The Future of AI: Power, Ethics and Truth Beneath the Hype
A 60-minute session on what sits underneath all the noise about AI: what is real and what is sales talk, who holds the power, who takes the blame when it goes wrong, and what we owe each other as machines start making decisions about us. Twelve independent cards; open three or four.
The opening question
When someone tells you AI is going to change everything, what's your honest gut reaction: excited, worried, or eye-roll?
Everyone in the room answers this in one line before any card is opened. Write the answers down; you will come back to them.
The cards
12 ways into the topic
Each card is independent. Your group votes on which to open, and four or five is plenty for an hour. Behind every card sit three prompts, one at a time, that only appear once it is opened on the board. Unopened cards keep for next time.
- 1
Everything Is Called AI
Your new washing machine says it has AI. So do your phone, your toothbrush and your bank app. Nobody can tell you what the AI actually does.
- 2
Feeling Left Behind By AI
Everyone online is posting about the ten AI tools you must learn. Your colleague has finished three AI courses. You've barely opened ChatGPT.
- 3
Believing What AI Says
You ask AI a question. It answers instantly, in neat sentences, sounding completely sure. You copy it into the family group.
- 4
Real Videos Called Fake
Someone is caught on video being rude to a shopkeeper. The clip spreads everywhere.
- 5
AI Videos Of Dead Relatives
At your cousin's wedding, a video plays. It's your late grandfather, smiling and blessing the couple. He died two years ago. AI made it.
- 6
Why Machines Judge More Fairly
No bribes, no recommendations, no bad mornings.
- 7
Scanning Your Face Everywhere
At the airport, staff wave you towards the face-scan gate. It's faster. Your office and your building gate want your face too.
- 8
AI You Can't Switch Off
One morning a new blue circle appears in WhatsApp. It's an AI. You didn't ask for it. There's no button to remove it.
- 9
Companies Replacing People With AI
A big company you trusted is doing well. Then it lets thousands of people go and says AI and new skills are the reason.
- 10
Blaming AI For Mistakes
A company's chatbot tells you you'll get a refund. You don't. When you complain, they say the chatbot made the mistake, not them.
- 11
Children Asking AI, Not Parents
Your ten-year-old has a worry about a friend, or a question about growing up. She doesn't come to you. She asks the AI on the tablet.
- 12
Fear Of AI Taking Over
In films, the robots always turn on us. Now some of the people who built AI say it could really happen. Others say that's just a scary story.
The line to leave with
Of all the things AI promises to do for you, which one would you actually hand over, and do you know who you'd be handing it to?
More boards,more ways in.
Every discussion we have run has a board behind it. Browse them by topic.