Hi, folks! Minicon 56 is a week away. This will be my first in-person convention since CONvergence 2019, and first convention since CONvergence 2020. I am looking forward to Minicon - I get to see friends whom I don’t get to spend much time with the rest of the year, I get to go to panels and learn things, and I get to be on panels and share my knowledge and experience on subjects that I find interesting.
Because of how some things in life turned out, I am unable to afford a hotel room or to take a Lyft there and back each day. I will be taking mass transit both ways; about 45 minutes (2 buses) with the best case scenario. If I don’t catch the right combination of buses, it can take almost 2 hours to get back home at night. I live 14 minutes away from the convention - if you are willing to help me afford a more direct trip there and back, I would be most appreciative. Donation links are at the end of this post.
And now, the panels that I will be on this year. If you will be at Minicon, I would love to see you! Feel free to stop by to say hi and bump elbows - and be sure to wear your mask!
4/7/2023
Gender & AI - 8:30 PM - Park 2
Androids and AI in science fiction disrupt the idea of a gender binary: what purpose is there for an Android and/or AI to have gender? Could an Android/AI be trans, gender-fluid, and/or non-binary? How will that affect how we as a society see gender as a construct?
Panelists: Justin Grays, Naomi Kritzer, Lyda Morehouse, Ian Young, Jason Spitzer
4/8/2023
Psychoanalysis for Robots - 11:30 AM - Park 2
Can robots be mentally ill? Certainly robots are not neurotypical, but can they get depressed? Psychotic? Does the ability to process more information prevent or lead to autism? Do they have to malfunction to be unhappy? Let’s do psychological analyses of our favorite robots.
Panelists: Justin Grays, Robert J. Sawyer, Kathryn Sullivan, Jason Spitzer
LGBTQ+ Representation in SF/F - 2:30 PM - Orchard
Queer characters are showing up in both YA and adult F/SF. Where can you find queer characters? Are their authors getting it right? Which books/shows are the best? And, maybe, assuming that such representation merely a good start, what is the next step?
Panelsits: Justin Grays, David Lenander, Catherine Lundoff, Lyda Morehouse, David Paschal-Zimbel
ChatGPT Takes the World by Storm - 7:00 PM - Orchard
Suddenly ChatGPT is everywhere! People are playing with it on Twitter, teachers are panicking over plagiarism, AI specialists are shouting "This isn't really AI, it's just a very advanced language processor!" What's really happening here?
Panelists: Troy Benjegerdes, F. J. Bergman, Justin Grays, Shaun Jamison, Sharon Kahn
The Ethics of Robot Soldiers - 8:30 PM - Park 2
It has long been assumed that the first use of robots will be for warfare, and that there will be need to control our creations to keep them from turning on us. But how would this control look to a sentient manufactured being who just might meet all the qualifications of personhood? What rights we should give to robots?
Panelists: Lisa Freitag, Karl K. Gallagher, Justin Grays, Shaun Jamison, Jason Spitzer
Do you have questions that you’d like me to try to bring up on panels? Do you have any thoughts or comments on the upcoming panels? Please let me know, and I’ll do my best to discuss it during the panel as long as it is relevant.
I hope to see you there!
With special thanks to my Convention Sender Tier members Dee and Corwin Brust. I couldn't do this without your love and support. Thank you.
If you can, please help me continue to get out to conventions and attend panels. Writing about each panel takes a lot of work, ranging from extensive note-taking and transcribing, to understanding the content of the panel, to analyzing the information, and there is maintaining this website and creating the content for ease of access. As little as $1/month will help me get into a position where I can prepare and create quality content for everyone. To this end, I am on both Patreon and Ko-fi, membership platform services designed to help facilitate the relationships between patrons and creators.
I know that it's not always possible to sponsor someone on a monthly basis. If you would help me with a one time donation, please feel free to use PayPal, CashApp, or Vemno. Producing content takes time and effort, and any support would be most appreciated. Your donations help me cover expenses and eventually will let me be able to create quality content full-time.