Nathan Schneider, professor of media studies at the University of Colorado Boulder, presents his research on protocol studies and shares a glossary project documenting the intellectual history of protocols across disciplines. He traces how the term 'protocol' appears across online economies, blockchains, crypto, and social networks, and discusses his oral history initiative interviewing protocol practitioners worldwide.
Cory Levenson, a climate tech consultant and engineer, discusses the current state of climate protocols with a focus on carbon removal and voluntary carbon markets. He examines data infrastructure systems, technical frameworks for protocol interoperability in carbon dioxide removal pathways, and the intersection of carbon markets with regulatory and policy frameworks.
Cory Levenson
A speaker presents a paper proposing 'AI as Normal Technology'—an alternative framework to the superintelligence narrative that emphasizes social and institutional bottlenecks over technological progress alone, arguing that AI's transformative effects will unfold over decades similar to electricity and the internet rather than causing overnight disruption. The speaker challenges the conceptual coherence of 'superintelligence' as a framework, reframing the discussion around incremental technological integration and labor transformation.
Benet (mentioned as prior influence)
Nadia Asparouhova discusses anti-mimetics—ideas that resist spreading or being remembered—drawing from SCP Foundation fiction and connecting the concept to Venkatesh Rao's 'cozy web' theory. She explores how certain ideas fade from memory despite documentation, and examines the tension between isolated intellectual communities and information spread.
Nadia Asparouhova