We were back in Amsterdam on April 9th for an evening of fantastic ideas and great conversation about art, AI and the urban environment.

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First up, Roni Bulent Ozel, the founder and director of Amsterdam-based R&D collective Lucidminds AI, talked with us about AI systems, their ethical implications and how to build them with purpose. Guided by a “from theory to practice” mindset, Bulent shared the story of gAIa, a newly launched map of living trees that combines AI modelling and simulations to explore how trees may grow under differing climate & care strategies and then goes further by introducing a more-than-human lens to urban design & planning and asks the question: what changes when we consider the needs and rights of other life forms who share this landscape with us? Using gAIa as a starting point, Bulent aims to build advanced AI systems that do more than simply provide passive information but positively enhance our lives, acting as companions that encourage us in active learning.

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Then, artist Sujata Majumdar took us through her most recent work, Ground Truth - a view from somewhere which blends social and artistic research to investigate trees, urban landscapes and public participation. With an interest in the discrepancies found in the gaps between data and real-world experience, Sujata worked closely with Lucidminds and gAIa to consider new ways of describing trees in a local Amsterdam square.  By comparing the AI-generated “digital twin” of these trees to the personal, story-filled perspectives of the people who live alongside them, Sujata introduced social context to the data view, showing the important role these trees play, one that goes far beyond their basic service to the local ecosystem. Reflecting upon the different ways she engaged the community with their trees, Sujatahow she's building an ongoing dialogue at the intersection of urban ecology and digital literacy, deepening our understanding of an urban landscape’s ground truth and our own place within it.

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As usual this was a fantastic evening of mind-expanding ideas and great conversation. Watch this space for more coming up in the very near future!