AI is the mosts hyped technology right now, and the buzz has been growing for several years exploding after ChatGPT launched. But should you believe the hype? Renowned data and AI expert, and unabashed critic of hype, Paco Nathan of derwen.ai delivers some real talk and hot takes with Austin Forum executive director Jay Boisseau about what’s real, what’s over hyped, and what sources you should follow and use to be informed about AI, not misled by marketing.

Rabbi Neil Blumofe, a Austin civic leader and human-centric thought and spirituality leader (and jazz afficionado), returns to the Austin Forum Upload in the post-ChatGPT era to have a conversation with Austin Forum executive director Jay Boisseau about how the growing personal usage and evolving capabilities and AI—and tech in general—can influence our spirituality and quality of our lives. They discuss the pros and cons, share experiences, and offer their own opinions and suggestions for...

In this special episode of the Austin Forum Upload, Brad Englert - longtime partner at Accenture and CIO at The University of Texas at Austin (and support of the Austin Forum!) - talks with Austin Forum executive Director Jay Boisseau about his new book, Sphere of Influence. Brad shares his insights, experiences, and advice for how to cultivate and sustain effective professional relationships, but in the your inner circles, or really spheres, and in external spheres of colleagues and...

The Austin Forum on Technology and Society team (all employees of Vizias, the AI, HPC, and advanced computing tech consultancy that supports and manages the Austin Forum) shares their opinions about the state of AI as the Austin Forum begins its third “AI April” program of activities. The Vizias team has been using, developing, and teaching AI for years, and every April we get to plan presentations, other events, and podcasts that bring other AI experts to the Austin Forum community. Dr. Luke...

Austin technology ecosystem experts, community builders, and fellow podcast hosts Jason Scharf (Austin Next podcast) and Thom Singer (Austin Tech Connect podcast) join Austin Forum executive director Jay Boisseau (and Austin Forum Upload podcast host) to discuss technology trends facing the world in 2024, and what Austin's impact, role, and ecosystem opportunities and challenges as we head into 2024. Join us for a great conversation about technology and society, and learn about Austin's place...

SXSW 2024 is coming in mid-March 2024, and it will have a bigger tech program than ever! Hugh Forrest, co-president and chief programming officer of SXSW, joins Austin Forum executive director Jay Boisseau to preview SXSW 2024. Hugh shares what new tracks are part of the conference festival, how AI is prevalent throughout the programming, other technologies that are highly represented in the programming, emerging technologies he is most excited about, and the big societal challenges that the...

Supercomputing, or high performance computing (HPC), is about building computers that can accurately and quickly solve the big problems - climate and weather modeling, developing new drugs and materials, researching new energy solutions, designing new structures and vehicles, training new AI models, understanding the formation and evolution of stars and galaxies, and much more. Supercomputing also drives innovations that make their way into mainstream, everyday computing, giving everyone...

Data analytics and AI are changing the way we work and live, and increasingly they will be embedded in the infrastructure around us, fueled by data from networked sensors. Bill Pugh, co-founder of Smart Connections Consulting, joins Austin Forum executive director to discuss smart infrastructure: how these technologies will improve power grids, buildings, roads and driving, and more!

Samuel Alexander, CEO of C2C Fashion and Technology, shares with Austin Forum executive director Jay Boisseau how his innovative fashion company is using everything from AI, AR and VR to new sustainable materials to create a new kind of fashion company.

Byron Reese, noted futurist, author, entrepreneur, speaker, and general all-around thought leader, joins the Austin Forum Upload again to talk with Austin Forum executive director Jay Boisseau about the evolution of organizing and encoding information. Starting with DNA being the first stage of information organization, then brains, followed by language, writing, and printing presses, then the Internet, the web, and search engines, Byron talks about how large language models (LLMs) are the...

Anastasia Uglova, founder of Agency and co-host of The Privacy Podcast, joins Austin Forum executive director Jay Boisseau to have a discussion about privacy, digital privacy, where we are and the challenges of ensuring privacy, and what everyone should be aware of about your privacy or lack thereof! They also talk about possible solutions, at least conceptually, and why these will be challenging to implement.

Emily Gupton of Austin Women in Technology joins Austin forum executive director Jay Boisseau to talk about the lack of gender diversity in the tech sector, the many reasons, and why gender diversity is good not just for women but for companies and innovations. The conversation covers the may reasons for this gender imbalance, both historical and current, and discusses the current situation and how thins are changing (slowly). Most Importantly, Emily shares what tech companies -and...

Thom Singer, CEO of Austin Technology Council, joins Jay Boisseau, executive director of the Austin Forum, to talk about what technologies are generating lots of buzz right now as we conclude the summer, and also which technologies should be getting even more buzz. They also talk about the roles of communities and organizations in helping people and companies stay aware of new technologies and new opportunities, and why everyone should take advantage of such communities and networks wherever...

While the current World Wide Web is amazingly capable for the things we use it for, including now (in so-called Web 2.0) sharing content via social media and smartphones and other devices that update the web content in real time, there are limitations and weaknesses. Web content lives only on specific servers, major web platforms are dominated by a small number of companies, there is limited ownership of one’s own data or event tracking of how it is used, and there is no mapping of the web to...

Quantum computing is a very different kind of computing technology that leverages the seemingly weird (but proven) quantum mechanical properties of atomic and subatomic particles to create potential transformational performance. Quantum computers leverage principles called superposition and entanglement to represent many possible states at once, making them the ultimate parallel computers for certain types of problems that even very large 'classical' computers cannot solve in a reasonable...

Quantum computing is a very different kind of computing technology that leverages the seemingly weird (but proven) quantum mechanical properties of atomic and subatomic particles to create potential transformational performance. Quantum computers leverage principles called superposition and entanglement to represent many possible states at once, making them the ultimate parallel computers for certain types of problems that even very large 'classical' computers cannot solve in a reasonable...

Cyberthreats are not only persistent but growing and evolving. As companies and organizations increasingly put their information, IP, and even raw data into network-attached storage systems and the value of stealing these digital assets only increases, driving advances in cyberattack methods. Fortunately, cyber defenses are also evolving, but how can companies and organizations best protect themselves? Join us as David Ochel, experienced cybersecurity professional, talks with Austin Forum...

The Austin Forum on Technology has a big 'tech trends' event at the start of every year. The Vizias experts behind the Austin Forum team--Jay Boisseau, John Lockman, and Luke Wilson--discuss the changes to the tech trends we're seeing halfway through the year--what is new, what is surprising, what is being hyped, and what may be future tech trends but not yet. The conversation ranges from generative AI and AI risks to the pros and cons in the buzz around VR, the increasing hype in quantum...

SXSW is a massive event - conference, festivals, performances, screenings, activations, and more - that share one common thing: creativity. While the creative culture of Austin TX has fueled the success and growth of the main SXSW events for decades, having a creative culture is not exclusive to Austin! SXSW is launching the first-ever SXSW Sydney in October 2023, benefitting from some similarities of Sydney to Austin but also some interesting differences that promise to result in a unique...

Michael Ward Jr, President and CEO of the Austin Urban Technology Movement (AUTMHQ), joins Austin Forum executive director Jay Boisseau to discuss the importance of diverse people and perspectives in technology. Michael’s AUTMHQ is a leader in developing and executing programs for a variety of age groups and experience levels, all designed to provide people in the Black and Hispanic communities with the expertise, resources, and opportunities needed to enter the tech workforce and thereby...

Hrish Lotlikar, Co-founder and CEO of SuperWorld, joins Austin Forum executive director Jay Boisseau to talk about immersive experiences, AR and VR, metaverses, and how the digital world can connect to, complement, and augment the physical world and our lives, experiences, and humanity. This interview will give you a better understanding of what is possible, why there have been some fits and starts, and most importantly why immersive experiences are valuable and inevitable!

Erin Reilly, Professor fo Practice and Founding Director of the Texas Immersive Institute in the Moody College of Communication at The University of Texas, talks with Austin Forum director Jay Boisseau about immersive experiences and the technologies that enable them. They discuss the history and present of immersive technologies, the broad potential applications uses, and why immersive experiences map so well to humans, how we experience the world and how we understand it.

Erich Schwartz, Adjunct professor of Law and Tower Fellow at The University of Texas at Austin, talks with Austin Forum director Jay Boisseau about how emerging technologies are regulated compared to more pervasive technologies - often, after the first incidents with negative impacts. The conversation covers models and methods of regulation, then turns to AI specifically due to the many recent calls for regulation --including by AI leaders-- before fears of larger negative societal impacts...

Professor Sharon Strover of The University of Texas at Austin talks with Austin Forum executive director Jay Boisseau about AI's implications for humans--what are the risks (both accidental and intentional), why is it hard to address some of them, and what UT's Good Systems program is doing to help! Sharon and Jay cover a wide range of related topics as they discuss the risks and benefits of AI for humans and the need to learn how to co-exist in ways that benefit all.