AI and Society

Would you also like to be a speaker and present at our events? Please tell us about your topic in this online form: [aka.ms/AotearoaAzure/speaker](https://aka.ms/AotearoaAzure/speaker) \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\- **TBC** \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\- **Why Attend?** * Learn some real-world perspectives on Azure capabilities * Network with Azure professionals across Aotearoa New Zealand * Free pizza and great conversations! **⚠️ CRITICAL: Building Access Requirements** **Please read carefully - many attendees miss this!** Microsoft House has strict security requirements. To **attend in person**, you **MUST**: 1. Fill out the Meetup registration form. This includes your email address. 2. You will receive a QR code at that address 3. Arrive before 5:30 PM (building doors close) 4. Check in at reception before 5:20 PM **No pre-registration = No building access** (online attendance still available) **Note**: QR codes are sent between 12 pm and 3 pm on the day of the evening event **To use the QR Code Scanner:** 1\. Find the QR Code Scanner on the far left\-hand side of the gates\. 2\. Set your phone’s brightness to 100%\. 3\. Hold your phone perpendicular to the scanner without resizing the QR code\. **Please note**: the QR code is for individual use only and should not be shared. **📅 Event Details** **Online Stream**: aka.ms/AotearoaAzure/stream **Agenda**: * 5:00-5:20 PM: Networking & Pizza * 5:20-5:30 PM: Welcome * 5:30-6:30 PM: Talks (TBC) * 6:30-7:00 PM: Q & A **📺 Can't Make It In Person?** * Join via live stream: aka.ms/AotearoaAzure/stream * Recording available on our YouTube channel within a week: aka.ms/AotearoaAzure/YouTube

**DO NOT RSVP on MEETUP, USE THE LINK BELOW TO REGISTER** **[Microsoft Build //localhost:auckland | Microsoft Reactor](https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/reactor/events/27090/)** ***Note: This is not a hybrid event, for some reason I can't change it to in person, so note that event link will not be working for this event. please register from reactor link*** This in-person event is built for developers and cloud engineers who want to design, build, and deploy real-world AI solutions on Azure. Expect a hands-on, implementation-focused experience using Microsoft Foundry and GitHub Copilot with live demos, guided labs, and practical developer workflows. **DO NOT RSVP on MEETUP, USE THE LINK BELOW TO REGISTER** **[Microsoft Build //localhost:auckland | Microsoft Reactor](https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/reactor/events/27090/)** ***Note: This is not a hybrid event, for some reason I can't change it to in person, so note that event link will not be working for this event. please register from reactor link***

Important: Register on [AICamp website](https://www.aicamp.ai/event/eventdetails/W2026061814) is required for admission. **Description:** Welcome to the AI meetup in Washington DC. Join us for deep dive tech talks on AI, GenAI, LLMs and Agents, hands-on experiences on code labs, workshops, and networking with speakers and fellow developers. **Agenda:** \* 5:30pm\~6:00pm: Checkin, Food/drink and networking \* 6:00pm\~8:00pm: Tech talks and Q&A \* 8:00pm: Happy Hour at Courthouse Social (cross the street) **Tech Talk: Secure Developer Environments in the Age of AI Agents** **Speaker:** Patrick Brown (Coder) **Abstract:** Federal engineering teams are under pressure to ship faster while meeting some of the most demanding security and compliance requirements in the world. In this talk, Patrick Brown of Coder explores how cloud development environments (CDEs) give agencies a foundation to accelerate software delivery without sacrificing control — and why that foundation matters even more as AI-powered coding agents enter the workflow. He'll cover how CDEs keep source code off endpoints, enforce zero-trust access patterns, and provide the consistent, ephemeral infrastructure that both human developers and AI agents need to operate safely at scale. **Speakers:** Stay tuned as we are updating speakers and schedules. If you have a keen interest in speaking to our community, we invite you to submit topics for consideration: [Submit Topics](https://forms.gle/JkMt91CZRtoJBSFUA) **Sponsors:** We are actively seeking sponsors to support AI developers community. Whether it is by offering venue spaces, providing food, or cash sponsorship. Sponsors will not only speak at the meetups, receive prominent recognition, but also gain exposure to our extensive membership base of 5,000+ AI developers in D.C and 500K+ worldwide.

[Profs and Pints Northern Virginia](https://www.profsandpints.com/washingtondc) presents: **“Can Artificial Intelligence ‘See’?”** A look at how humans and artificial intelligence systems interpret the visual world in fundamentally different ways, with Arryn Robbins, assistant professor of psychology at the University of Richmond and cognitive scientist who researches visual attention, perception, and category learning. [Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Available at [https://events.ticketleap.com/tickets/profsandpints/nv-can-AI-see](https://events.ticketleap.com/tickets/profsandpints/nv-can-AI-see) .] Artificial intelligence can now identify faces, categorize objects, describe scenes, and outperform humans on certain visual tasks. But does AI actually “see” the world the way that people do? Or does it arrive at correct answers using representations that differ markedly from human perception? Join Arryn Robbins of the University of Richmond for a fascinating exploration of how humans and AI construct meaning from visual information and a look at comparisons between human perception and AI that reveal just how dynamic and context-dependent our own visual systems really are. Dr. Robbins, who previously has given excellent Profs and Pints talks on flaws and biases in human visual perception, will draw from research in cognitive science, visual perception, and AI vision systems. She’ll explain how human perception is not merely a simple recording of the world, but an active process shaped by expectations, context, goals, and recent experience. You’ll learn how humans form flexible mental representations that allow us to recognize objects across changing environments and conditions, and why those representations continuously adapt as we interact with the world. Many AI systems, by contrast, learn visual categories through statistical patterns in data. They can produce impressive results, but sometimes they also produce strange and unexpected failures, and sometimes they classify images in ways that seem strange to us. Dr. Robbins will discuss what these differences reveal about the nature of perception itself, and why the mismatch between human and AI representations matters for technologies like self-driving cars, medical imaging, facial recognition, and automated surveillance. Important for anyone trying to understand the rapidly growing role of AI in daily life, this talk will explore one of the biggest questions in cognitive science and artificial intelligence: What does it actually mean to “see” and understand the world? (Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Listed time is for doors. The talk starts 30 minutes later.) Image: “Eye Farm” by Nevit Dilmen (Wikimedia Commons).

Freedom on the Sea A Pathfinder Society adventure for 5th-6th level characters, playable in 2-3 hours. During a routine meeting at the Anthusis Lodge, the Pathfinders are thrown off their guard when the city docks are attacked by a vengeful Chelaxian naval captain! The Pathfinders will need to hurry to help the citizens of Anthusis fight back against part of the Chelaxian fleet before winding up face to face with one of the most brutal captains in the navy. It's up to the Society to help remind Cheliax that Vidrian is a free nation! Written by Alexandria Bustion. (This is a likely to be a very short adventure so also running...) The Lost Legacy A Pathfinder Society adventure for 7th-8th level characters, playable in 2-3 hours. The PCs are sent to a remote fishing village on the southern shore of the Lake of Mists and Veils to investigate a hidden vault supposedly belonging to House Rogavaria, the former ruling house of Brevoy that went missing more than twenty years ago. The former Head Librarian of Restov’s largest library, Nephaira Savakress, spent years searching for the truth behind the myths and legends of Choral Rogavaria also known as Choral the Conquerer. She found the location of the vault and of the history of Choral, but her source mysteriously disappeared. She has chosen to place her trust in the Pathfinder Society to retrieve this information. But there are forces in play that want the information to remain hidden, and they'll kill to do so. Written by Glen Parnell.

Join us for a Friday evening of creative practice\* and cozy conversation! Please visit the group page for details on what to expect: https://www.meetup.com/the-evening-art-society/?eventOrigin=your_groups Guests are welcome, though we request that you please let us know how many to account for. We don't want to run out of snacks! Kids are also welcome, with the understanding that this is a shared space intended to be comfortable for all and conducive to creative work. Reach out if you have any questions. We can't wait to see you! \*Because we ultimately just want to provide a safe, warm space for our community to enjoy on a weekly basis, our definition of this is pretty broad. Want to curl up with a good book? Working on the next great American novel? Looking for a café-like hum as the backing track to doing your taxes? You're also welcome here!

Most AI meetups end up as just networking. **We’re different.** At **AI Tool Explorers Night \| Connect & Make New Friends**, you’ll: ✨ Walk away with a *real learning nugget* (a tool, workflow, or strategy you can use immediately) ✨ Connect with people who share your curiosity for AI, productivity, and automation ✨ Enjoy a fun, casual setting where new ideas and friendships spark naturally 👉 **Our promise:** every session delivers structure, substance, and takeaways you can use when you get home. ### 📅 Event Flow * **6:00–6:15 PM** → Arrivals & intros * **6:15–6:45 PM** → AI demo / learning nugget * **6:45–7:00 PM** → Q&A and group discussion * **7:00–8:00 PM** → Networking & contact sharing ⚡ Please hold networking until after the presentation so we can all learn together. Plenty of time at the end to connect and exchange cards! **Let's explore AI Tools that actually *work* in our day-to-day life!** *** #ChatGPT #Claude #Grok #Gemini #Perplexity #DeepSeek #NotebookLM #Cursor #GitHubCopilot #Replit #Windsurf #v0dev #Lovable #Zapier #Makecom #n8n #Descript #OpusClip #Synthesia #Runway #Sora #Kling #Veo #PikaLabs #LTXStudio #AdobeFirefly #Vidu #Hailuo #LumaDreamMachine #Wisecut #Elaiio #Capsule #Filmora #Gling #Magisto #AdobePremierePro #ElevenLabs #Suno #Udio #Soundraw #Riffusion #Mubert #BeatovenAI #AIVA #Loudly #SplashPro #Soundful #MagentaStudio #WavTool #MakeBestMusic #BandLabSongStarter #TadAI #EcrettMusic #Midjourney #DALLE3 #CanvaMagicStudio #NotionAI #Gamma #Fathom #FirefliesAI #MLX

**Make sure to RSVP** **[here](https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/reactor/events/27321/)** **at the Microsoft Reactor site** https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/reactor/events/27321/ We're excited to announce the **Microsoft Build 2026 Local Host Conference** happening in **Reston, VA,** on **Friday, June 19, 2026**, from **09.00 AM to 4 PM EDT**! This **free conference** will take place at the **Microsoft offices** at **11955 Freedom Dr, Reston, VA 20190, on the second floor in the rooms MPR RESTON-11955/2.2D, MPR RESTON-11955/2.2E, and MPR RESTON-11955/2.2C.** **Agenda:** * 09:00 AM - 09:30 AM: Registration and Breakfast * 09:30 AM - 10:00 AM: Build 2026 Keynotes Highlights * 10:00 AM - 10:50 AM: **Session:** Build context-aware agents at scale with Microsoft IQ * 11:00 AM - 11:50 AM: **Panel:** Ask Us Anything about AI (with focus on skilling and finding jobs) * 12:00 PM - 01:00 PM: Lunch * 01:00 PM - 2.30 PM: **Hands-On Lab:** From zero to deployed on Azure with AI agents * 2:45 PM - 4:00 PM: **Hands-on Lab:** Observe, optimize, and protect your hosted agents in Microsoft Foundry The venue is **Metro accessible via the Silver Line**, and there’s plenty of **paid parking available** in the Reston Town Center garages. We'll have **breakfast, lunch, and snacks** for all attendees! Make sure to **RSVP** — you’ll receive your **event badge at check-in**, and you’ll need it to attend. This in-person event is built for developers and cloud engineers who want to design, build, and deploy real-world AI solutions on Azure. Expect a hands-on, implementation-focused experience using Microsoft Foundry and GitHub Copilot with live demos, guided labs, and practical developer workflows. **What to expect:** * Key takeaways and announcements from Microsoft Build 2026 * Deep dive into Azure AI and Generative AI use cases * Live demos with Microsoft Foundry and GitHub Copilot * Hands-on labs to build and test AI-powered features end-to-end * Best practices for building AI-powered applications * Networking with the local AI developer community Whether you're shipping your first AI feature or scaling production systems, this event is designed to give you actionable insights to accelerate your AI journey with Microsoft.