February 26, 2025 - H.R. MacMillan Space Centre
Walking into the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre last night, I couldn’t help but feel the weight of the moment. Here we were, a room full of curious minds gathering under a domed ceiling that usually hosts visitors gazing at distant stars, yet tonight we were contemplating something perhaps even more profound—the future of intelligence itself.
The Vancouver AI Community’s February meetup didn’t disappoint. From the moment Kris Krüg opened with his characteristic blend of philosophical depth and tech enthusiasm, it was clear this wasn’t going to be another routine networking event. “We’re living through a moment that will be written about in history books,” he reminded us, and looking around the engaged faces in the audience, I believed him.
Judy Illes from UBC Neuroethics kicked things off with a masterclass in the ethical implications of AI advancement. Her perspective as a Distinguished Professor brought the academic rigor we needed to ground our more speculative discussions. She challenged us to think beyond the hype and consider the real human impact of the technologies we’re building.
Sissi Wang brought her corporate rebel energy to the stage, sharing insights from her journey leading teams across 120 countries at IBM and Novartis. Her vision of “conscious, exponential organizations” resonated deeply. As someone who’s worked in traditional corporate structures, her perspective on how AI can maximize human agency rather than replace it felt both refreshing and necessary.
The highlight for me was Anthony Green’s breakdown of Vancouver’s AI ecosystem. Fresh from OpenAI Deep Research analysis, he delivered exactly what was promised—a no-nonsense assessment of where we stand as a city in the global AI race. The data was sobering in some ways, inspiring in others, but always honest. His recommendations for strengthening our local ecosystem sparked some of the evening’s most heated debates during the networking breaks.
Cian Whalley brought something unique to the stage—a Zen priest turned tech innovator discussing the intersection of ancient wisdom and AI. In a room full of technologists, his perspective on mindfulness and human potential in the age of artificial intelligence provided a necessary counterbalance to our often breathless pace of innovation.
Dean Shev grounded us in practical reality with his insights on AI in healthcare. As someone working to scale AI-driven solutions in one of our most complex industries, his stories from the trenches of VHT.ai reminded us that for all our grand visions, implementation is where the rubber meets the road.
The evening took an unexpected turn with Brittney Smailia’s spoken word performance. Watching a neuroscientist-poet explore AI and human connection through verse was mesmerizing. Her piece bridged the analytical and the emotional in ways that pure technical presentations simply cannot.
Ed Kennedy showcased his “Latent Sculptures”—AI-generated art that pushed the boundaries of what we consider creativity. His use of depth, canny, and other Controlnets in Automatic1111 demonstrated the artistic possibilities emerging from our technical tools. The visual narratives he created sparked conversations about authorship, creativity, and the nature of art itself that continued long after his presentation ended.
Shane Gibson brought practical value with his insights on AI in sales processes, while Jackson Wu kept us engaged throughout as our emcee, proving that even AI meetups benefit from good old-fashioned human charisma.
What struck me most wasn’t any single presentation, but the quality of discourse between speakers and audience. This wasn’t a room of passive consumers of AI hype—these were practitioners, researchers, artists, and entrepreneurs wrestling with real questions about consciousness, creativity, ethics, and identity.
During the networking breaks, I found myself in conversations about everything from the philosophical implications of large language models to the practical challenges of implementing AI in regulated industries. A biotech researcher debated ethics with a startup founder. An artist discussed creativity with a data scientist. These weren’t superficial exchanges—they were the kind of deep, necessary conversations that happen when diverse perspectives collide in productive ways.
As Kris noted in his closing remarks, “The future isn’t something that happens to us—it’s something we create together, one conscious choice at a time.” Walking out into the crisp Vancouver evening, past the Space Centre’s exhibits of humanity’s reach toward the stars, that sentiment felt especially poignant.
The Vancouver AI community is clearly hitting its stride. With March’s meetup already on the calendar and partnerships with organizations like SEVGEV LLP and BC AI Network providing solid foundation, this feels like a movement gaining genuine momentum.
What impressed me most was the community’s commitment to making these events accessible