Mike Gerwitz

Activist for User Freedom

I Will Be Speaking At LibrePlanet 2019

2019-02-15

Please join me this year at LibrePlanet for my talk, titled “Computational Symbiosis: Methods that Meld Mind and Machine”.

Words like “wizardry” and “incantation” have long been used to describe skillful computational feats. But neither computers nor their users are performing feats of magic; for systems to think, we must tell them how.

Today, users most often follow a carefully choreographed workflow that thinks for them, limited by a narrow set of premeditated possibilities. But there exist concepts that offer virtually no limits on freedom of expression or thought, blurring the distinction between “user” and “programmer”.

This session demonstrates a range of practical possibilities when machine acts as an extension of the user’s imagination, for the technical and nontechnical alike.

For my previous three years’ talks, see my Talks page.

We will be gathering once again in the Stata Center at MIT. I’m excited to see everyone there!