When Trees Talk Back: Vancouver AI Community Meetup #21

When Trees Talk Back: Vancouver AI Community Meetup #21

From Vancouver AI Pods by Kris Krüg (KK)

October 1, 2025 · 1h 37m · Season 2 · Episode 21

About this episode

The episode explores the intersection of Indigenous knowledge and AI at the Vancouver AI Community Meetup #21.

What happens when you merge 10,000-year-old Indigenous knowledge with cutting-edge AI? In this groundbreaking September 2025 meetup, the Vancouver AI Community explores radical alternatives to Silicon Valley's vision of artificial intelligence. ---------------------- Join BC + AI Ecosystem Association: https://bc-ai.ca/membership/ ---------------------- Vancouver AI Community Meetup #21: Indigenous AI, Plant Communication & The Future That Doesn't Look Like Silicon Valley Johnny Williams from the Squamish Nation opens with traditional ceremony and shares how AI transforms him from document parser to cultural advisor—one of only 60-70 Squamish language speakers using AI to protect cultural heritage. Artist Manuel Axel Strain presents a revolutionary vision: building AI systems to interpret plant communication and enable actual dialogue with forests. This isn't your typical tech conference. Against the backdrop of Vancouver's booming AI week, 150+ community members gather at HR MacMillan Space Centre to explore what AI becomes when grounded in Indigenous wisdom, ecological consciousness, and community values. From a $20,000 ByteDance hackathon announcement to the launch of BC's…

People in this episode

Host: Kris Krüg

Guests: Johnny Williams, Manuel Axel Strain

Topics covered

  • Indigenous knowledge
  • artificial intelligence
  • plant communication
  • cultural heritage
  • community values
  • ethical AI

Keywords

  • Indigenous AI
  • plant communication
  • cultural advisor
  • data sovereignty
  • ethical AI
  • community engagement
  • quantum computing

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: BC + AI Ecosystem Association, ByteDance, BC's AI Discord

Places: Vancouver, HR MacMillan Space Centre, Squamish Nation

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