🧠 AI Entrepreneur’s Guide to #SXSW24
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Are you ready for the biggest week in Austin?
South by Southwest (SXSW) descends upon the city this year from March 8th-16th. More than ever, this year’s sessions are zeroed in on artificial intelligence — I’ve included some of the sessions I’m eyeing below.
Did I miss something? Leave it in the comments!
All Week
Capital Factory House at SXSW
March 8–12
Capital Factory House features five days of jam-packed action and opportunity, with several sessions focused on artificial intelligence. What better way to soak up all SXSW has to offer than to plant yourself in the center of gravity for entrepreneurs in downtown Austin, within walking distance of the Convention Center and the hotels where all SXSW programming takes place.
From the Intel AI Summit to exploring “Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy AI” with Deloitte, #CFHouse is the place to explore AI at SXSW 2024 (heads up — you can actually filter our agenda for AI sessions!).
Friday, March 8
Startup Crawl
Startup Crawl has been the biggest technology and entrepreneurship party at SXSW since 2011. Grab your colleagues and find out what happens when the hottest startups come together at the same time, in the same place. You’ll explore Capital Factory’s Austin innovation space through the eyes of an entrepreneur, grab a drink, and meet more than 100 startups (including some of the top AI startups in Texas, like Big Sister AI, Productbot AI, Worlds, and more).
This event is open to the public, though SXSW badge holders are given priority access. Tickets are only $10 and limited quantities are available!
Time: 6pm to 9pm
Location: Capital Factory
Register: Sign up here (no SXSW badge required)
Defending Reality vs Gen AI: The War Against Deepfakes
Laura Plunkett (Executive Director, Comcast NBCUniversal)
Ben Colman (Chief Defender, Reality Defender)
Join Laura Plunkett (Executive Director of Comcast NBCUniversal LIFT Labs) and Ben Colman (Chief Defender at Reality Defender technology) as they work together to provide real time deepfake detection across all media types. They’ll discuss the opportunity for deepfake detection and the risk to business and society if deepfakes are allowed to scale without any regulation. They will outline steps that enterprise organizations can take to protect their intellectual property, and how creators and startups can think about combating deepfakes and the risks they pose.
Time: 2:30pm to 3:30pm
Location: Hilton Austin Downtown, Salon J
Saturday, March 9
The Path to Conscious AI
FEATURING
Allison Duettmann (CEO & President, Foresight Institute)
Michael Graziano (Professor, Princeton University)
Judd Rosenblatt (CEO, AE Studio)
Anil Seth (Professor, University Of Sussex)
Dive into the world of ‘conscious AI’, pondering its potential and the challenges it triggers. Can AI achieve human-like consciousness? If so, what are the implications? While conscious AI could unleash groundbreaking innovation, it also presents potential threats. A perspective to consider lies in prosocial AI, in which conscious AI promotes social wellbeing by its very nature. In this panel, you’ll explore the progress of AI, the advances underway, its risks, and if/how pro-social and conscious AI is a viable solution to a future of AI that is beneficial for humankind.
Time: 2:30pm to 3:30pm
Location: JW Marriott, Salon ABC
From Algorithms to Arms: Understanding the Interplay Of AI, Social Media, and Nukes
FEATURING
Anthony Aguirre (Executive Director & Secretary of the Board, Future of Life Institute)
Frances Haugen (Founder, Beyond the Screen)
Jeffrey Ladish (Head of AI Insights, Center For Humane Technology)
Emily Schwartz (Partner, Bryson Gillette)
The shadowy systems behind our technology have often led to societal harm and even catastrophe. This panel will discuss how we can avoid going down that road with AI by reflecting on lessons learned from past technological leaps and spotlighting the importance of responsible, proactive, and transparent systems to protect our privacy and our humanity.
Time: 2:30pm to 3:30pm
Location: Hilton Austin Downtown, Salon K
Sunday, March 10
No Algorithm for Culture: How Humans See What AI Can’t
FEATURING
Toygun Yilmazer (Chief Strategy Officer, TBWA Group Istanbul)
Analytical AI tools excel in big data analysis, outperforming humans. Similarly, Generative AI tools have proven their superiority in generating text and images at speed. Are there any areas where humans can outshine machines?
Culture is vibrant and ever-changing, defying predictability. Humans surpass machines in grasping dynamic culture and making courageous decisions for an unpredictable future. Drawing from expertise at TBWA’s cultural intelligence unit Backslash, and fueled by passion for AI and creativity, Toygun will demonstrate this human edge.
Time: 11:30am to 12:30pm
Location: JW Marriott, Salon E
Industry, Civil Society, and the Coming AI Revolution
FEATURING
Adam Conner (Vice President, Technology Policy, Center for American Progress)
Katie Harbath (Chief Executive, Duco Experts)
Megan Shahi (Director, Technology Policy, Center for American Progress)
Dave Willner (Policy Advisor; Former Head of Trust & Safety, OpenAI)
AI is here to stay, and precious few experts with hands-on experience are in the policymaking space to help shape the future AI landscape. With four panelists having made the rare pivot from big tech to civil society, the conversation will focus on lessons learned and lessons needed (on both the industry and civil society side), building bridges to craft more effective and equitable AI policy, and upleveling the type of engagements between the two.
Time: 4pm to 5pm
Location: Hilton Austin Downtown, Salon C
Monday, March 11
Featured Session: AI and Humanity’s Co-evolution with OpenAI’s Head of ChatGPT
FEATURING
Peter Deng (Head Of ChatGPT, VP of Consumer, OpenAI)
Josh Constine (Venture Partner, SignalFire)
AI is changing us from creators and answerers into curators and askers. In this provocative talk with OpenAI’s VP of consumer product and head of ChatGPT Peter Deng, we’ll explore the role of humans in the age of AI. What are AI’s practical and philosophical implications? How will it change our perception of ourselves? And are we all destined to become prompt engineers or happily unemployed artists? Deng will bring his background leading product at Instagram, Uber, and Airtable and as a dad of 4 to this fireside with Josh Constine, consumer VC at SignalFire and former TechCrunch editor.
Time: 11:30am to 12:30pm
Location: Austin Convention Center, Ballroom D
Designing Successful AI Products and Services
FEATURING
Nur Yildirim (PhD Candidate, Carnegie Mellon University)
John Zimmerman (Tang Family Professor Of AI And HCI, Carnegie Mellon University)
Today, most AI projects fail. Teams choose the wrong things to build. Based on 10 years of researching challenges in AI innovation as well as insights from teaching technical, business, and design students how to innovate with AI, we discuss how to brainstorm low-risk, high-value AI concepts, and things that are buildable and desirable. Neither user-centered nor technology-centered approaches work. You’ll learn how to integrate aspects of both while focusing on situations where moderate model performance generates value for users and service providers.
Time: 11:30am to 12:30pm
Location: JW Marriott, Salon 7
How AI Is Changing the Art of the Job
FEATURING
Jena McGregor (Senior Editor, Forbes)
Garrett Lord (CEO And Co-Founder, Handshake)
Jim Link (Chief Human Resources Officer, Society for Human Resource Management)
Nickle LaMoreaux (Senior Vice President And Chief Human Resources Officer, IBM)
From resume-building to navigating that first job, to taking on new responsibilities, AI is disrupting how we seek job opportunities and employers identify and train talent. But, can AI level the playing field or will it perpetuate societal biases? How critical will knowledge of AI be for career success? Purposeful applications of AI can shape a more equitable and meaningful future of work for employees and managers alike. Join to explore how AI can unlock opportunity, identify untapped talent, and help all employees contribute and advance faster in their careers.
Time: 11:30am to 12:30pm
Location: Austin Marriott Downtown, Waller Ballroom DEF
Tuesday, March 12
AI Isn’t Coming for Your Job, But Those Using It Will
FEATURING
Tom Ajello (Senior Partner and Global Director, Experience, Innovation & Engineering Practice, Lippincott)
Chandreyi Davis (Global VP of Brand Marketing, Expedia Group)
Blake Gaiser (Director Of Smartphone Product Management, Samsung Electronics America)
Allison Sitzman (VP Of Integrated Brand And Product Marketing, Shutterstock)
“Humans should fear AI.” “Is AI coming for your job?” “AI poses ‘risk of extinction’ industry leaders warn.” These are just some of the recent headlines romanticizing an AI apocalypse. But despite this, industry leaders are starting to prove otherwise.
There’s still so much we don’t know about the future of generative AI — but what we do know is experimentation is key. And the brands that are winning right now are doing just that. Tune into this conversation with today’s most disruptive leaders on how they are using generative AI to create opportunities and enhance the customer experience.
Time: 10am to 11am
Location: JW Marriott, Salon FGH
Elections in the Age of AI: New Tech’s Impacts on Democracy
FEATURING
Joan Donovan (Assistant Professor of Journalism and Emerging Media Studies, Boston University)
Tiana Epps-Johnson (Founder and Executive Director, Center for Tech and Civic Life)
Lindsay Gorman (Head of Technology and Geopolitics, German Marshall Fund’s Alliance for Securing Democracy)
Jena Griswold (Secretary of State, Colorado Department of State)
The emergence of artificial intelligence technologies has game changing implications for American Democracy — and not all of them good. While disinformation has been used in recent election cycles to sow doubt in elections and democratic processes, AI takes this threat to new levels. How do we protect our democratic institutions, make sure voters receive accurate information, and ensure American Democracy survives in the years to come? Hear first-hand from officials who oversee elections, experts in the field of AI and national security and see what the future may hold for American elections.
Time: 2:30pm to 3:30pm
Location: Hilton Austin Downtown, Salon C
Wednesday, March 13
How to Train a Humanoid Robot
FEATURING
Luis Sentis (Professor, The University of Texas at Austin)
Robots are in our lives, and they are here to stay. In the not-so-distant future, a humanoid robot may be assisting you in your home or workplace. How can you train your robot to be a useful partner? During this workshop, Dr. Luis Sentis, director of UT Austin’s Human Centered Robotics Lab and leader of its Good Systems Ethical AI research program, will teach participants how to train a real humanoid robot using VR to assist them with daily tasks such as cooking, cleaning, and delivering items through a live, hands-on demonstration.
Time: 10am to 11:30am
Location: Courtyard Marriott, Brazos II-III
Building Human Intelligence with Artificial Intelligence
FEATURING
Anna Davlantes (Founder, Alpha School)
Mackenzie Price (Founder, Alpha School)
Artificial Intelligence will lead to increased human intelligence. It’s provocative and not the view we hear most when it comes to AI’s impact on humanity. Founder MacKenzie Price has nearly a decade of data and can pinpoint where the future of learning is heading, how generative AI will be the most disruptive + transformational force on learning in centuries. The revolution is here and generative AI will render all educational materials to date -obsolete and archaic — resoundingly impacting how we learn absolutely everything — as students, as employees, as founders and citizens of the world.
Time: 11:30am to 12:30pm
Location: Austin Convention Center, Creative Industries Expo-Next Stage-Exhibit Hall 4
Thursday, March 14
Featured Session: Robotic Renaissance: The Dawn of Humanoid Innovation
FEATURING
Jeff Cardenas (CEO, Apptronik, Inc.)
Yemi A.D. (Moonshot Platform)
In the grand narrative of human ingenuity, from mastering the wheel to advancing microchip technology, stands our next monumental leap: the Humanoid Robot. The most sophisticated tool that humans ever made isn’t just about gears and circuits; it’s about dreams, aspirations, and the endless possibilities of our collective imagination.
Envision a world where time doesn’t limit our creativity and aspirations. Humanoid robots handle life’s routines, liberating us to pursue what truly matters to us. Will we channel it into creative pursuits, or drift into ease and indulgence? Join Apollo, Apptronik’s cutting-edge humanoid robot for a journey through time, weaving together the stark realities of our past with a hopeful outlook on a future enhanced by humanoid robotics. It’s an invitation to witness where the realms of technology and creative artistry converge, painting a vivid picture of what lies ahead.
Time: 11:30am to 12:30pm
Location: Hilton Austin Downtown, Salon H
Are Emergent Abilities of LLMs a Mirage?
FEATURING
Numa Dhamani (Principal Machine Learning Engineer, KUNGFU.AI)
Ron Green (Co-founder & Chief Technology Officer, KUNGFU.AI)
The emergent abilities of LLMs have been highly publicized — could we harness the unpredictability for the greater good, or are we unleashing something into the world that we can’t control? Or, more importantly, are LLMs’ emergent abilities even real? Ron Green and Numa Dhamani will engage in a discussion of whether the emergent abilities of LLMs are real or if they are a mirage. They will explain emergence as a general concept, how they’re seen in LLMs, or if they’re a fact or illusion. With healthy skepticism, they will discuss explanations for this mysterious AI.
Time: 11:30am to 12:30pm
Location: Hilton Austin Downtown, Salon DE
Navigating the Future of Industries with AI
FEATURING
Haibo E (Director, HerMission)
Kate Janssen (Lead Product Manager, ML & Chat, Cleo)
Yuelin Li (Chief Product Officer, Onfido Inc)
Claire Woodcock (Director of Product, Machine Learning, Mozilla)
While many view AI as a transformative technology capable of revolutionizing industries, it also sparks questions around how to build products responsibly to ensure user safety. From verifying customers’ digital identities to pulling financial insight through chatbots, AI has made its way across industries — drawing both optimism and skepticism on the future of these applications. In this session, hear from leaders in AI on how they’ve built and are building AI products responsibly, the impact AI has across industries and the future of work, and how to prepare for the changes to come.
Time: 2:30pm to 3:30pm
Location: Hilton Austin Downtown, Salon C
