Helping to create Smart Humans
This is the 25th Brave Conversations since our first in Canberra, Australia, in 2017. Since that time the world has changed, but the conversations remain the same:
How can we help Humans become Smarter in a world stuffed full of smart machines?
We predict that the impact of superhuman AI over the next decade will be enormous, exceeding that of the Industrial Revolution. (AI 2027 Report )
Brave Conversations Stuttgart 2025 takes place within the context of a world undergoing significant social, political and technological change which are impacting our day to day lives.
Within all of these themes perhaps the most important is not the technological advances, but what the implications are for humans and the human systems within which we live.
This is what Brave Conversations seeks to explore. We can’t go down every rabbit hole but we can peek in to a few and see if we can draw out themes which impact each of us in our daily lives, with a view to exploring how we can retain our humanity and our agency in the Age of Smart Machines.
We will be exploring
We will be guided in our conversations by the use of Mark Moore’s Strategic Triangle asking:
A.I. is a parasite. It attaches itself to a robustlearning ecosystem and speeds up some parts of the decision process. Theparasite and the host can peacefully coexist as long as the parasite does notstarve its host. (Tressie McMillan Cottom)
So is AI a friend or foe? The answer is both. (Professor Dame Wendy Ha ll in Interview with BBC’s Zoe Kleinman)
What do you think? And what does AI in the world mean for you?
The goal of Brave Conversations is to challenge everyone who participates - regardless of what background they come from, or what their skillset and expertise are - to more fully explore and understand the interplay between humans, the societies we live in, and the technologies we have created.
We want to empower people to proactively make decisions about how we live our everyday lives, how we participate as commercial actors within the economy, and how we operate as digital citizens and exercise our political rights. That empowerment comes from demystifying data and information and understanding how it informs the everyday decisions which gradually create the future.
Each of those decisions begin on an individual human level - our bodies and our minds - and then emanates out to our families, communities, societies and from there to nation states. We are all responsible for the world we are creating and never has there been a time when we have more potential to influence the changes around us. But we need to be given the space for robust debate and respectful curiosity, learning from each other, playing with ideas, and asking the questions that are both confronting and potentially will take us to uncomfortable places.
This is what some of our participants told us after our previous event in 2024:
New technologies appear every day … the main thing is not to be afraid of these changes, but to try to understand what benefits we can get from them, how to use it in our work or how to become the person who will help other people in mastering new technologies and, consequently, new professions and scientific trends.
(We were) encouraged… to consider how our actions online impact others. (We were) reminded to slow down and reflect on the decisions we make in this fast-moving, digital world. This felt especially relevant because it showed how we can use digital tools to foster meaningful discussions and create positive changes.
(Brave Conversations) deepened my understanding of AI’s complexity and future rights while philosophical discussions about its societal impact left me feeling more prepared and hopeful for the future.
The best way to learn is through experience and the act of playing with ideas, to imagine, to challenge, and to be creative. The things that humans do best.Brave Conversations complements the work being done at Newspeak House to address the challenges and opportunities which face contemporary society.
Brave Conversations London
WHEN: Saturday 5th July, 2025 from 10am to 6 pm
WHERE:
“Aquarium”,
Pfaffenwaldring 47,
University of Stuttgart
Campus Vaihingen
Germany
Saturday 5th July, 2025 from 10am to 4 pm
“Aquarium”, Pfaffenwaldring 47, University of Stuttgart Campus Vaihingen Germany
Ghada Ibrahim
Facilitators
Lisa Kohler
Facilitators
Anni Rowland-Campbell
Lead Facilitator
Hannah Stewart
Co-Facilitator
