It's 6:45 in the morning, it's dark out, and Megan and Nicole are pretty sure they have nothing to say about AI. Then they say a lot about it. This AI in the AM edition recaps two very different September events: the kickoff of In Dialogue with AI, a six-part lecture series with Roberto Santiago and the University of Portland, and a hands-on night about agents with the one and only Chen Chen Chen.

Nicole walked into the first lecture tired of AI headlines and walked out feeling better, which says a lot. Roberto's take is simple: don't be afraid, let's figure this out together. From there, the conversation moves to the practical side. What an agent actually is, why you don't need one for everything, and who's on the hook when an autonomous agent messes up. Spoiler: it's you.

Along the way:
🎭 How the word "robot" got its start in an early-1900s play (and why that plot still sounds familiar)
📈 Have we hit peak AI? Not the tech, just the "every Lyft driver wants to talk about it" kind
📚 A novel set during the late-90s internet boom that sounds a lot like today's AI promises
🤖 What "agent" really means, and why calling a Copilot project an agent doesn't count
🍾 The problem with agents: they burn tokens, the humans become the bottleneck, and nobody knows what anyone else has built
💸 The ROI question: how do you measure the value of just being better prepared for a meeting?
🧑‍⚖️ Who's accountable when an agent acts on its own? The domain expert. The human. You.

Plus: A pitch for an AI Portland robot musical, Chen Chen Chen's excellent domain, and a friendly heads-up that the OSU field trip is on an actual school bus. Green seats and all.

Related Links:

• AI Portland, where you'll find upcoming events and In Dialogue with AI registration
• In Dialogue with AI lecture series with Roberto Santiago

• Chen Chen