Job Fair · Andrew Reid (Rival Technologies)
- Thursday — Mind, AI & Consciousness · Loki Jorgenson
- Friday — AEFL Summit (Ethics Day) · Jesi Carson (AEFL)
- Saturday — 2nd Annual BC + AI Film Festival · Kevin Friel (Nera Studios)
The breakthrough insight
The planning committee reframed the entire festival. This isn't just for AI professionals — it's for everyone whose life is being transformed by AI.
"There is a latent need. I need to understand. I need to be part of and have a voice in what's happening to us." — Loki Jorgenson
Expanded audience:
- AI professionals and researchers (original audience)
- Teachers and educators who need to understand AI's impact
- Healthcare workers and life sciences practitioners
- Citizens who want a voice in AI policy decisions
- Youth and students entering an AI-transformed world
- The general public seeking a human-centric perspective
Core principles
- Human-centric — "Where's the human-centric fork in this?" (Kevin Friel)
- Genre-smashing, silo-busting — Cross-pollinating disciplines beyond AI-specific silos
- Resiliency through community — Building together, not just observing
- Both/and thinking — Critique in one hand, curiosity in the other