Can a machine make art? Can it feel inspiration—or does it just predict the next pixel? In this event, we’ll explore what happens when creativity meets code, and whether artificial intelligence can truly be considered an artist.

We’ll unpack how AI systems generate art and writing, including the mechanics behind transformers, diffusion models, and the emerging theory that creativity itself might be driven by compression progress, an idea championed by researcher Jürgen Schmidhuber.

Then we’ll shift to deeper philosophical questions: Is creativity just clever pattern recognition? What does authorship mean when machines can produce at scale? And if art is about communication, does it matter whether the creator has a mind?

Discussion topics may include:
• Schmidhuber’s compression theory and AI creativity
• How modern models generate language and images
• Co-creation between humans and machines
• Originality, intention, and authorship in machine-generated works
• Is AI reflecting us—or becoming something else?

Optional reflection prompts:
• Have you ever seen AI-generated art that felt genuinely moving?
• Where do you draw the line between style and soul?

New York Artificial Intelligence Meetup Group

Tone

Tammy Lux

Martial Terran

Patti Howell

Balazs Nyiro

Viktoria VS

Andrea

mike sorn

Elena

Vedang M

Waleed Sha

Carlos Cortez

michelle

AI and the Nature of Art: Compression, Creation, and the Machine Muse

Online event

What do a Roman emperor and an Indian prince, living worlds apart, have to teach us today?
Marcus Aurelius ruled an empire, yet turned inward through Stoic reflection. Siddhartha Gautama left behind a kingdom to seek liberation from suffering. Though born in different times and cultures, their paths reveal a shared commitment to clarity, compassion, and inner discipline.

In this conversation, we’ll explore:

* How Stoicism and Buddhism each approach suffering, selfhood, and control
* The political and cultural contexts that shaped their thinking
* Practices both traditions offer for navigating modern life
* Points of overlap and divergence—and what they reveal about East and West

Optional reflection prompt:
Which path speaks more to your present moment—the disciplined duty of the king, or the renunciation of the prince?

Culture, AI, Science, and the Human Experience (CASHE)

Jody S.

Jack

Justin 

Arielle M.

Ludmila Chentsova

Mario

Shereen Mahtani

Anthony DiFranco

Howard S.

Ronald D'Alleva

Gennadiy

Anderson Laventure

Imelda

Brittany Birchfield

The Philosopher King and the Enlightened Prince: Stoicism and Buddhism

Join members from both CASHE and NY AI, in a single event, for an open-format discussion on some of the most pressing and profound questions of our time. This won’t be a formal presentation—just a thoughtful gathering of minds exploring ideas that matter.

From chatbots to UFOs, we’re surrounded by speculation about minds we don’t understand. But what does it mean to call something a “mind” at all—especially when it didn’t evolve the way we did?

In this open discussion session, we’ll explore the kinds of psychology—real or imagined—that people attribute to artificial and extraterrestrial intelligence. How do we judge what counts as intelligent, agentic, or moral when we’re dealing with something that may not think, feel, or reason the way we do?

Could the AI alignment problem be just one version of a broader challenge—the challenge of coexisting with non-human minds? And if so, are we using the right frameworks to think about alien intelligence, or are we just projecting our own assumptions?

We’ll consider questions like:

* Would we even recognize a non-human mind if we encountered one?
* Are we more afraid of minds that are too different from ours, or ones that are too similar?
* Is it possible to build empathy or alignment with something that doesn’t share our biology, emotions, or evolutionary history?
* Could AI safety and alien contact be part of the same deeper problem: how to think about minds that don’t think like us?

This won’t be a lecture. I’ll offer a brief intro and framing, and then we’ll open it up for freeform discussion. Bring your questions, your theories, your sci-fi references, and your curiosity.

John

Magnus Hedemark

Andrew

golembo

Warren

Daniel Patton

CASHE X NY AI: AI & Alien Minds—Thinking About Minds That Don’t Think Like Ours

🧬 Part 1: How Fragments Become Biological and Cultural Agents
A Deep Dive in the “Fragments to Agents” Series

This is the first in a multi-part series exploring a central question at the heart of life, intelligence, and emergence:
How do fragments become agents?

In this session, we’ll focus on the biological and cultural dimensions of this transformation. We’ll look at how molecules become metabolism, how cells become selves, and how stories, tools, and shared meaning shape the emergence of social agents, institutions, and cultures.

We’ll explore questions like:

* What makes a system biologically autonomous rather than just chemically reactive?
* How do genes, bodies, and environments co-create adaptive behavior?
* How do symbolic systems like language and myth turn individuals into cultural agents?
* How do companies, economies, and markets emerge from scattered fragments of human activity and exchange?

We’ll draw from the work of Darwin, Terrence Deacon, Adam Smith, Nassim Taleb, and others—blending insights from biology, anthropology, and economics to better understand how agency arises and evolves.

This event is open to all groups, but the core emphasis will be on themes most relevant to our biology and culture-focused members.
Future sessions will explore computational, technological, and philosophical dimensions—especially AI and optimization theory—through other group lenses.

Format:

* Substantial presentation
* Deep open discussion
* Optional shared resources to explore further

Whether you’re into systems theory, evolution, social dynamics, or simply curious—this session offers both structure and space to think deeply about one of the most fundamental transformations in nature and society.

AI World Society Circle "AIWS" New York City

🧬 Part 1: How Fragments Become Biological and Cultural Agents

💻 Part 2: How Digital Fragments of Optimization Become Abstract Agents
A Deep Dive in the “Fragments to Agents” Series

In Part 1, we explored how biological and cultural systems turn scattered parts into living, social, and economic agents.
In Part 2, we shift focus to the digital and abstract realms, where fragments of optimization and computation give rise to systems that act—sometimes in ways even their designers didn’t anticipate.

This session features a substantial presentation followed by deep group discussion. We’ll unpack the central question:

How do fragments of digital optimization become abstract agents?

From machine learning systems and feedback loops to digital marketplaces and algorithmic trading—how do we draw the line between a tool and an agent? And what happens when optimization processes become powerful enough to behave as if they have goals?

We’ll explore topics and questions such as:

* When does optimization become agency?
* What distinguishes a system doing work from one with intent?
* What does mesa-optimization teach us about AI and control?
* How do abstract systems—like social networks or algorithms—begin to influence the real world with agent-like persistence?

This session draws from thinkers such as Alan Turing, Norbert Wiener, Stuart Russell, Melanie Mitchell, John von Neumann, and others in the space of AI alignment, computational emergence, and abstract systems.

This event is open to all groups, but the core emphasis will be on questions most relevant to our AI, computation, and systems-focused members.
Other lenses—including biological, philosophical, and cultural—will return in future sessions.

Format:

* Substantial presentation on core ideas
* Open, in-depth discussion and Q&A
* Optional follow-up materials and content links

Whether you’re curious about optimization, autonomy, agency, or existential risk—this session offers a deep look into one of the most urgent and fascinating transitions in the modern world.

💻 Part 2: How Digital Fragments of Optimization Become Abstract Agents

Culture AI Science and the Human Experience (CASHE)

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Culture AI Science and the Human Experience (CASHE)

Culture AI Science and the Human Experience (CASHE)

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