PORT TOWNSEND — Two people will warn against artificial intelligence in a presentation at 7 p.m. Thursday.
Meg and Peter Lumsdaine, who are working to establish the Tree of Life education and retreat center, will present “AI: Replacing Humanity and Nature? What We Can Do to Defend Life from Technological Dangers in the early 21st Century” at the Port Townsend Friends Meeting building, 1841 Sheridan St.
A sliding scale donation of $10 to $20 to support Tree of Life center’s educational work is requested, but no one will be turned away for lack of funds. The talk is sponsored by Port Townsend Friends Meeting.
Meg Lumsdaine is an ordained Mennonite pastor with more than 15 years of experience in congregational ministry and leadership.
Peter Lumsdaine, after completing his resource science degree at University of California — Davis and employment under U.S. Department of Energy grants, worked for more than a decade and a half on the program staff of nonprofit public-interest organizations such as Global Exchange and the Resource Center for Nonviolence, including organizing events in which Daniel Ellsberg was involved.
Individually or together the Lumsdaines have, over the years, served as members or coordinators of international fact-finding delegations to conflict zones in Mexico, El Salvador, the Philippines, Korea, Japan, Jordan and occupied Iraq.
They have recently come to Jefferson County with their two children and are seeking to build a Tree of Life organizing team here.
They said that they have recognized that “a movement to set boundaries on Artificial Intelligence, before it is too late, needs the same magnitude of urgency as the global engagement around climate change.”
They are in active conversation with the Future of Life Institute about possible collaborative work.
For more information, email tierralinda@live.com.