While the modern age has seen the acceleration and proliferation of technology in every aspect of our lives, this is far more pronounced in today’s digital age. From our morning coffees to our workspaces to even our homes, we live in the reflections of our black mirrors. This only means that to speak about politics or society today is to speak about the effects of digital and other technologies. Consider the panic that artificial intelligence generative systems caused last year with people claiming they would lose their jobs. These are real fears, that are rooted not only in the problems of technological advancement but in an entanglement of it with the world. On February 24-25, 2024, these entanglements and a sense of anxiety supplanted by anticipation were in the air in Gurugram, Haryana, at the Synapse Conclave.

In a dark hangar with hundreds of people in attendance, a montage of images flashed across three screens. A prelude to what was to come. Some optimistic, some sceptical, and some downright dystopian. The images provided provocations to the themes that would be discussed on the two days that the Synapse Conclave took place. Marketed as India’s most thought-provoking science/tech/society conference, the Shiv Nadar Foundation presents Synapse Conclave, organised by the international science and technology platform Lucid Lines, aimed to bridge the gap between the three through a line-up of provocative discussions at the forefront of scientific advancement.

For two days, lawyers, ethicists, philosophers, policymakers, economists, educationists, security experts, artists, writers, AI designers, entrepreneurs, geneticists, virologists, scientists, and cosmologists engaged in a detailed inquiry into the opportunities, impacts, implications, ethics, problems, and solutions presented by current science and technology. Attending and listening to the speakers ranging from the Pulitzer Prize-winning Thomas Friedman to the political philosopher Michael Sandel was a feast for the imagination.

As amplification partners for the conference, STIR interviewed a diverse list of speakers from the symposium. These, from filmmaker Anand Gandhi to transhumanist scholar Anders Sandberg, showcase not only the potential of the coming technologies but also their pitfalls.  The conversations are enlisted below.

1. The Synapse Conclave 2024 brings together Nobel laureates, tech visionaries, philosophers, artists, and more

Founded and curated by visionary journalist Shoma Chaudhury, Synapse presents a unique amalgamation of global genius, a convergence of minds that spans Nobel Laureates, tech moguls, philosophers, artists, and more. The first-of-its-kind conference with a programme that promises to redefine the boundaries of public discourse was announced to unfold over the weekend of February 24 and 25 at the Futures Hangar in Le Meridien, Gurugram. SYNAPSE 2024 aimed to unravel the intricate tapestry of powerful forces shaping our world, dissecting the impact of innovations such as AI, gene editing, age reversal, big data, and quantum computing on every aspect of our lives.

2. The twin potentials of technology highlighted by the lineup at Synapse

When asked about how humanity should embrace AI, the list of speakers STIR interviewed all shared similar opinions; that we will need to learn how to collaborate with the non-human. This tone mirrored in all the talks that unfolded over the weekend at the conference. While experts underscored the need for safeguards and warned the audience about how we must adjust to advancements in science, a lot of the talks also focused on innovation and the promise the coming technological age holds.

3. Dr Anders Sandberg and Dr Brett Kagan on crossing the duality of human and technology

Many people now imagine a future where humanity relies more on technology. What would a world where humans merge with it look like? Such dialogue and optimism in science to help humanity evolve raised questions on the capacities of enhancement such advancements could grant us.

This porous boundary between humans and technology, and how each may enhance the other was spotlighted by two speakers at the conclave, Dr Anders Sandberg, a Senior Research Fellow at the Future of Humanity Institute at Oxford and Dr Brett Kagan, Chief Scientific Officer for Cortical Labs, who are working to develop a new type of artificial intelligence that combines lab-grown human brain cells with computer chips.

4. Ageing, green revolution and psychedelics: retracing powerful talks at Synapse 2024

The diverse set of talks that constituted the programme also brought to the fore the leading role of women in the current discourse. The three women STIR spoke to: Elizabeth Parrish, Malaika Vaz and Vidita Vaidya, each touched upon different facets of the affliction of technology on humans.

While Parrish, ‘biohacker’ and founder of the Seattle-based biotech company BioViva, touched on the intrinsic duality of the pursuit of age reversal in her talk; Vaidya, an award-winning neuroscientist at Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, brought her deep insight into the realm of psychedelics to the Synapse Conclave with a discourse titled Miracle Molecules in the segment BOUNDARY BREAKERS I Moods & Minds. On the other hand, Vaz, award-winning filmmaker and CEO of Untamed Planet delved into the interactions of nature, humans and technology and the increasingly urgent conversation of environmental destruction and the climate crisis.

5. On immersive stories and the potentialities of AI according to Anand Gandhi

Anand Gandhi, Mumbai-based filmmaker, entrepreneur, media producer, innovator and systems researcher, elaborated on the power of narratives and the utilisation of artificial intelligence to navigate through the philosophical questions that people typically ponder upon in a conversation with STIR. He expanded on themes touched upon in a 30-minute discussion with Shoma Chaudhary on stage, Gandhi, talking about the power stories hold and the way narratives can be weaponised to both manipulate viewpoints and guide dreamers, as well as the potential of tales as mediums to update our consciousness and serve the 21st century.

6. The ethics of AI and health technology with Hany Elosman and Irene Solaiman

Director of Computational Medicine and Digital Health Tech for Saudi Arabia's polemic experiment in urbanism, Neom, Hany Elosman and the Head of Global Policy at Hugging Face, Irene Solaiman offered compelling perspectives on how AI innovations are reshaping the future of healthcare, and what ethical frameworks are essential for guiding their development. On the one hand, Solaiman raised critical questions about aligning culture with AI, highlighting the need for robust frameworks that prioritise fairness, transparency, and accountability in AI deployment. Meanwhile, Elosman delved into his vision for a platform inspired by the realms of Formula 1, NASA, and counterintelligence. His exploration of how these fields inform Neom's healthcare endeavours highlighted the potential for technology to revolutionise diagnostics, drug discovery, and personalised medicine.