Student: Ali McKelvey
I’ve always been fascinated by the accelerating changes in AI technology, so I made sure to attend a session at SXSW that would dive deep into this topic. I attended “The Auto-Evolving Business: AI’s Agentic Near Future” with Niel Redding, where I learned some eye-opening insights. One of the main ideas discussed was that AI is becoming an “invasive species,” and as a result, humans need to learn how to develop a symbiotic relationship with it. Redding emphasized that businesses and individuals who fail to embrace AI risk being left behind or even losing their jobs. This is where the mental model of AI evolution comes in, which progresses in five stages at an increasingly rapid pace. The session broke down each stage, beginning with Prompt (such as chatbots) and moving to Participate (where AI helps us complete tasks), then onto Delegate (where AI begins to take on more responsibilities), followed by Initiate (AI acting autonomously, like sending emails or enhancing visual experiences through smart glasses). The final stage, Symbiosis, is where businesses and AI evolve together, benefiting both the technology and the planet. This evolving relationship will reshape industries and daily life, and it’s clear that to stay competitive, we need to start building toward this symbiotic future.
Another fun session I attended featured actor Ben Stiller and Apple’s Eddy Cue, where they discussed the hit Apple TV+ series Severance. As someone who recently finished Season 1, I was thrilled to hear them talk about the show, which has become one of my current obsessions. It was exciting to get an inside look at the creative process behind Severance, especially with exclusive clips from an unreleased episode that will air next week. What I found particularly interesting was hearing Ben and Eddy discuss the storytelling techniques used in Severance and how they integrate Apple products into the narrative. Their insights into the casting process and the evolution of the show added another layer of appreciation for the series. It was a fascinating session that not only gave a behind-the-scenes peek into the making of Severance but also highlighted the ways in which storytelling and technology come together in innovative ways.
