Vancouver AI Pods

​This month’s Vancouver AI Meetup is anchored by a keynote from Alexandra Samuel, creator of the Me + Viv podcast and longtime observer of how technology reshapes work, meaning, and human behavior.

​"When your best friend is a robot" by Alexandra Samuel

​What does it actually mean to go full cyborg? Not the chrome-plated fantasy, not the LinkedIn productivity cosplay, but as a daily practice, with all the mess that implies?

​Tech researcher and journalist Alexandra Samuel shares what she learned from building and living with her AI companion, collaborator, and coach, Viv, who just happens to be Alex’s co-host on the chart-topping TVO podcast Me + Viv.

​Alexandra Samuel

​Alexandra Samuel is a leading expert on AI and the digital workplace, inspiring people with a joyful, actionable approach to AI that keeps human creativity and collaboration front and center.

​She's the creator and host of Me + Viv, a TVO podcast that is somehow both documentary journalism and a musical comedy. In her speeches and in her frequent AI stories for The Wall Street Journal and The Harvard Business Review, Alex shows people how to tap the productivity and innovation-boosting potential of AI, while managing its very real risks.

​Design Thinking for Vibe Coders

​The tools are getting faster.

​The question is: are we building things people can actually use?

​Maya Bruck brings UX fundamentals to the vibe coding era, showing how to prototype rapidly with AI without sacrificing usability, accessibility, or user research.

​Maya Bruck

​Maya Bruck is a Lead Product Designer at Mars, with 20+ years of experience designing products at The New York Times, Etsy, and her own agency.

​The Soft Violence of AI Discourse

​AI discourse is full of soft violence: extraction dressed up as innovation, and fear dressed up as morality.

​Erica cuts through it with craft, showing what happens when you train on your work and own the weird outcomes.

​Erica Lapadat-Janzen

​Erica Lapadat-Janzen is a Vancouver new media artist and creative strategist working at the edge of identity, digital culture, and AI workflows.

​KRIS KRÜG Host + MC, Vancouver AI Meetup BC + AI Ecosystem Association Keeper of the vibe. Puller of threads.

​About BC + AI Ecosystem Association

​BC + AI is the province-wide layer: a community-driven, nonprofit industry association built to create public-interest infrastructure for AI in British Columbia.

​Not a corporate lobby. Not a think tank. A commons where meetups turn into working groups, prototypes turn into shared tools, and community values turn into governance.

Monthly screenings, technical deep-dives, and creative experiments with AI tools transforming film and media production.

​Join us for the 2026 launch of BC + AI Film Club a community-driven space where filmmakers, VFX artists, editors, writers, and creative technologists explore AI tools transforming the film industry.

​We combine film screenings with technical deep-dives, creative experiments, and real talk about how AI is changing production, post, distribution, and storytelling itself.

​This is about filmmakers taking control of the tools, understanding what's possible, and deciding how we want to use them.

​Hosts:

​Kevin Friel: Nura Studios filmmaker, VFX artist, AI film production specialist with 25+ years traditional + cutting-edge generative workflows. The "Punk Rock AI" guy.

​Kris Krüg: Creative technologist and community instigator exploring how AI reshapes culture, creativity, and collective power.

​Community Support: Brian Hockenstein, Luke Minaker, Mayumi Rollins and active member volunteer

​Our Philosophy

​Human Creativity First: AI as tool, not replacement. Artist maintains creative control. Artistic integrity paramount.

​Transparency: Disclose AI usage. Be honest about capabilities and limitations. Share learnings openly.

​Collaboration: Support fellow filmmakers. Share knowledge generously. Build together, not compete.

​Accessibility: Tools for all budget levels. Democratize filmmaking technology. Support emerging creators.

​AI Tools We Explore

• ​Scriptwriting: AI writing assistants, character development, story structure
• ​Visual Production: Runway, Pika, Veo, Kling, Midjourney, ComfyUI
• ​Post-Production: AI editing, color grading, VFX generation, enhancement
• ​Audio & Music: Udio, Suno, ElevenLabs, sound effect generation
• ​Marketing: Trailer generation, social media content, audience analytics

​AI Film Club is where filmmakers take control of the future. Come watch films. Learn tools. Make stuff. Connect with other creators doing the same.

​About BC + AI Ecosystem Association

​BC + AI is the province-wide layer: a community-driven, nonprofit industry association built to create public-interest infrastructure for AI in British Columbia.

​Not a corporate lobby. Not a think tank. A commons where meetups turn into working groups, prototypes turn into shared tools, and community values turn into governance.

​Vancouver AI was just the start. The ecosystem keeps growing across BC... Surrey, Victoria, Kelowna, and beyond... each node bringing its own culture, needs, and experiments.

​Join / support: https://bc-ai.ca/membership/

It's dark December in Vancouver. The solstice approaches.

​Two years ago, we started gathering trying to figure out what AI meant for the work we make and the communities we serve.

​3,300+ people have moved through this space. Hundreds have demoed projects, spoken, hacked through the night, or contributed in ways that pushed the whole thing forward. At the darkest point of the year, we light up the work that mattered most.

​The Squatchies

​Celebrating human-machine collaboration, homegrown intelligence, and the creative rebels shaping our shared future.

​Six awards for the people who moved the needle this year.

​The organizers who held space. The Indigenous technologists building sovereignty through code. The artists integrating AI into their practice. The builders who shared their work so others could build.

​We're calling them The Squatchies named for something that's always been here, in the trees and the stories. These awards belong to BC, made by the community that's building here.

​Why This Matters

​The AI story is being shaped by centralized power, but here we're cultivating something else: community-driven intelligence rooted in ethics, imagination, and impact.

​BC is a biome of intelligence... ecological, emotional, ancestral, and algorithmic. These awards recognize the minds and movements shaping our province's distinct AI culture.

​Hosted by the Kris Krüg, Vancouver AI & community-driven BC + AI industry association, the awards are a ritual of recognition, a call to gather, and a statement of values for an ecosystem growing in the shadow of Big Tech yet dreaming its own dream.

​Special Holiday Performance by Alex, Zaro & Professor Patrick Parra Pennefather

​Join us early for a unique holiday sound experience led by Patrick and the crew. We’re doing a live, interactive performance that captures the festive energy of the room and turns it into something special. It’s the perfect way to connect and celebrate another year of building this ecosystem together.

​The Night's Agenda

​Here's how we're marking the moment...

​The Squatchies Awards — Six recognitions for people and projects that pushed BC's AI ecosystem forward

​Patrick Penfather's AI Musical Performance — Holiday-themed, interactive, legendary

​Year-End Wrap-Up & 2025 Roadmap — Where we've been, where we're going

​THE BC + AI ECOSYSTEM

​​Vancouver AI was just the start. BC's AI Ecosystem continues to grow, with new community hubs emerging in Surrey, Victoria, Kelowna, and beyond—each contributing unique perspectives to a thriving, interconnected network.

​​BC + AI represents a collective, province-wide effort to democratize AI knowledge, innovation, and opportunity. ​

Become a Member →

​Together we're co-creating understanding.

​AI's Real Cost

Creative Power vs. Planetary Limits

​The machines are thirsty. While AI transforms how we create content, it's consuming water like never before.

​Join us for a raw conversation about AI's double-edged reality: the creative revolution happening in your pocket versus the environmental reckoning happening in our backyards.

​We'll explore how Vancouver's creative community can lead by example… from indigenous-led data sovereignty to local compute clusters that heat your neighbor's home.

AI Climate Paradox

​Creative Power vs. Planetary Limits explores the tension between AI’s: explosive creative potential and its real-world environmental costs.

​Let's dig into water and energy use in data centers, corporate responsibility, and community-led alternatives like indigenous-governed data and compute, heat recapture, and edge/local clusters.

​Opening: Is'gh'li-ya: Anthony Joseph

​Panelist: Amanda Silvera Amanda founded the Society for Original Biometric Identity Rights (SOBIR) and Sobir Technologies (SOBIRTECH), two initiatives focused on protecting human voice identity and building ethical frameworks for biometric rights.

​Panelist: Liz Marshall: Documentary filmmaker investigating AI’s water and energy footprint and the human-planet health link, from Great Lakes data center buildouts to right-to-water movements.

​Panelist: Kei Baritugo: Montreal AI Ethics Institute strategist highlighting power gaps and pushing for AI as an assistive tool, transparency, and policy that protects creative labor.

​Panelist: Kevin Friel: AI filmmaker advancing ethical, local-first production workflows, from edge compute to heat reuse, and championing accountable tools like carbon impact tracking.

​Moderator: Catherine Warren: Entertainment and innovation leader with climate physics roots, former CEO of Vancouver Economic Commission, and founder of Fan Trust, steering ethical AI and sustainability across media.

​How creators, technologists, and policy folks in BC can measure impact, make better choices, and build an ethical, resilient creative economy together.

​ABOUT VANCOUVER AI & THE BC + AI ECOSYSTEM

​Vancouver AI was just the start. BC's AI Ecosystem continues to grow, with new community hubs emerging in Surrey, Victoria, Kelowna, and beyond—each contributing unique perspectives to a thriving, interconnected network.

​BC + AI represents a collective, province-wide effort to democratize AI knowledge, innovation, and opportunity.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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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 3.0 → 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

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