The EcoAction Committee of the Green Party of the United States is holding a discussion on the future of Artificial Intelligence on Monday, January 12 at 8 PM ET.

Pre-registration is required 

We will have three speakers to lead off the discussion – Gus Steeves, Violet Zitola and Andy Ellis - and then throw it open for comments and observations from attendees.

Gus Steeves has been a journalist for more than 20 years, served in elected and appointed positions of local government in his hometown of Southbridge, Mass., for more than a decade, and has been Secretary, co-Chair and/or a State Committee member of the Mass. Green-Rainbow Party for the last few years. He doesn't claim to be an AI expert, just a well-read layman with serious concerns about how our culture is using technology, who controls it, and who benefits from or gets hurt by it. Describing himself as an "optimistic realist," he feels we have the creativity and intelligence to solve the problems that bedevil us -- including AI, climate, nuclear weapons, political corruption, and more -- but is not sure the inertia of the "powers that be" will let us do so effectively in time.

Violet Zitola suggests that a good video for an intro to AI though she does not agree with all of its points or recommendations. As he notes, "We must demand a democratic intervention from elected officials immediately that revises our whole system and economy into one that actually supports human values, creativity and independence to allow us to "build a life rather than a career."

Andy Ellis is the Green Party candidate for Governor of Maryland. Here is a video of his recent discussion on this.