Buboni-Virtual Con 2020

This weekend, I had originally been scheduled to attend Bubonicon 52 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The convention has been postponed to 2021, but it presents a unique opportunity for people who couldn’t normally afford to travel to Albuquerque for a convention. You can attend Buboni-Virtual Con 2020 absolutely free just by visiting the Bubonicon Facebook Page or the Bubonicon YouTube Channel.

If you go to the links above between 10am and 7:30pm Mountain Daylight Time, you will find panel discussions, readings, a science talk, a short art demo, and a comic workshop. If you miss the opportunity to tune in live, you’ll still be able to watch the programming after its been archived on the pages. As you watch the events, you’ll encounter such folks as Becky Chambers, Keith R.A. DeCandido, Chaz Kemp, Connie Willis, Rebecca Roanhorse, S.M. Stirling, Jane Lindskold, Walter Jon Williams, and more!

During Buboni-Virtual Con, I participate in a panel discussion with Ian Tregillis, Dr. Cathy Plesko, and Courtney Willis called “Artificial Intelligence: Will Computers Take Over the World.” The panel will go live at 5pm MDT. As scientists move closer to achieving artificial intelligence, we discuss what’s next. We’ll discuss how real AI science compares to the depictions in movies, TVs and books. We consider whether AI could save the world or be its doom. What about Asimov’s Rules? In short, we discuss the future of artificial intelligence. We recorded this panel in advance. None of us were necessarily experts on the subject but we’ve all worked with robotic systems, machine learning algorithms and other real world AIs at different points in our careers. We talk about the difference between strong and weak AIs and even speculate about what it might take for an AI to cross the line into sentience. I hope you’ll join us today and comment on the video.

Now, if Bubonicon were happening in person, I’d likely be giving a reading at some point. As it turns out, eSpec Books has been hosting an online reading series to feature authors who haven’t been able to get out and about to conventions to show their wares. The first of my readings for the series is currently live. I read from my story “The Sun Worshiper” which appeared in eSpec’s anthology After Punk. The story imagines a Victorian mummy unwrapping party gone wrong. If you’re coming to this post in the middle of Buboni-Virtual Con and want to go catch the fine programming there, please do. This video will be waiting for you. It’s mostly audio, so it’s a good one to have on in the background while you’re doing other things as well.

Another thing that would be happening if this were an in-person convention is that I would have a table in Bubonicon’s Flea Market. Even though the Flea Market isn’t happening, you can still browse my wares at: http://www.hadrosaur.com and http://www.davidleesummers.com – in either event, you can browse at your leisure, read some samples and decide what you want. The only downside is that I can’t chat with you in person, but if you do have a question, feel free to drop it in the comments and I’ll chat with you there!