Hundred Days of Happiness - Week Fourteen
Intense week working in France on Public AI
This past week was incredibly intense as I went to Paris and then Burgundy for a series of talks and meetings about building Public AI. Think of public infrastructure - the public water company, the public railway lines, etc. - and now apply that to building Public Intelligence. A lot of the building blocks are there to be put together, but it’s going to take a lot to figure it all out and do it safely. Public means different things in different countries, so also making sure we are all on the same page will require a lot of thinking. The people that are involved are incredibly smart and forward thinking and it’s an honor just to be among them and listen to them talk about this stuff. I’m not sure that society is ready for the overhaul that is coming in short order. It’s going to be a wild ride and I honestly have no idea what it is going to look like, nor how it is going to play out.
Monday Feb 10 – Day 93
We arrived in Paris on Monday afternoon. Our train was late arriving from Amsterdam, which made our afternoon meeting start late and pushed everything out of whack. But after we finished our meeting, we walked past Notre Dame on our way to the Centre Pompidou for dinner at Le Georges. We had enough time before dinner that we took a beat to relish in the beauty that is Notre Dame. I even got to go inside and light a candle for those loved ones who have passed on.
Tuesday Feb 11 – Day 94
Tuesday was a very long day. I slept in an AirBnb in Paris that was “optimized for the public good” - which meant it had more communal space than beds. I am 51 - most of my cohabitants were in their 30s and stayed up much later than I am used to these days, but it was also good to hang out and get to know each other. I went to sleep Monday night / Tuesday morning around 2:30 and woke up at 7:45 to have an early breakfast with my friend Zack who moved to Paris eight years ago. We hung out for a couple of hours before I met a lot of the gang at the École normale supérieure for a talk with various European national AI builders. We titled the talk “Public AI Congress”. Afterwards we used the public infrastructure and took the bus to the next meeting which was mostly a networking event we called the “Public AI House”. For the trifecta, we nicknamed our crash-pad the “Public AI Senate”. It was a very very long day which ended around 23:30 at night. I slept soundly that evening.
Wednesday Feb 12 – Day 95
So good to re-connect with another friend who moved to Paris. We had breakfast at a nearby Parisian Café and then ended up at a bubble tea place afterwards - lots of caffeine that morning. It was a travel day going from Paris to Burgundy to end up at Château du Feÿ - an intentional communal living/event space during the “off season” and a beautiful wedding venue during the summer months.
Thursday Feb 13 – Day 96
The place is beautiful and requires so much love and work. The people who bought it over ten years ago have put their heart and souls into it to update but keep the essence of this beautiful place intact.
We had all day sessions talking about the work we are doing and how we can work together to create Public AI. I feel like I am drinking from a fire-hose but I am learning so much and we hope to do good work to better humanity.
Friday Feb 14 – Day 97
At the end of another long day of meetings, we all got dressed up in fun costumes for the “The Future of Love” as a sort of non-Valentine’s Day celebration. We had an exquisitely beautiful and delicious dinner that we ate with our hands and experienced with as many senses as possible: seeing, smelling, touching, and tasting.
I was on the wash up crew that evening as we all have to contribute and be of service; it was great to be part of the community.
Saturday Feb 15 – Day 98
I’m not writing a lot about the crap fest that is the Coup in the US, but I am thinking about it and trying my best not to completely freak out. I found this other “circle of control” diagram and find it helpful to stay centered. We are in a marathon, not a sprint. John Oliver shared this great song and so I went down the rabbit hole of various remixes about being “in the middle of a hostile government takeover” - you have to laugh while it’s all crumbling down.
Sunday Feb 16 – Day 99
On Sunday, our little family had a wonderful afternoon with friends who live pretty nearby us - just a 30 min drive east. We had a typical Dutch lunch - yes including Hagelslag! - and then went for a beautiful walk in a nearby park. It was so cold, the water was lightly frozen over all day. So great to spend time with friends and see how everyone is doing and growing and evolving over the years.
Spending several days at Chateau du Feÿ was an amazing experience living once again in an intentional community. I felt so much at home. It is highly intertwined with the Embassy from SF. I hope to bring my family back for a week as it is a beautiful location and a wonderful collaborative atmosphere.
I learned a bunch of new-to-me songs at the “rave cave” under the kitchen set up on Thursday night and danced for a while to the following set list. Here is one of the songs that we got down to in the dark.
