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Summer of Protocols Town Hall

Talk Speaker 1, Venet
researcher practitioner
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The speaker outlines the genesis of Summer of Protocols, explaining how initial questions about Ethereum's governance and evolution revealed a broader gap in understanding protocols across disciplines. The initiative brings together researchers from diverse backgrounds to collaboratively develop a theory of protocols and increase protocol literacy through an intensive summer program.

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AI as Normal Technology

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.

cognitive-automation governance normal-technology

Benet (mentioned as prior influence)

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Salon II: ARC Regenerative Communities - 2024 Protocol Symposium

Kalia Young and Day present research on the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) as a regenerative standards development organization, examining how its protocols and social structures enable long-term innovation and maintenance of the internet as digital public infrastructure. They argue that the IETF's decentralized, generative approach to protocol creation represents a model for pro-social technical communities seeking to build and sustain digital commons.

digital-commons governance internet-engineering-task-force-ietf

Kalia Young, Day

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Nathan Schneider: Contributions to a Glossary of Protocol

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.

governance online-economies oral-history-of-protocols

Nathan Schneider

Topics

cross-disciplinary-analysis governance protocol-evolution protocol-governance protocol-literacy protocol-theory protocols town-hall