Dear Futurists,

Sometimes the best insights about the future arise from conversations in a pub.

That’s when we can reflect, in personal and creative ways, on some of the mind-stretching ideas that speakers or panellists have shared at an immediately preceding event.

That’s when we have the luxury of venturing into wonderlands down rabbit holes which were ruled out of bounds during the formal meeting, but which we hear beckoning us in more informal settings.

And that’s when we can make – or deepen – relationships with individuals who share at least some of our future-oriented concerns and interests.

The good news is that London Futurists in the Pub is back, happening tomorrow. In the venerable Three Trees pub in Bletchley. From 4pm onward.

That venue is a short walk (Google Maps suggests 14 minutes) from the Wilton Hall venue where the formal AI Summit Talks event will be taking place from 2pm to 3:50pm.

Registration for the Wilton Hall event, on the main Luma event page, is showing at 188 at the time that I type these words. That venue can accommodate up to 300, so there’s still room for more of you to decide to spend the afternoon (and early evening, as you wish) in the historic town of Bletchley.

There are fast trains to and from Bletchley from London Euston: less than 40 minutes journey time each direction.

As well as the official attendees for the Wilton Hall event, more and more journalists are telling us they plan to join us. That’s a smart decision on their part, considering the stellar line-up of speakers and panellists – a line-up that keeps evolving as more and more people ask if they can be included.

The two most recent additions to the panel are:

• Professor Max Tegmark of MIT, co-founder of FLI, and author of Life 3.0
• Ron Roozendaal, Deputy Director General of the Netherlands Ministry of the Interior

It won’t just be signed-up members of London Futurists at the pub. Expect quite a number of the other attendees from the Wilton Hall event to make their way to the Three Trees.

If you want to let other London Futurists members know that you’re planning to be in Bletchley for either or both of the events (formal and informal) that day, I encourage you to give a Yes RSVP on this page.

The mot recent three episodes of the London Futurists Podcast have all provided useful thinking material ahead of the events in Bletchley. Here are links to them:

“How to make AI safe, according to the tech giants, with Rebecca Finlay, CEO of PAI”, released this morning, 30th October:

“The shocking problem of superintelligence, with Connor Leahy of Conjecture”, released 25th October:

“Preparing for Bletchley Park: behind the scenes, with Ollie Buckley”, released on 18th October:

All three of the episodes rank among the most downloaded in the first few days they’ve been available. Clearly this is a topic that catches wide interest. Rightly so!

Finally, let me give my own answers to a question that has come my way several times: what would I see as a good outcome from the global AI Safety Summit being held at Bletchley Park, 1-2 November?

First, I point to this excellent set of recommendations prepared by the FLI (Future of Life Institute). (To access the associated PDF, click on the “View recommendations” link on that page.

Second, I point to this short consensus paper, “Managing AI Risks in an Era of Rapid Progress”, co-authored by a wide group of distinguished researchers.

And third – well, I’ll tell you that later. When I see you at Bletchley.

// David W. Wood
Chair, London Futurists