When Machines Dream of Electric Paint: Inside the AI Creativity Revolution How an online community’s exploration of AI scenarios became a window into humanity’s creative future Elena Martínez had been mixing paint by hand for thirty-seven years when she first saw her work hanging next to a machine’s. This wasn’t Elena’s story—it was a hypothetical scenario posed by Tone Fonseca during a series of riveting online meetups that would challenge everything participants thought they knew about creativity, consciousness, and what it means to be human in the age of artificial intelligence. Part of the ongoing collaboration between CASHE (Culture, AI, Science and the Human Experience) and the New York AI meetup group, these conversations have become a crucible for exploring the most profound questions of our technological age. ...

Ideas in Motion: When AI Meets Art, Meaning, and the Future of Human Expression Hosted by: CASHE x NY AI (Joint Event) Date: Friday, June 6, 2025, 8:30 PM Format: Online Discussion Host: Tone Fonseca This was the third in a series exploring the intersection of AI, creativity, and meaning-making—building on previous conversations about “The Origins of Art” and “AGI: What, When, How…and Are We Ready?” What emerged was a thoughtful exploration of how artificial intelligence is reshaping our understanding of creativity, consciousness, and what it means to be human in an age of thinking machines. ...

I recently attended a fascinating discussion forum hosted by CASHE and the New York Artificial Intelligence Meetup Group that tackled some of the most profound questions about AI, consciousness, and humanity’s future. The conversation brought together diverse perspectives on topics that sit at the intersection of technology, philosophy, and existential risk. The Central Question: Can AI Be Truly Conscious? The discussion opened with what many consider the fundamental question of our technological age: Could an artificial system ever truly be conscious, or are we destined to create only sophisticated imitations? ...

I logged into a Google Meet expecting the usual tech meetup optimism. What I found instead was something more sobering—a virtual room full of AI researchers, engineers, and enthusiasts genuinely wrestling with whether we’re prepared for what’s coming next. The New York Artificial Intelligence Meetup Group hosted an in-depth virtual seminar on AGI—“AGI: What, When, How…and Are We Ready?"—and the conversations that emerged were both fascinating and unsettling. Here’s what stuck with me from that evening online. ...