This historic episode captures Vancouver AI's biggest event yet: the debut of the First Annual AI Film Festival and the grand finale of the eight-month Rival Technologies Data Storytelling Hackathon. Hear from Hollywood VFX legends who created Gollum for Lord of the Rings, professional animators producing studio-quality work in 3 days for $100, and an 18-year-old who placed second in all four hackathon rounds while maintaining valedictorian status.

The episode opens with a powerful Squamish Nation blessing from newly elected Counselors Anthony Joseph and Johnny Williams, grounding the community in indigenous protocol before diving into the transformation of creative industries through AI.

Warning: This episode contains frank discussions about industry displacement, ethical debates about training data, and strong language about IP rights.

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Standout Quotes

On Ceremony & Time

"Time is our greatest asset, and that's the one thing you can't get back no matter where you spend it." — Anthony Joseph, Squamish Nation Counselor

"When Anthony and Johnny comes up every month and starts singing, I know everything that happens next is gonna be okay. We're here. We made it, we're in the right place." — Kris Krug

On Creative Transformation

"It's like having a co-director that is really weird and just does random shit. But like, cool weird. 90% of the time it's unusable. But 10% of the time you get some real gold." — Luke, Animation Director

"As you go into the unknown and make a human contribution, you carry it from just being a cliche into something unique, original and compelling." — Bay Rate, VFX Legend

"For creative-minded people, it's not a lottery or slot machine anymore pulling and getting a result. Now it's more like you have control over everything you wanna build." — Tim, VFX Compositor

On Musicians & Technology

"My punk rock heart wants everything to be strictly human. But musicians haven't even totally accepted synthesizers yet, and those are from the sixties. There's room for it. Technology isn't bad, it's just the way you use it." — Darby Yu

On Youth & Vibe Coding

"I like coding and vibe coding in general, just building these kinds of products. It's kind of my jam. Even though it feels like I'm sacrificing my time, I really, really enjoy building them." — Prajwal, 18-year-old Hall of Fame Winner

On Industry Change

"Those people that were cogs in the storytelling wheel are getting to have bigger ownership of stories now. I think there's a really amazing opportunity to take the existing skill sets and experiences we all have and convert into vibrant multiple pegs of the economy with unbeatable IP." — Kevin Friel

On Indigenous Voices

"Because we can create things for so much cheaper and gatekeepers have traditionally been white male, this is an opportunity to highlight underrepresented voices in a way that was just impossible before." — Luke

On AI Control

"It's about controlling AI, not using it. If you control your money, you'll have great life. If you lose control of your money, you'll have bad situation. Same with AI." — Karu, ByteDance

On Ethics (Radical Take)

"There is no way to train ethically trained models. That's bullshit. I think we have to give up the idea of IP and trademark to ever enter the true age of AI." — Audience Member

From Classrooms to Clinics: How Surrey AI is Building BC's AI Future

Join Matthew Schwartzman and the Surrey AI community for Meetup #8, where healthcare founders, managed IT operators, photographers, students, and infrastructure builders gathered to share what's actually working with AI in their businesses and lives.

This isn't another hype cycle conversation. It's students explaining how they're using AI when teachers can't teach clearly. It's a life sciences investor breaking down why "do your reg first" could save your startup millions. It's a photographer revealing why magazines are rejecting AI-generated images. It's an IT manager showing how AI email triage reclaims an hour daily.

From FDA approval pathways to Chinese LLM alternatives, from GPU procurement nightmares to the future of persistent AI tutors, this 90-minute session captures the messy, practical, exciting reality of AI adoption across sectors.

Featuring perspectives from:

• Matthew Schwartzman & Cousin Itamar - Host & Surrey AI community architect
• Paul Rex - Life sciences & medical device AI strategist
• Darren - Managed IT services operator using AI at scale
• Michelle Diamond - Professional photographer on authenticity vs. synthetic
• Kris - Educator using transcripts to analyze coaching patterns
• Dean Shev - Infrastructure builder on data sovereignty & multi-model research
• Aliza & Noa - Students showing how Gen Z actually uses AI for learning

Plus insights on BC's data center expansion, the BC AI Task Force consultation, biosimilars, compliance monitoring, wearable sensors, and why community-driven learning beats closed-door innovation.

Part of the BC + AI Ecosystem Association

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ABOUT SURREY AI COMMUNITY MEETUP

Surrey AI Community Meetup is part of the BC AI Ecosystem Association, bringing together diverse practitioners from education, healthcare, business, creative services, and infrastructure to share real-world AI implementations, failures, and successes.

Unlike typical tech meetups focused on demos and pitches, Surrey AI prioritizes cross-industry learning, practical wisdom, and community-driven innovation. With weekly office hours, coworking sessions, and specialized sub-groups, the community creates compounding learning loops that accelerate responsible AI adoption across British Columbia.

Core Values:

• Augmentation over replacement
• Regulation-first roadmapping
• Multi-model approaches
• Authentic human services
• Educational equity
• Data sovereignty
• Human-in-the-loop accountability
• Community-driven learning

Join us for Meetup #9 and become part of BC's most diverse AI community.

Vancouver AI Community Meetup #21: Indigenous AI, Plant Communication & The Future That Doesn't Look Like Silicon Valley

Join BC + AI Ecosystem Association: https://bc-ai.ca/membership/

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What happens when you merge 10,000-year-old Indigenous knowledge with cutting-edge AI? In this groundbreaking September 2025 meetup, the Vancouver AI Community explores radical alternatives to Silicon Valley's vision of artificial intelligence.

Johnny Williams from the Squamish Nation opens with traditional ceremony and shares how AI transforms him from document parser to cultural advisor—one of only 60-70 Squamish language speakers using AI to protect cultural heritage. Artist Manuel Axel Strain presents a revolutionary vision: building AI systems to interpret plant communication and enable actual dialogue with forests.

This isn't your typical tech conference. Against the backdrop of Vancouver's booming AI week, 150+ community members gather at HR MacMillan Space Centre to explore what AI becomes when grounded in Indigenous wisdom, ecological consciousness, and community values. From a $20,000 ByteDance hackathon announcement to the launch of BC's AI Discord, this episode captures a pivotal moment where technology meets traditional knowledge.

Features Dave Olson's wisdom from Japan on archiving and kindness, the Mind AI & Consciousness group exploring quantum computing and consciousness, and practical discussions on data sovereignty, ethical AI development, and what it means to build technology that honors rather than extracts.

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Extended Show Notes

Opening & Context (0:00-5:00)

Johnny Williams: AI as Cultural Preservation (5:00-15:00)

Dave Olson from Japan: Archive Everything (15:00-20:00)

Community Infrastructure & Announcements (20:00-35:00)

Mind AI & Consciousness Group Update (35:00-40:00)

Manuel Axel Strain: Indigenous AI & Plant Communication (40:00-65:00)

Technical Implementation & Partnerships (65:00-75:00)

Community Growth & Next Steps (75:00-85:00)

Closing Thoughts (85:00-90:00)

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Key Quotes

Jonny Williams: "AI allowed me to go from being a document parser to being a cultural advisor. I'm one of the only people that speaks the language left on this planet."

Dave Olson: "Always be archiving 'cause the internet has a very short memory. Always be kind 'cause you never know who you're gonna meet on your journey."

Manuel Axel Strain: "We all descend from the sky... we all came from this single cell that first started."

Kris Krug: "AI doesn't have to look like Silicon Valley. It doesn't have to look like Mark Zuckerberg. It can look like Johnny Williams. It can look like Uncle Weed."

Tags

#IndigenousAI #PlantCommunication #VancouverTech #AIEthics #CulturalPreservation #SquamishNation #GenerativeAI #CommunityTech #DataSovereignty #QuantumConsciousness #AIFilm #BCTech #Decolonization #BioCommunication #TechActivism #IndigenousKnowledge #CreativeAI #PlantIntelligence #AIConsciousness #TechCommunity

Vancouver AI Community Meetup #20 — land, love, learning, and launch. Featuring Love Now Media’s Jos Duncan on AI ethics & advocacy, Peter Bitner on the future of work, and Rival’s data storytelling hackathon winners.

Plus: BC + AI Ecosystem Association launch, Ethos Lab AI.EDU, Surrey AI, and SIGGRAPH demos.

Join BC + AI: https://bc-ai.ca/membership/

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Welcome to Vancouver AI Community Meetup #20... a night grounded in place and propelled by purpose.

• Opening & Land We gathered in the territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh peoples, welcomed by Gabriel George Sr, with story and Eagle song.
• Keynote: Love Now Media Jos Duncan (Philadelphia) shares a values-led path for love & AI: transparent AI use, mission-aligned ethics policies, and a new AI Advocacy Initiative to reduce harms (IP, environment, labor) and uplift what’s working.
• Future of Work:The Upgrade Peter Bitner (upgrade.ai) on upskilling as the bottleneck, AI literacy frameworks, and building cultures where experimentation + critical thinking thrive.
• Rival Technologies AI Data Storytelling Hackathon • Prajwal Prasanth: “semantic maps + roundtable voices” that let clusters debate each other. • Sev Geraskin (Bear × Bunny) — AGI Data Interface: choose-your-own-adventure insights with dynamic viz and narration (Hall of Fame inductee). • Dean Shev (aka Chazzz) — full album generated from BC AI survey + meetup transcripts; 17 tracks turning community data into music.

Community Launch Introducing the BC + AI Ecosystem Association (BC + AI) — a nonprofit container for meetups, hackathons, EDU, creative industries, public sector collabs, and more. Join, contribute, and help shape an ethical, inclusive AI future in BC.

AI.EDU & Sub-Communities

• Ethos Lab — youth AI experimentation (Grades 8–12) + EDU meetup.

• Surrey AI — hands-on monthly sessions (games, “AI or Not?” challenges).

• SIGGRAPH Snaps — community demos incl. John Mutter (gen-video compositing) and Ahmed (Creative: no-code, multi-platform game engine).

Join BC + AI and AI meetup ecosystem.

• Check out Rival/Reach3 data sets and demo projects.

Subscribe for talks, hackathon showcases, and ethical AI resources.

A guided AI‑powered meditation, hackathon unveil & 52‑startups wisdom inside Vancouver’s thriving grassroots scene.

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Mission 19 is a full‑body resonance test for what happens when code, consciousness, and community hold hands:

• Land acknowledgment with gratitude to the Squamish Nation

• Scholarship tickets + hydration thanks to Kassandra Linklate

• SIGGRAPH 2025 side‑events roadmap — 100 + RSVPs
• Hackathon 2.0 → unveiling the 1 000‑response “BC AI Hopes & Fears” dataset
• Guided meditation by Peter Bowles
• AI Ethics short‑film demo
• AI Film Club launch (Sept)
• Keynote: Michael Yagudaev on building 52 startups in 52 weeks with agentic coding workflows
• Provincial AI Strategy survey call‑to‑action from Farid

Closing ritual: donuts, night‑sky viewing,

Mission 20 teaser

Links

• BC + AI Adoption Survey - https://engage.gov.bc.ca/govtogetherbc/engagement/ai-adoption-in-bc/
• Hackathon dataset repo -
• SIGGRAPH side‑event RSVP - https://lu.ma/siggraph2025

Credits

Host/Producer Kris Krüg • Meditation & Music Peter Bowles • Video Kevin Friel• Field Video Viktor Serbin • Photos Michelle Diamond • Venue H.R. MacMillan Space Centre • Sponsors Segev LLP, Sons of Vancouver, Dimitri Schwartzman

2 hours & change under the Space Centre dome served up a living syllabus on what community‑driven AI looks like in BC:

• Protocol First. Kris Krüg cracked open the night with land acknowledgement and cedar‑smoked gratitude. Gabriel George (Tsleil‑Waututh) followed with drum and story, situating every byte of the evening inside relationships, not extractive transactions.
• Radical Hospitality. BBQ, buns, and Bundaberg in the atrium weren’t filler—they showed that tech culture can (and should) smell like charcoal and community, not neon and FOMO.
• Street‑Level Lightning Talks. Founders, artists, and neighbourhood organisers took the mic: whiskey‑maker James Lester on stubborn craft, Alvero on creative risk, a Surrey AI crew on suburban maker culture, Liam & Kemp with a dream‑to‑Roblox pipeline, and Noah on dragging legacy enterprises into the age of ML.
• Security Reality Check. Morton Rand‑Hendriksen detonated password complacency with his Minimum Content Password (MCP) framework and a 2‑billion‑credential leak demo. Take‑home: usability is a security requirement, and AI will sit at that negotiating table whether you invite it or not.
• Live Demos & Community Awards. Steve's Canadian Identity Simulator, a massive novelty cheque for hackathon winners, and spontaneous open‑mic hacks closed the loop between ceremony and code.

Result: a mash‑up where Indigenous futurism, neighbourhood BBQ logistics, and bleeding‑edge infosec policy felt like parts of the same conversation—because here, they are.

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⏱️ Full‑Night Timestamp Map (hh:mm)

00:00 — Welcome, BBQ notes & land acknowledgement

01:00 — Gabriel George drum song & story

10:00 — Reflections on protocol, lineage & “spirit‑tech”

12:00 — Shout‑outs to the grill squad

15:00 — Sponsor gratitude (SEGEV, Space Centre, Schwartzman)

17:30 — James Lester → Whiskey, resilience & cosmic persistence

19:00 — Alvero on creative scars + startup survival

22:00 — James TED‑style closer: persistence > brilliance

25:00 — Mark Busse → Creative Mornings & radical human presence

29:00 — Surrey AI meetup report

33:00 — Liam & Kemp: Generative Dream‑to‑Roblox pipeline

35:00 — Noah: Change‑management in enterprise AI

48:00 — Open‑mic hacks & giant‑cheque prizes

60:00 — Canadian identity demo

71:00 — Awards photo‑op + kitschy swag toss

73:00 — Morton Rand‑Hendriksen intro – MCP & end of passwords

88:00 — MCP keynote: security, biometrics, agency

108:00 — Q&A: kids hacking Alexa, civic responsibility, trust fabrics

111:00 — Kris: “Build the future—that is the job”

130:00 — Community survey methods

134:00 — Sneak peek: member portal & sovereign compute stack

136:00 — Closing gratitude + next meetup drop (July 30)

(Total runtime ≈ 2 h 16 m)

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MENTIONS

• Vancouver AI Community: lu.ma/vancouver-ai
• Sons of Vancouver: sonsofvancouver.ca
• HR MacMillan Space Centre: spacecentre.ca
• Gabriel George Sr: tsleil-waututh.ca

While Web Summit suits pitched "AI solutions," we gathered in a planetarium to witness actual humans using AI to solve real problems. Gabriel using custom GPTs for his council campaign, Carol Anne feeding colonial legislation to AI and diagnosing systematic tomfuckery, Kevin building Hollywood-grade first alien contact footage for $10000.

This is revolution built by people who give a fuck.

The Real Opening

Gabriel George Sr brought ceremony. His people went from 10,000 to dozens through European diseases. Four fluent Halkomelem speakers remain across 10,000 Coast Salish people. We're building AI that amplifies his voice—his "six pillars" became "house posts" because words carry worlds.

Global Perspective

Vipul Kansal flew 37 hours from India. His $500M company makes AI shoes, but he talked about finding a rural family business where three generations refuse other brands because "it's in our blood." His success metric: growing from 5,000 to 10,000 employees because prosperity means more families fed.

Technical Fire

Kushal Goenka exposed why search still sucks: we built the future on a lie. The open web became a private index. Reddit sells our conversations to OpenAI for $60M while we can't access our own contributions. Aaron Swartz died fighting this battle.

Indigenous AI Justice

Carol Anne Hilton fed the Indian Act into AI, personified it, then ran diagnostics. Result: severely disturbed individual exhibiting systematic abuse patterns. Her Indigenomics Institute found a $200B Indigenous economy GDP calculations miss. "Economy as ceremony"—technology serving cultural values.

Creative Destruction

Kevin Friel built complete alien first-contact news in 2.5 days using VO3. Traditional cost: $100,000, three months. His cost: $10,000, two days. Tools evolving monthly—adapt or die.

What We're Building

Fifty-five core memberships. Constituency building. Launched BC + AI Ecosystem Industry Association. Subgroups spawning subgroups. Distributed leadership, no guru dependency.

The Challenge

Every successful alternative gets co-opted. Open web became private. Social platforms became extraction machines. How do we build something that can't be absorbed?

Answer isn't in code—it's in culture. Gabriel's ceremony, Carol Anne's values, monthly gathering grounding technology in relationship.

Revolution will be distributed, polite because we're Canadian, but not corporate.

Keep building. Keep gathering. Keep ceremony alive.

Next meetup: Last Wednesday monthly | Core membership: vancouver.bc-ai.net

Sponsors: Dmitri Sportsman Real Estate, SEGEV Law, Sons of Vancouver Distillery, Michelle Diamond Photography, Victor Serbin Documentary Spotlights, Philippe Pasquier MetaCreation Lab, MötleyKrüg Media, TheUpgrade.ai, Creative Mornings Vancouver

The future belongs to people who show up.

Post-Interface Culture, Fungal Code & the Sandwich Tribunal

Welcome to the living archive of Vancouver AI Meetup #16—recorded in a round room built like a woven hat, vibrating with ceremony, creativity, and code. This isn’t a recap. It’s an artifact.

🧠 The Night in Signals:

• Code as Paint, Code as Portal An ex-engineer turned software artist breaks open the idea of creative coding as ecological interface. Think: 3D mushrooms instead of static field guides. Not “apps”—living systems.

• Document Everything, Especially the Rituals Our community’s unofficial archivist has been capturing every meetup, reel by reel. No hype. Just memory. What doesn’t get documented gets erased. This is how resistance gets remembered.

• AI Grounded in Land, Story & Ceremony The night opened not with a keynote but with a drum. An elder shared sound and story, tying our tech rituals to place and kin. The room resonated with more than just electricity.

• Field-Notes from the Edge of AI Culture A researcher shared a new study chronicling how grassroots AI communities are self-organizing—not waiting for institutions to catch up. The themes? Mutual aid, obsessive documentation, values over velocity.

• Governance Isn't a Buzzword, It’s a Battlefield New organizers are convening a summit on AI ethics and governance. Less about frameworks, more about power mapping. The questions aren’t theoretical: Who decides? Who benefits?

• Subcultures as Infrastructure Spinoff meetups are forming like mycelium—women-led nodes, philosophical deep dives, pedagogical experiments, satellite groups from the suburbs to the margins. This is growth by propagation, not scale.

• Hackathon, but Make it Absurd The first round of a new storytelling hackathon used public opinion data to ask serious questions disguised as food fights. Is a hot dog a sandwich? Is cereal soup? One entry turned survey data into a full-blown courtroom comic. Another built a multi-agent visualization platform that made the absurd look transcendent.

• Small Data, Big Resonance An experimental lab previewed tools built not on surveillance-scale AI, but on localized, artist-built, micro-models. Sonic agents. Generative instruments. This is AI as co-creator, not colonizer.

• Interface is Dead. Long Live Interface The closing keynote made it plain: we’re past chat. Right-clicks are becoming actions. Filters are becoming conversations. The future interface is ambient, assistive, adaptive—and totally invisible until you need it.

THE THREAD THROUGH IT ALL

This is not a meetup series. It’s a counterculture.

• Rooted in land.
• Documented like folklore.
• Built by people, not platforms.
• Run on open source, values, and straight-up stubbornness.

The theme of the night wasn’t AI. It was agency.

Not artificial. Not delegated. Lived. Distributed. In motion.

Hit play. This is your dispatch from the edge. And if you’re not part of it yet, you’re already late.