Ethical Artificial Intelligence (and a surprise protest)
Disclaimer:
Everything below is a mix of what I observed and heard during the event. The goal isn’t to pinpoint "who exactly said what," but to share (usually) an outsider's view and overall perspective on these industries. I’m not here to act as a definitive firsthand source—readers should do their own research. I hope this inspires you to attend events, explore new industries, and hear what leaders are presenting. These notes combine my observations with thoughts on how things could run smoother and how ideas connect (IMO). I’m not an expert, you know? Just hanging out in the room with them. Enjoy!Topics Include: Artificial Intelligence, Protests, Ethics, Accountability
Lately, I’m taking finding many opportunities to learn more about artificial intelligence across industries - from a macro and micro scale. While I’m working with some Ai as an individual, I’m also very curious to learn more about the global/national/state policy, the way Ai is growing, people’s mindsets, its available tools, its use cases in society, mass adoption, norms. I’m curious about it all.
Why Attend: The topic I’m literally excited to hear about is, “state regulation.” Though, I find myself wondering if “excited” is the word… because I feel always like I wish we lived in this dream world where right was right and wrong was wrong. Which also feels “off” - because that’s just “my version” of right. But, that is for societies and communities to decide… their decisions on what is right or wrong and the rules they must follow. Gosh, even as I type that, though, I just think about all the things being done despite what the rules say, you know? But, from. my experience working in schools and within the education system, I know there is room for improvement on childrens’ mental health, parenting, and the overall life experience.
Overall Event Ratings: Venue (4/5), Food (2/5), Speaker Content (2/5), Networking (1/5), Likeliness to Return (3/5)
Photo Collage and Commentary:
Notes from the Event:
PRE-EVENT
Artificial Intelligence is a topic I see value in for the long-term. Plus, I wanna help educate others about it - especially the youth! It’s why I bought aieud4youth.com. Education has always been a really important topic to me and I think we need to make it WAY more interesting.
I love learning and spend most of my free time learning about my interests. So, having Ai to brainstorm and build with, it’s amazing.
Others are experiencing this same thing, and for younger generations, they won’t know any different.
So what is this bridge we are building, here… connecting childhood to robots more than ever before.
I feel there is so much ‘misunderstanding’ in the world right now, universally, especially in the USA. Then, instead of being open to talking about it, the norm is hiding more in name-calling, medication, addictions, movies, shows, recommendations, work, shopping… the world needs a big change.
I think that change is coming soon. I believe it all ties to MOASS, bbbyq, “customer delight” being king again… so people need more awareness of what is out there, what is possible, and how things connect. This is possible through education and storytelling. Plus, kids can enjoy hands-on activities and engaging education, much like they have overseas (instead of here in the USA where our education is insanely horrible and kids are teenagers hardly able to spell/write/read) and overseas they’re bilingual and doing multiplication/division + cooking at age 6… it’s like, the human mind is capable of so much, but we are muting it in reality.
Arrival:
When I got there, I was just a little bit late but one guy was speaking. I started taking notes… and you’ll see, a protestor started part of the way in and then just completly took over the whole event.
I’ll say this, too - idk the details of what anyone was talking about… but i had some revelations on this protest, cause it was similar to a protest I saw before by this same group. Below I’ll just write my notes unfiltered, what I wrote as the guy was saying it. I know it’s not verified.
But I do like freedom of speech, open conversations… truly conversations about ethics. These guys were very accomodating to the police eventually, when they asked them to move.. though I do think, as you’ll see, they did set off fire alarms(?). But everything was so chaotic that even when the fire alarms went off, you just sorta felt like it was hard to tell if they were going off or not. Cause it was so chaotic it hardly added much, you know? It was already loud.
And one time I saw these guys at another event and I edited it really hardcore, but this time I left it more unedited. Just since I ‘ve heard these guys protest twice now with the same message at a similar event. IDK how many events they show up to.
After that is when i left. Here are my notes:
I arrive just in time for “seven observations of ai” the speech.
(I’m more of an eight great gal!! duh!)
And btw i lost track of his numbers for topics while writing his speech, and so did he.. at one point he was like, “woah! we’re at number five already” hahaa.
But his voice was so shaky and hard to understand s. metimes too and his ppt was so lite. like the colors/contrasts
1. It’s everywhere. Systems and applications
You could state any number of factoids to support this. Something that 758B spent on Ai… worldwide 3.7Trillion worldwide
We’re going to see its increasing speed
With the advent of LLM’s, we’e seen an explosion of the various uses of not only our businesses but also ordinary people taking advantage of some of the features LLM’s have to offer
The speaker keeps clearing his throat a million times.
On my way here a guy yelled at me: bitch! Get some water! Lol. Now I’m thinking it for him, but more politely
Back to it
Art is going to experience remarkable growth in Asia
Increasing use of ai in latin America, and Africa, though the degrees of penetration have less because disparities of global wealth that preexisted ai
(oof. What kind of wording. Why do we need to use the word “penetration!!” i don’t like how ‘industry people’ use this word all the time. just like, choose your times, people.)
- we’re seeing emerging Ai law - soft norms that might take the form of statements of ethics, organizing principals… moving to gradual levels of hardness - till we arrive at hard regulation.Statues, regulations, rule, laws that are obligatory. Consequences if these laws are violated.
Internationally, that takes form in treaties or implemtation by nation states as it filters its wa yto the (idk waht he said)
The kids of tools used from the firm level all the way up to the international level, we’d observe a fractal pattern with the same type of tools and techniques to address systems, depedong on the level of organization. Repeating thsemvesls at many levels of different contexts at ai as well
But new law is taking on harder forms, like the European recent treaty. Some attempts at the EU level to make some of the Ai norms more binding law.
The guy in front of me is browsing spots and entertainment news lol. No, right as I say that he’s back to notes.
Nationstates remain the cyptonomiate actors (idk ifhtats what he said)
International organization such as some letter names they’re influential, but when it comes to push comes to shove, nation states get to say whether or not they’re going to be bound by any norms that are reached at the international level
This ill have an impact on the ability for hte world community to address international impacts vis this form of law
We see this occurring at a time of retreat. A time when powerful nations are withdrawing and retreating from the institutions put in place after WW2, sometimes designed to achieve international peace and security as well as stability in world trade, finance, etc.
This isn’t distinctive to the USA but e’re one of hte most powerful players in the international seas. The decision to withdraw and undermine them is having effects.
The usa is not alone in this.
Five: there be giants
What do I mean?
We know that nation states are the most important in formal international law and governmence, but there are large giants also - large technology companies. My purpose is not to bash them today, but it’s no secret here to ignore the immense power that many of these companies have.
- because of their economic resources, international reach, the way International law has been structured.
There are many times the prioritizes of those companies and nation states ill parallel and compliment each other.
Other times the goals of those two giants ill conflict
We see this at all levels of government, even the international level
Be aware of other countries passing legislation
Ai acts in the EU related of legislation and there is some in China.
You can bet and vet large tech companies are paying attention to those kinds of legislative developments at the national levels. It’s going to have profound effect on their business models.
IP, rights to privacy, all those things you and I care about will sometimes compliment each other and other times conflict. It shows up in final product at the international level.
Besides the large tech companies (I’d put them at 1st place) but there are other actors, other societies, international organizations are playing major roles. These actors.
In the international level, folks might not be aware that given the structure, private companies are not directly subject to international human law and human rights.
Private firms are required under international law to respect human rights.
I got distracted just thinking of things in my ilfe… and no we’re back hahah - okay, What are they talking about??
We’re working to make international norms more directly binding on large private firms.
There has been big pushback but we’re seeing development in Europe.
Coordination Games: ere in a time where important actors are retreating and large players are unregulated, we’re going to work on solving coordination problems. Interoperability. Common sense things to try and solve together.
- some examples may be autonomous vehicles, people may worry that safety standards for autonomous vehicles on highways. A system widely adopted even though the usa and canada hasn’t adopted it
Maybe things related to privacy and safety. It’s’ occurring because all the players are finding it in their best interest to solve some of these coordination problems.
At the same time, we’re seeing a lot of… well, a lack of coordination.
A slow pace on autonomous weapons.
Competition as many countries see Ai as their keystones for their success
Ai race between China, the USA, and the EU - of course there will be levels to
Human Rights: you might think I’m being contradictory, but despite the dyniamics I’ve described in this observation… human rights continues to be the guiding star. For our conversations for the usage of Ai at an international level.
They might see they’re honored only under the breach
But my argument is that the set of rights, the principles they represent… what falls under human rights
What does it mean to be human beings?
How do they deserve to be treated and effected by the addition of artificial intelligence
I recognize a few faces in the audience. From other Ai related events.
Next speaker:
Innovating with integrity:
We are in a critical moment for Ai. It’s going to involve cooperation, leaning in, people representing universities, startup tech, research arm of whats happening in Ai.
A few things to focus on, specifically to create a framework for rights respecting Ai innovation
A few months ago talking with people at Stanford - coming up with the 2025 index report, he highly recommends you read it (oof, and remember 10%)
Now he starts reading out the stats word for word - like reading it, and it’s so hard to follow what he’s saying and it’s not up on his screen. But his slide has a crazy pic on it and so many words.
What does responsible ai innovation look like?
Regulation is teh floor of what we’re talking about
How are we creating frameworks that evaluate the measure?
There’s significant gaps among developing and developed nations as it relates to education, readiness, and complex reasoning models.
As organizations like us, Microft and academic insitutaitons, technologies, we have an obligation to lean in and close the bridge and divide between developed and developing nations.
What are the policies/ Safeguards? Frameworks?
For agentic models or complex reasoning models? What steps do we need to take to support innvoatiors and decision makers?
The increased geopolitical tension and less cooperation among governments as it relates to frameworks, standards, and approaches to regulation. On practical matters. Less overlap and starndardiation of high-risk use.
Instead, we’re seeing divergent and focused areas specifically focused on top concerns for geographies. It doesn’t necessarily ensure we’re solving the biggest problems in teh world.
Innovation is part of the democratic progress:
But really think about the role that responsible innovation plays in the democratic process.
Are we incentivising responsible innovation
Now we are talking about months and not year, and weeks and not months.
There are entire ecosystems we need to consider as we think about innovation.
How do we provide the right literacy efforts as it relates to helping people as they think about leveraging and incorporating this into their lives.
Using it beyond intention or in inappropriate means
Regulation is a lot to ensure that companies and large organizations show up a certain way. But it doesn’t do a lot to make sure that bad actors in cyber and privacy space is
— woah!!! A tall guy raises his hand and just stands up
Omg he said that ho can you talk about respecting human rights when hte companies continue to be complicit and sell to isrealeis
They rape to death in prisons.
icrosofft is selling to them
How can you sponsor this and expect Timor than a farcical demonstration and pr
You continue to do business, help gonepcid
Wat is the message you’re sending to students
When our alumni just graduated last year was shot int eh face
What message does that send to students who hope to one ay work for you
Your company
You sponsor this event about ethics
You comptineu to get involved unethical genocide
Sir you are complicit
(Some peopel are raising their hands in the audience in front of his face to try and get him to be quiet)
A woman says, you have had your time to speak - a woman says for him to be quiet, she’s yelling him. tobe quiet)
Don’t silence me!
You’re silencing internal comployees
You’re surprising the world paletstine
You come here to put democratic values on a sign
Seattle institute is a jesuitei. Institution. The third circa is in Gaza
You are using the targeted systems that they innovate with ai
They are saying - we hear you but you are not letting
Tehy say this is not expanding the convention.
You are making us complicit in geo=nocide.
Stop sellign to them. Stop voting
Stop harming geoncide occupation with ai tech
Stop facilitating
No more ai for genoicide
No more ai for genocid
You want to talk about ethics
How many tens of thousands of people have to die
I didnt hear a single mention of the isrele occupation
They keep talkign about tit
They brag aobu the ai they use to exterminate Palestinians
You take their money while they violate our human rights and undermind our democracy
Tehy buy our congressmen
And tehy buy our senators
To get other hands non our arms
We graduate hereholdinlg to work at ethical institution
You guys comee hereand talk to us about ethics but your’e explicit in genocide. You spy on them, mass murder, you lie about it on the internet to sway public opinion.
You can no longer come here and maintain any sort of decor or any sort of respectability while you demo business with Irael. Stop selling to cereal now stop voting for geonicide now. Stop selling to them .
Wow - this guy has hacked this
No apartide - if you’re interested in the convention I’m happy to talk over
You have lost all right to preach aobu tit
You are a GM you are absolutely coplicite in teh genocide
Oiu’re doing business with the leaders wanted by the international criminica scour. T his isn to going to beomplicated
You fired your colleagues. Who express any decent. Is this democracy? Is this ethics?
Tehy say on the microphone, a guy is up there with the guy on stage - sir you are out of oder.
Genocide is out of order.
They say - you’re going to be thrown out.
They say he’s goin gto be grown out.
He says you can try to silence me. -
In the audience, someone yells out at him: Some people want to be a part of this conference
You can donate to this Isral event.
OMG A LOT OF PEOPEL ARE LEAVING.
Ar criminia;s
NO More ai for Irael now. Stop voting for genoise now
Some people the peopel in teh audience are clapping in his hand
“NO JUSTICE NO PEACE” - peopel are stying in teh audience.
no justice no peace
Omg p’eopel are chanting.
Stop selling to iseareal now.
Everyone is here . Omg. A whole crew is here
Start bartering with genocie
A woman is going and yelling at them, she’s arguing at the audience to stop this.
You want to silence peopel silencing geonocide
How many womena doc hilderne hav ego die
Wow this guy is going on and on with arguments!! He has a lot of fair points, right?
You’ve done nothing but arm them. You re completely complacent.
You come here to lecture about human rights and actual governance . You are here to underline the very ofundation of this company.
Omg and ow people are going up on teh stage and yelling free Palestine. A nd tehy have scarfs omg . This was planned.
I will go outside of the room after a bit. The was planned.
I watched it a bit but I left the stage/auditorium after a bit.
Tehy hijackedd completely and they said they used to work there and are students and they will not stop or rest.
WOW these people are former employees of this company and students?? and now they’re not going to stop!! they were at another event I went to, too.
Then i’m out in the lobby for a bit, get snacks.
Some guy seems like an official guy from the event comes and makes an annoucement like smiling and like, heheh sorry for all of this, we’ll continue shortly. THen everyone goes back to talking
but then the protestors come into the lobby!!
Eventually I go outside, and i walk away for a bit, just to think and get some air.
But then I decide to go back. It’s just upsetting me a bit, but I guess I want to see what happens and how everyone handles things, you know? does it get out of hand? is it responsible.
Then I see one police show up (ONLY ONE?). He talks to the organizers and then the protestors on stage a bit and then they keep protesting.
They cheered inside of hte building for a bit - then the police nicely asked them to go out. There was one lady yellign at them like dogs, she goes up on stage and gives them all mean looks right in their faces
Tehy said they will not stop for genocide
Then a second police officer shows up and they talk to the protestors and the protestors agree to go outside to protest. First nearby and then further way.
On their way out they make another big speech but I didnt take notes.
I just started tearing up, you know. Its so sad
I went to the bathroom and there were balloons at the ceiling and it had set off hte fire alarms. And then everyone was outside and there were three police cars. The police said waht tehy were doing is fair and legal, as long as they went away (but idk if that was considering thse ballons, idk)
It was really all disorienting, and you lost track of waht was a normal sound, becuase there were so many megaphones and cheering.
And then peopel wre just acting like nothing had happened, trying to move on.
- No one was getting arrested. And the conference it seems was hijacked.
Last time I thought the protests were plants. Now I can’t tell.
Cause I overheard someone I recognized talk about how one of the speakers was “safe” downstairs. So, it seems tehy wouldn’t be worried about keepijgn someone safe… right? unless only one person was in the know.
They’re shreeking. These protestors.
They just follow the rules I think. But now their protests have stopped so they’re negotiating a bit. This is wild. They are not here to be ignored.
Then the protesting continues. They shreek very loud.
At the same time, I just think like, that must be the sadness and sounds you hear overseas at war. Right? I think the sadness in these people that htey’re fighting for, they won’t stop for what they see is wrong. As they said, this has been dragged onfor a year and a half. And you know, they came onto a university ground to talk about it. so… i have
It also makes me think of the guy I met the other day who said he met peopel encouraging him to go to protests nad make money ahead of time because you’d need money for bail - or they’d give you money ahead of time for it, etc. oof.
Who knows. Who knows how it works. And what money funds what. But they keep not wanting to get arrested and tehy are saying they have a background that makes sense. So I dont know if they were really plants or if they’re serious.
Now I’m starting to think they’re serious. Or idk. What is this? Are they trying to scare certain attendees to get them to feel like outside of the home isn’t safe or something - if it is planted? It’s hard to say.
I think either sides could be argued, though… idk. And even so, it’s why I cried today - cause I realized I dont care. Cause this murder is so sad and the people dying is so sad and the truth behind it is so sad. Whether these peopel are paid or not or whatever is going on, you know… the truth of it is human lives. And murdering and not working to make the world better. Its why I realize I dont care if its real or not cause it is real and its sad and its families and its pissed off peopel who know they are right and can’t shut up.
Maybe it’s actually another company paying for it - using the emotional humans you know?
But Uugh.
Can we also work to stop killing and death as a business model.
The protest are fair - this conference is about ethic and idk they’re talking about penetrating low income nations, you know? Not getting ai to them yet or something? Idk what he was even talking about.
So it did deserve a bit of reality, I’d say. You know - for real! Chat GPT brings it
A sassy woman showed up and she was like, “I’m here to speak what’s going on.. so it’s delayed, or waht?” You know.
She was like, hello! don’t you guys know who i am! I’m here to speak- and everyone was like… yeah, no. you’re running late nad therefore - you missed out on this.
You can still hear them chanting. My plan was to stay an hour or two. Maybe I go back in? Idk.
——
Anyway, thats where my notes end. And I left after a bit. I just didnt’ even want to hear any more from the copmany, speakers.. .it was like, that was enough - and true. I’m not interested in these conversations that literally had me distracted, when this reality woke me up.
there are real human lives in danger and at stake which are being ignored at an appropirate place to bring them up, honestly. so… you know, i think i wanna see more real conversations being had. And this was a lot for one day, too.
It was really emotional
It was a really surprising event, except that I’ve seen something similar before.
Only, the way this guy went on and on while he was speaking, it makes me think he was real. As he said, they are a group of former employees and students who believe in this. You know? That seems real. But… I think its big to host an event about ethics and then be faced like this.
it makes me feel like ‘the intrnet’ is breaking into reality. aka - reality is breaking into reality… where people are saying aloud more what they’re thinking.
This was wild to watch and I do think its a conversation to be had. can we stop killing and suffering and work on negotiating?
I just think back time and time again about that Ai Film Festival eveNt that I went to where they were explaining that Ai truly unlocks abundance and opportunity. We just need to create the content to show it. like, people need to understand it, believe it, and we can make it happen.
So - i just think yeah. It’s really time for things to change. And work on negotiating, peace. Resolution, building a better clean and positive future. Its what he people want. And we can thrive!!!
So… I have no idea, really, what was learned today. At least not a short summary. But, I had to get going and this event was crazy. but worth it.
OVERALL EVENT REVIEW - ELABORATED:
Venue (4/5) - Good place! I like this campus, it’s so beautiful
Food (2/5) - not healthy and not a lot left when i arrived. It was just chips and random snacks that weren’t healthy.
Speaker Content (2/5) - Well… in short: he had weird wording, and then the protests broke out.
Networking - (1/5) - I didn’t talk to anyone there.
Likeliness to Return (3/5) - I’m not a huge fan of this company, though the idea of the topic was interesting. Let’s see.
Until next time, I wish you the motivation and success to search for opportunities around your area. Search and explore: Who is out there giving talks? There are new things happening all of the time.
Find relatable or interesting topics you like and check them out! Maybe even something hosted at a cool venue, if there’s no other reason to go. Let’s see what you can learn and discover not too far from home. 😊
