So my first Salon of the trip was generously hosted by the Hammer Museum, a sparkling space off Wilshire Boulevard. It’s connected to UCLA and has a strong commitment to social justice so I felt very at home given these resonances with the Science Gallery London approach.
For my Churchill fellowship I’m trying to avoid setting up dozens of back to back meetings. Rather, in each major town I’m trying to convene a conversation. I’m using my normal trick of telling everyone I speak to that I’m doing something until someone’s interest is piqued enough to join in. In this case it was producer Rebecca Rickman, the partner of a colleague of a former colleague who very generously took an interest. Through her I worked with Claudia Bestor who directs public programmes at the Hammer.
On the evening we had a dozen people most of whom did not know each other including Hollywood directors, visual artists, human rights activists and lawyers. Too early to summarise and much to digest but we certainly did not close down any questions. What was clear was that preoccupations about artificial intelligence are permeating each of their fields.