Intention:
- Publicity moment for launch (generate attention)
- Present the paper and have a recorded talk
- Opportunity for discussion and sensemaking
Join for us this roundtable where we will examine the issues raised by the new white paper "In Tech We Trust: Examining the god-like authority of technology in the modern age - and what it means to set a wiser course".
Read In Tech We Trust paper here »
This is also an opportunity to hear from the paper's authors as well as invited experts in AI and social transformation including Michael Garfield and Jenny Stefanotti.
In Tech We Trust argues that technology has become more than a tool — it has become a cultural authority. In late modernity, tech is not simply something we use; it is something we trust, revere, and unconsciously organise our world around.
This roundtable will cover questions like:
- Has technology become a kind of modern “god”?
- How do modern assumptions — individualism, rationalism, materialism, and the myth of progress — shape our relationship with AI?
- What might it mean to shift from out-of-control technological acceleration towards collective restraint?
- Can a worldview grounded in interbeing — the recognition of radical interdependence — support wiser choices about the forces we unleash?
Rather than focusing only on governance, the discussion will examine the cultural paradigm shaping our technological era — and the inner capacities needed to navigate it well.
Who should attend? Leaders, technologists, policymakers, educators, and anyone asking: What kind of humanity are we becoming in the age of AI?
This webinar is an opportunity to engage directly with the authors and fellow participants in a rich, multi-perspective dialogue about technology, collective action, and the cultural transformation our time demands.
Join us as we ask not only what AI can do — but who we must become to live well with it.
Total duration: ~90 minutes
- 0:00–0:05 — Arrival & settling in — music or holding slide as people join
- 0:05–0:10 — Opening & grounding — short grounding practice led by Sylvie (~3–5 min)
- 0:10–0:35 — Paper presentation (~20–25 min)
- 0:35–0:50 — Discussant responses — each panellist speaks for 3–5 min Jenny, Michael, Sylvie
- 0:50–1:00 — Breakout rooms — small-group discussion (~10 min, with facilitator)
- 1:00–1:25 — Return to main room — open-floor questions to invited experts / panellists
- 1:25–1:30 — Closing — brief reflections on takeaways, next steps & actions
Recommendation: use one question only — with 10–15 min, two questions split the energy and neither lands properly. Go with Q1 for the breakout; Q2 could work as a prompt for the open-floor discussion or closing reflection.
- "Where in your own life do you notice yourself relating to technology as if it were a kind of authority or god — trusting it, deferring to it, or feeling unable to say no? What would it take to pause?"
- "What do you think it means to set a wiser course for technology development, and what examples of wise approaches to tech (if any) do you know of?"
- 2b. "What do you think a wise approach to technology would look like?"
- 2c. "What would it look like — in your community, work, or daily life — to make a technology decision from a place of interbeing rather than competition or convenience?"
- The paper presentation could run ~20 min, leaving a buffer before discussants start.
- After open-floor Q&A we could optionally do a second short breakout or a quick "what are you taking away?" round in the main room — gauge energy in the moment.
- Closing should include concrete actions / calls to action.
- Email panellists to confirm they will each speak for 3–5 min as discussants, and that they will also be responding to audience questions for ~30 min after the breakouts