public panels
Sep 22, 2020
Polyplexus Ask Me Anything session
Sept. 22, 2020 you can join me for a 90 minute conversation about systems--natural, artificial, and in between
On Sept. 22, the gracious people at Polyplexus are hosting me for a 90 minute discussion about our planetary crisis and potential solutions to it that involve systems thinking--and, potentially, a turning-away from the linear, mechanistic industrial culture we currently have.
Go register on Eventbrite or Polyplexus.com to join the session. The session will be moderated by Laura Anne Edwards, NASA Datanaut and TED Resident.
Aug 12, 2020
ReCONvene this weekend
Join me, Alastair Reynolds, Ted Chiang, Martha Wells, Erine Underwood and R.W.W. Greene on Saturday
The one-day (but heavy-hitting!) ReCONVene SF convention takes place this weekend. I'll be joining the above authors for the following panel:
Saturday, August 15, 2020
The AI Amongst Us Format: Panel
15 Aug 2020, Saturday 13:00 - 13:50, Earthseed Room (Online Convention (via Zoom))
AIs are here, slipping through our everyday world, crunching numbers, sorting data, and learning their field of study at an exponential rate. However, general artificial intelligence still remains a distant digital dream. Has AI failed us or have we failed AI? Has innovation stalled? What can researchers learn from science fiction regarding sentient AI systems? What grains of innovation inspiration remain untested within the pages of novels and will increased computing power help bridge that uncanny gap?
(As you can imagine, I have a few ideas about this...)
Jul 28, 2020
My CoNZealand Schedule
Here's what I'll be up to during the 2020 Worldcon.
This year's Worldcon is virtual, so you can easily attend! Zip on over to the CoNZealand website to get registered and attend any or all of the events below. Particularly of note for me this year, you can come to my reading, attend my Kaffeeklatsch, or join the discussion on my idea of "thalience."
Future Laws
Format: Panel
29 Jul 2020, Wednesday 10:00 - 10:50, Programme Room 1 (Webinar) (Programming)
Law changes when the world changes. When you can duplicate a person, who owns the house? Which one is married to the spouse? How do you define property when physical objects are almost worthless but computing power is in short supply? Is it ethical to genetically "correct" autism in the womb? We're going to have to decide.
Future Economics
Format: Panel
29 Jul 2020, Wednesday 13:00 - 13:50, Programme Room 4 (Webinar) (Programming)
Will we ever fully disentangle from the physical? Blockchains, crytocurrency, differently organic sentinence. Will economic concepts of supply, demand, money, resources hold up? Evolve? Or be completely different? And what might they look like?
Kaffeeklatsch: Karl Schroeder
Format: Kaffeeklatsch
31 Jul 2020, Friday 13:00 - 13:50, Kaffeklatch and Literary Beer Room (Programming)
Would you like the chance to video chat with nine other fans and a writer? Grab your favorite beverage and sign up for a spot!Reading: Karl Schroeder
Format: Reading
2 Aug 2020, Sunday 09:30 - 09:55, Reading Room 2 (Programming)
The Day After Tomorrow: Near Future SF
Format: Panel
2 Aug 2020, Sunday 11:00 - 11:50, Programme Room 3 (Webinar) (Programming)
What are the challenges of SF set in the near future? What are good examples?
Thalience and Sentience
2 Aug 2020, Sunday 13:00 - 13:50, Programme Room 4 (Webinar) (Programming)
Thalience and sentience. Is there really a difference? How do we tease it out?
Feb 07, 2020
Silicon Flatirons
I'll be a guest panelist this Sunday at this annual conference
We'll be discussing "Technology optimism and pessimism" at this year's Silicon Flatirons conference in Boulder, Colorado. Here's who I'll be speaking with:
Keynote Panel: A Conversation About the Future
- The Honorable Phil Weiser — Moderator
Attorney General, State of Colorado; Founder and Executive Fellow, Silicon Flatirons; Adjunct Professor, University of Colorado Law School - Casey Fiesler — Panelist
Assistant Professor, Information Science, University of Colorado Boulder - Patty Limerick — Panelist
Faculty Director and Chair of the Board, Center of the American West, University of Colorado Boulder - Karl Schroeder — Panelist
Futurist and Author
My Boskone 57 schedule
I'll be packing a lot into two days. Come out and visit
Here's what I'll be up to--a particularly fun set of panels this year!
Reading: Karl Schroeder
Format: Reading
14 Feb 2020, Friday 20:30 - 20:55
Your Generation Ship Has Landed! Now What?
14 Feb 2020, Friday 21:00 - 21:50
Our behemoth of a spaceship has been in transit since the days of our many-times-great grandparents. We've finally reached an Earth-like planet and are ready to go. What will our panel (of appointed/anointed/hereditary/elected?) leaders suggest doing first? Have they forgotten something important? Watch the panel map out our future and that of the human race on this, our new home. Then suggest your own ideas.
100 Years From Now…
15 Feb 2020, Saturday 12:00 - 12:50
The world as we know it has changed dramatically in the last 100 years. How about the next 100? What might everyday life be like a century from now? What technological marvels will the near future bring? What social changes will take place? How about natural and human-made disasters? Overall — where will we be, and how will we get there? Is the Singularity coming? "Day Million"? Or will our grandchildren herd sheep and shiver in the dark?
Futuristic Societies in Science Fiction
15 Feb 2020, Saturday 14:00 - 14:50
Creatures that are part human and part machine. Sentient alien species. People living on ships and across time itself. The future is full of people. So what does it mean to be a person in the future? How might futuristic societies evolve based upon their surroundings and histories? How can we escape the perils and pitfalls of contemporary social norms in order to create societies that feel completely fresh and new?
Kaffeeklatsch: Karl Schroeder
15 Feb 2020, Saturday 16:00 - 16:50
Autographing
15 Feb 2020, Saturday 17:00 - 17:50
Sep 10, 2019
Upcoming Appearances
Here's where you can find me through September, 2019.
- · Digital Dystopia, a talk with Cory Doctorow, at Toronto’s Word on the Street festival, Sept. 22.
- · Seeding Utopias and Resisting Dystopias, at Toronto Public Libraries starting Sept. 23.
- · I’ll be interviewed in the VR space Sansar by Draxtor on Friday, Sept. 27th 2:00 p.m. EST. Get a Sansar account and join us!
- Scintillation, October 11-13. I’ll be attending this small but intense literary SF convention, in Montreal.