What we’re about
Portland AGI Mini-Summit: Rethinking Civilization in an Intelligent Age
Event Description
Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) is no longer a futuristic idea—it’s a rapidly advancing scientific reality. But while most conversations focus on AI as a technology, this event takes a radically different approach.
What if AGI transforms the foundations of our civilization?
What happens when cognition—once scarce and exclusively human—can be mass-produced?
This Mini-Summit brings together experts from economics, law, neuroethics, and intelligence research to explore how AGI will challenge the core systems that govern society: the economy, the rule of law, and models of governance.
We’ll ask questions that mainstream AI events avoid:
Will capitalism survive when human cognition is no longer scarce?
If democracy relies on scarcity-based economies, does governance collapse when AGI arrives?
Has mechanized law made society less human—and could AGI reverse that?
Can AGI provide a path to a more equitable civilization, or will it entrench power even further?
Featured Speakers:
Joe Cortright – Economist & Chair of Oregon’s Governmental Advisory Council
Professor Fabrice Jotterand – Director of Neuroethics, OHSU
Professor Tung Yin – Constitutional Law Scholar, Lewis & Clark
Mounir Shita – Founder of EraNova; author of Science of Intelligence and Politics of Superintelligence
Why this Meetup is Different
This is not a technical AI meetup. It’s a cross-disciplinary summit—philosophers, economists, legal scholars, and scientists exploring civilization-scale questions that AGI forces us to confront.
It’s also the first in a global series of events designed to prepare for the 2026 AGI Global Summit here in Portland.
Whether you're deeply involved in AI or simply curious about how intelligent systems will reshape society, this is the place to join the conversation.
Event Format
10–15 minute talks from each speaker
Moderated panel debate
Live audience Q&A
Networking and discussion (separate experience for ticket tiers)
Upcoming events
1
Portland AGI Summit
Location not specified yet# Portland AGI Mini-Summit: What Happens When Intelligence Is No Longer Scarce?
Friday, December 5th — 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM
NedSpace • 621 SW Morrison St., Suite 800 • Portland, OR
Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) is moving from theory to reality faster than most people expected. Yet the biggest unanswered questions aren’t technical—they’re societal:
If intelligence becomes something we can mass-produce, what happens to the systems that rely on intelligence being scarce?
At this special Portland Mini-Summit, five local scholars from economics, law, political science, ethics, and theoretical physics come together to explore how AGI may reshape the core structures of civilization: economics, law, and governance.
This is a cross-disciplinary conversation about how society must adapt as AGI develops.
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## What We’ll Explore
### Scientific Foundations
- What is AGI? How do we define it rigorously?
- Could human-level cognition emerge from current AI research?
- What are the scientific barriers?
- Are we on the right path—or do we need a fundamentally new framework for intelligence?
### Societal Transformation
- Economics: What happens to capitalism when cognitive labor is no longer scarce?
- Law: If AGI can interpret intent and context, does it humanize the law—or mechanize society even further?
- Governance: When intelligence can be produced at scale, does representative democracy stay viable?
- Human Identity: What does it mean to be human when machines can think, reason, and create?
These are not predictions of collapse—they’re structural questions we need to understand now, while the trajectory is still being shaped.
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## Speakers
- Joe Cortright — Economist; Chair, Oregon Governor’s Council of Economic Advisors
- Professor Lindsay Benstead — Political Scientist; Chair, Political Science Department, PSU
- Professor Tung Yin — Lewis & Clark Law School; constitutional & national security law
- Professor Fabrice Jotterand — OHSU Center for Ethics; human identity in the technological age
- Mounir Shita — Theoretical Physicist & AGI Researcher; Global Economic Alliance
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## Format
- Short scholar presentations
- Moderated dialogue across disciplines
- Audience Q&A
- Contributions to the Portland AGI Readiness Report
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## Tickets
- Free general admission
- $30 premium seating
- $12 virtual tickets
Register here: https://portland.agiglobalsummit.org
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## Why This Event Matters
All of civilization—our markets, legal systems, political institutions—rests on the assumption that human intelligence is scarce. AGI breaks that assumption. Portland is starting the global conversation about what comes next.8 attendees
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