I
Demystifying AI
Seeing plainly what AI is, and learning to look at it without projection.
The program
Six evenings
Each evening stands on its own, and the six together make an argument. There is nothing to catch up on and no background required, beyond having noticed that something has changed. Every lecture is recorded and posted here afterward with the notes and the further reading.
II
The AI Culture
How AI quietly became the medium between us, and what that costs.
III
The Promise of AI
The limits it can lift, and its promise of attention for every person.
IV
The AI Dilemma
The real costs, from resources to the distortion of human relationships.
V
AI and Humanity
A someone, a something, or a chorus of someones? The mirror it holds up.
VI
The Myth of AI
Past savior and demon, back to our oldest questions about ourselves.
- Where
- Dundon-Berchtold Auditorium, University of Portland
- When
- Third Wednesdays, 6:00 to 7:30 PM
- Who it is for
- Students, community leaders, and people of every age
For ADA accommodations, contact Anne Santiago (santiago@up.edu).
The love the world needs can never come from AI, only from us. Do not be afraid.
Roberto A. Santiago
The hosts
Presented with
University of Portland
The University of Portland is an independently governed Catholic university guided by the Congregation of Holy Cross, pursuing teaching and learning, faith and formation, and service and leadership. It values the development of the whole person and honors both faith and reason as ways of knowing, which is a fitting frame for the questions this series asks.
The series is hosted on campus in Dundon-Berchtold Auditorium (DB 004) by the Center for Teaching and Learning and as part of UP Dialogue Events. Open to students, faculty, and the wider Portland community.
For ADA accommodations, contact Anne Santiago (santiago@up.edu).
AI Portland
A community founded in late 2023 by Megan Notarte and Nicole Mors, built on the belief that a moment like this one deserves to be experienced together. Through monthly events, panels, workshops, and the (Super)charged by AI podcast, they gather artists, engineers, founders, educators, and researchers for honest, accessible conversation about how AI is changing work and life.
As they put it, "curiosity is the only prerequisite."
aipdx.infoWho is speaking
The lecturer
Roberto A. Santiago is an applied AI researcher who has spent thirty-five years inside this field, in a lineage that runs directly back to Paul Werbos, the inventor of backpropagation through time. He builds these systems, and he has watched the culture around them form.
This is not a technical course. It is an invitation to look at AI plainly, together, and to notice what it is teaching us about ourselves. Bring whatever you already think. It holds up better in a room full of people than it does alone.
Tell me your story.
Attend or host
Bring a question. The best part of the evening is usually what happens after the talk. If you would like the series hosted at your school, library, or organization, that conversation is open too.