The AI Collective • Hampton Roads

Event title: Our Final Invention: A Community Town Hall on Navigating the Age of AGI

Event description:
The smartest people in the room are getting scared. Geoffrey Hinton, the "Godfather of AI," left Google specifically to warn us about the technology he helped create. Top researchers now predict that Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)—AI with human-level cognitive abilities—could arrive between 2027 and 2030.

What happens when we are no longer the smartest beings on the planet?

This isn't just about a "bigger ChatGPT". We're on the verge of a technology that can learn, reason, and solve novel problems on its own —an intellect that could eventually become vastly smarter than the best human brains in every field. The leap could be as significant as the one between a housefly and Einstein.

The stakes couldn't be higher. An aligned AGI could help us cure all diseases and end poverty. A misaligned one could lead to scenarios like an eternal AI dictatorship or even extermination by indifference.

The time to talk about this is not when it happens. It's right now.

Join us for a community town hall to tackle the most important questions of our time. This is not a lecture; it's a moderated, interactive discussion where your voice is crucial. We will explore:

• Our community's role: Given the global nature of the AGI race, what meaningful role can a local tech community like ours play in promoting AI safety?
• Defining our values: What core human values (like compassion or fairness) should we demand be embedded into these systems before they become too powerful to control?
• Preparing for disruption: How do we prepare our local economy and workforce for the massive, inevitable disruption AGI will cause to almost every job?
• The global pause dilemma: Should a company on the verge of AGI be required to pause and collaborate globally, or is that a naive hope in a high-stakes competitive race?
• A call to action: What is the single most important action—personal, professional, or political—that you can take this year to positively influence the outcome?

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Who should attend?
This conversation is for everyone: tech professionals, entrepreneurs, policymakers, students, and any concerned citizen who wants to understand and shape the future of humanity in the age of intelligent machines.

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About the moderators
This town hall will be moderated by Andrew Stafford and Lionel Sapp.

Andrew is a founding member and a director for The AI Collective Hampton Roads and cofounder of the AI startup Your AI Group. With 24 years in tech, including roles at Amazon, NASA, and multiple startups, he is an author of 11 books and a board advisor with deep experience in building and deploying advanced technology.

Lionel Sapp, founder of The Digital Builders 757, empowers communities through tech, creativity, and collaboration. Through events and content, he helps people build skills, launch ideas, and connect with innovators, blending his background in software, marketing, and strategy to drive local innovation.

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This event was organized by The AI Collective Hampton Roads & The Digital Builders 757

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Partners

## Automate Your Social Media: A Hands-On Workshop with Blotato

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Join us for a practical, hands-on meetup where we’ll introduce you to Blotato, the AI-powered platform designed to automate your entire social media workflow. Learn how to generate endless content ideas, create engaging posts, and schedule everything across all your channels in a fraction of the time.
This session is perfect for anyone looking to build a powerful online presence without the burnout. We'll guide you from initial setup to a fully automated content calendar.

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### What We'll Cover 🚀

• Welcome to Blotato: We’ll start with an overview of the platform, showing you how its AI engine can become your personal social media assistant.
• Connect & Conquer: Learn how to securely connect all your social media accounts (like Instagram, TikTok, X, Facebook, LinkedIn, and more) into a single, manageable dashboard.
• AI-Powered Content Creation: This is where the magic happens. We'll work together to:
• Use the AI to generate viral content ideas and text posts from a simple prompt.
• Create and customize eye-catching "faceless" videos and image posts directly within the platform.
• "Remix" a single idea into multiple formats tailored for different social channels.
• Schedule Like a Pro: We'll walk you through building and organizing a content calendar, scheduling your AI-generated posts to go live at the perfect times.
• Q&A and Strategy Session: Have questions about your specific social media goals? We’ll have plenty of time for Q&A and to share strategies for effective social media automation.

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### Who Should Attend?

This meetup is for solopreneurs, small business owners, marketers, content creators, and anyone looking to grow their brand on social media more efficiently. No advanced technical skills are required—if you use social media, you're ready for Blotato.

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# Additional information

Join us for another AI Collective Hampton Roads event! Whether you're an AI professional, researcher, student, or simply curious about artificial intelligence, this meetup offers a relaxed environment to connect with fellow enthusiasts in the Hampton Roads area. Come share your interests, discuss the latest developments, and help shape the future of our local AI community.

Specific event details coming very soon!

Join us for another AI Collective Hampton Roads event! Whether you're an AI professional, researcher, student, or simply curious about artificial intelligence, this meetup offers a relaxed environment to connect with fellow enthusiasts in the Hampton Roads area. Come share your interests, discuss the latest developments, and help shape the future of our local AI community.

​​Agenda:

• ​​Welcome & Introductions: Meet the organizers and fellow attendees.
• ​​Topic or workshop: More info coming soon
• ​​AI News Highlights: Brief overview of recent major AI developments to spark conversation.
• ​​Networking: Engage in informal chats over refreshments.

​​We look forward to seeing you there and building a vibrant AI community in the 757 area!