Technology Innovation

…Transform Our Lives, Work, and World (2024) by Jamie Metzl, 432 pages [Genetics] • Paperback • Hardcover • Kindle • Audiobook • Library: [https://fcplcat.fairfaxcounty.gov/search/title.aspx?ctx=1.1033.0.0.1&pos=1&cn=615082](https://fcplcat.fairfaxcounty.gov/search/title.aspx?ctx=1.1033.0.0.1&pos=1&cn=615082) Check the How To Find Us section for Zoom Link **(Remember, the Zoom Link is different each month, do not bookmark)** ### Review “In Superconvergence, Jamie Metzl takes readers on a magical journey through the science of the intersecting genetics, biotech, and AI revolutions, deeply explores the implications, and challenges us to think creatively and proactively about what comes next. Very few books are absolute must-reads. This is one.”―Siddhartha Mukherjee, assistant professor of medicine at Columbia University and author of The Gene: An Intimate History "During the 25 years I have known Jamie Metzl, he has always been ahead of the curve. There is no one better to help us understand and prepare for the fast-approaching technological revolutions. Superconvergence is brilliant. I can't recommend it more strongly."―Sanjay Gupta MD, bestseller author, neurosurgeon, and Emmy-award winning chief medical correspondent (CNN) "Our world is defined by our science and technology—whether we like it or not. The question now is not whether to use these powers, but how best to use them. In Superconvergence, Jamie Metzl takes us on a journey through the new capabilities that are radically transforming ecosystems inside us and around us, challenging each of us to get personally involved with building the future we want."―Beth Shapiro, University of California Santa Cruz evolutionary biologist and author of Life as We Made It: How 50,000 Years of Human Innovation Refined―and Redefined―Nature "In a fine counter-blast to the pessimism of today, Jamie Metzl lays out just how spectacular the future of humanity and planet can be if we harness innovation responsibly and imaginatively to create what he calls the 'spiral of progress.'"―Matt Ridley, author of How Innovation Works, and co-author of Viral: The search for the Origin of Covid-19 “A page-turning journey through space and time that shows us how our lives will be changed by imminent technological advances we once only dreamed of.”―David Sinclair, Professor of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, and author of Lifespan: Why We Age―and Why We Don't Have To “The superconvergence of the genetics, biotechnology, and AI revolutions provides spectacular opportunities for building a better world. It also represents an almost limitless investment opportunity. We were excited to collaborate with Jamie Metzl, one of the world's great experts on how these aspirations can best be realized, including in capital markets. Superconvergence is a master class for imagining, investing in, and building a future we'd like to inhabit."―Jeremy Schwartz, Global Chief Investment Officer, WisdomTree “A clear examination of a transitional moment in the story of life on Earth…. Metzl capably describes recent developments in genetics and biotech and looks at how AI is providing an analytical engine of unprecedented power…. An important book in which the author sets out a path for the future based on his experience and expertise.”―Kirkus “Erudite, optimistic, and timely.”―Science Magazine "[In Superconvergence] Mr. Metzl has identified an important truth: that the convergence of new technologies is galvanizing us to reimagine how to meet urgent challenges in medicine and the environment. It’s a compelling opportunity—provided we manage to sidestep self-induced catastrophes along the way."―The Wall Street Journal ### About the Author Jamie Metzl is a leading technology and healthcare futurist and the founder and chair of OneShared.World. He is the author of Hacking Darwin: Genetic Engineering and the Future of Humanity and four other books and was a member of the World Health Organization expert advisory committee on human genome editing. Jamie previously served in the U.S. National Security Council, State Department, and Senate Foreign Relations Committee and with the United Nations in Cambodia. His work has been featured by most major media organizations around the world, including 60 Minutes, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, Fox, CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, the Times of London, Le Monde, and Paris Match, and his podcast interviews with Joe Rogan, Lex Fridman, and others have reached tens of millions of listeners. He lives in New York City. Visit Jamiemetzl.com.

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

NOVA Code and Coffee is an inclusive, informal, co-working session. People of all skill levels are invited. The concept is simple, bring a laptop and ideas, we'll provide the coffee and donuts! Here's how it works: 1. At 10:15 everyone introduces themselves and briefly describes what brought them to Code & Coffee today (project, homework, networking, etc) 2. For the rest of the day, folks work in the communal space on their projects providing one another help and conversation as needed. Oh and they usually drink coffee and tea too! That's it! Hope to see you there! **Location** Our hosts are the Fairfax City Economic Development Building: [10300 Eaton Pl, Fairfax, VA 22030](https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=d7298231ca2df594df822003f9a93517c788fceefe1fcbb79c8976696e341bc6JmltdHM9MTc1MzIyODgwMA&ptn=3&ver=2&hsh=4&fclid=180d0745-3b7f-69a1-23a2-11433a7868e5&u=a1L21hcHM_Jm1lcGk9MTA5fn5Ub3BPZlBhZ2V-QWRkcmVzc19MaW5rJnR5PTE4JnE9RmFpcmZheCUyMENpdHklMjBFY29ub21pYyUyMERldmVsb3BtZW50JnNzPXlwaWQuWU44NzN4ODI4MTk2Mjg0NTk5MDM4MTU0MiZwcG9pcz0zOC44NjE0NDYzODA2MTUyMzRfLTc3LjMwMjE3NzQyOTE5OTIyX0ZhaXJmYXglMjBDaXR5JTIwRWNvbm9taWMlMjBEZXZlbG9wbWVudF9ZTjg3M3g4MjgxOTYyODQ1OTkwMzgxNTQyfiZjcD0zOC44NjE0NDZ-LTc3LjMwMjE3NyZ2PTImc1Y9MSZGT1JNPU1QU1JQTA&ntb=1) Conference Room A- Large, Floor 1 This is a new venue for us, so give us some time to get more details about it. Driving is the best option. There is plenty of free on-site parking. Otherwise, we are a 22 minute bus from the Vienna Metro Station. Bicycling from Vienna is possible but difficult, though once you are here, there's a bike rack in the garage behind the building, and there's also a Capital Bikeshare dock 15 min walk away. **Sponsored by:** Thank you [Fairfax City Economic Development](https://gofairfaxcity.com/) and [Mason Enterprise Center](https://enterprise.gmu.edu/) for making this event possible! **Thank you so much to our wonderful sponsors!** Organized by [DMV Petri Dish](https://www.dmvpetridish.com/) **[Code of Conduct](https://github.com/NoVACodeCoffee/admin/blob/master/code-of-conduct.md):** We value the participation of each member of the community and want all attendees to have an enjoyable and fulfilling experience. To make clear what is expected, all delegates/attendees, organizers, and volunteers at any Nova Code & Coffee events are required to conform to our [Code of Conduct](https://github.com/NoVACodeCoffee/admin/blob/master/code-of-conduct.md).

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.

We will be meeting at Starbucks to learn together. Come with an online class you're already going through or an interest and we will try to connect you with a course where you can learn it. Already have a skill you want to contribute to a Kaggle Datascience competition? We will work on these too! Laptop required :)

[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).