This causerie session is motivated by recent news, and notably the controversy involving Anthropic vs the Pentagon.
Causeries sessions are intentionally unrecorded, to allow everyone to speak and think freely about even the most sensitive topics.
This one is organised as a semi-structured discussion: we’ve assembled compelling slides to inform and analyse underlying systemic issues of the digital ecosystem. At times, we’ll pause the presentation to hear members of the audience.
Two interlocked questions will guide us:
1- Can we avoid an Orwellian future? We’ll introduce “the Orwellian trap” (self-reinforcing cycle of personal data -> surveillance -> manipulation) and provide a facts-based analysis of current power shifts and struggles in the race to control AI.
2- Can we reach a wiser global distribution of resources? We’ll focus more specifically on the digital divide (access, literacy, hidden labour) as well as the environmental impact of AI. Both of these challenges are extremely important, yet, they are often left out of the AI discourse.
We aim to collectively assess these challenges, reflect on optimistic forecasts and identify operational goals to reach them.
As usual, the causerie will be followed by a collective post on our blog with open individual contributions.
Details
Date and Time: Thursday, 26th of March 2026 - 6:30 PM
Location: Sony CSL, 6 rue Amyot, 75005 Paris
Registration: here - Registration is not mandatory, but it helps us better prepare the space and logistics.