After Yang:
It’s Complicated: Humans, AI and a Shared Reality
There is no shortage to the hype and sky-high expectations for how artificial intelligence will shape the world. Special guest Bill Frischling, Vice President of Emerging Technologies at FiscalNote, and moderator Jason Dick, Editor in Chief of Roll Call, will discuss how people’s presumptions about AI can frequently crash into a wall of technological deprecation, magical thinking and disappointment.

Film Synopsis:
In a near future, a family reckons with questions of love, connection, and loss after their A.I. helper unexpectedly breaks down.
When his young daughter’s beloved companion — an android named Yang — malfunctions, Jake (Colin Farrell) searches for a way to repair him. In the process, Jake discovers the life that has been passing in front of him, reconnecting with his wife (Jodie Turner-Smith) and daughter across a distance he didn’t know was there.

One Show Only • Wednesday, May 22 @ 7:30PM in Avalon 1

Science on Screen® launched at the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline, MA in 2005. In partnership with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and its pioneering nationwide film program, the Coolidge has expanded Science on Screen to 122 cinemas nationwide. Throughout the academic year, SoS creatively pairs screenings of classic, cult, science fiction, and documentary films with lively presentations by notable experts from the world of science and technology. Each film is used as a jumping-off point for a speaker to introduce current research or technological advances in a manner that engages popular culture audiences—enhancing film and scientific literacy through film.

About the Speakers:

Bill Frischling is a Distinguished Scientist and Vice President of Emerging Technologies at FiscalNote. He started working on the Internet 17 days after Netscape released its first web browser, and has described his career as “yelling at computers.” However, since they now yell back, he’s looking for a different description.
Frischling started his career as a reporter at The Philadelphia Inquirer, then helped launch The Washington Post on the Internet in 1996. He has run products and groups at The Post, AOL, Gannett and U.S. News and World Report. He’s founded four startups, sold two, allows one to continue to run itself, as it has since 1999, and never, ever discusses the fourth one. He’s been working with AI for more than a decade, primarily because he likes when computers do his job for him. He’s a proud dad of three and lives with his spouse in Great Falls, Virginia.

Jason Dick is the editor in chief of CQ Roll Call and the host of its Political Theater podcast. He has also worked at National Journal and for the AmeriCorps program, and is a former English teacher at the university and high school levels. A one-time screener for the SXSW Film Festival, he is a native of Arizona and lives on Capitol Hill.