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 /festival and the May 15 launch post.
The planning committee met today and confirmed an early set of six festival track leads. Those week-edition assignments have since been superseded by the Oct 28–30 festival. This historical note preserves the early track themes without publishing the former lead names.
The track leads
- AI and education
- AI and life sciences
- Builders, demos, and work
- Mind, AI, and consciousness
- Ethics and public life
- Film and creative AI
The breakthrough insight
The planning committee reframed the entire festival. It stopped being a festival for AI professionals. It became a festival 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 spectating
- Both/and thinking · Critique in one hand, curiosity in the other