Here be Electric Dragons
Currently I’m attending the 26th Chaos Communication Congress (26C3) in Berlin. It is the annual four-day conference organized by the Chaos Computer Club (CCC). The Congress offers lectures and workshops on a multitude of topics and attracts a diverse audience of thousands of hackers, scientists, artists, and utopians from all around the world. The 26C3s slogan is “Here Be Dragons”.
This year I have submitted a talk based on the work for the “Augmenting Man” chapter of the “BitBang – Rays to the Future” book. The talk was titled “Here be Electric Dragons – Preparing for the Emancipation of Machines”. There I tried to show that autonomous machines are distinctly different from conventional machines: unlike them they are not merely an extension of our bodies but rather a new kind of symbiotic species. The interest in the topic was overwhelming and the reception really positive. The talk was also broadcasted and there will be a video download available shortly.
