Vancouver AI Meetup
Vancouver AI Meetup — April 2026
April's Vancouver AI Community Meetup opened with a Squamish Nation mask people creation story and reflections on reconciliation, grounding the night in place and protocol before the talks began.
The lineup turned to AI ethics with no rulebook yet: Sarah Downey spoke on applied ethics in the gap before policy catches up, Sev Geraskin reframed ethics as a systems and community question rather than an individual one, and Martin Lapotka presented a Rawlsian approach to building fairer contracts with AI. The audience carried the ethics panel into the room's own Q&A.
Community announcements covered Film Club, AI burnout, and the Ethics Lab — the projects brewing across the ecosystem this spring.
Photos from this meetup
Captured by Michelle Diamond. Click any photo to view full size — the lightbox lets you download and share.
Videos from this event
Selected recordings matched from YouTube titles, descriptions, and captions.
AI Ethics Panel & Community: Vancouver AI April 2026 (full event)
Full event recording
Full April 2026 meetup recording with the Squamish Nation opening, community announcements, Sarah Downey, Sev Geraskin, Martin Lapotka, and the audience AI ethics panel.
Watch on YouTubeAI Ethics 101, Transmutarianism & Rawlsian Contracts: full panel
Sarah Downey, Sev Geraskin, and Martin Lapotka
Long panel cut covering Sarah Downey’s applied AI ethics practice, Sev Geraskin’s Transmutarianism, Martin Lapotka’s Rawlsian contract research, and audience questions.
Watch on YouTubeOpening – Mask people creation story and reflections on reconciliation
Vanessa + Kris Krüg
Opening story and reflections grounding the April 2026 meetup in place, protocol, and reconciliation.
Watch on YouTubeCommunity announcements: Film Club, AI burnout, and Ethics Lab
Community announcements
April community announcements covering Film Club, AI burnout, Ethics Lab, and projects brewing across the ecosystem.
Watch on YouTubeSarah Downey: AI ethics when there are no rules yet
Sarah Downey
Sarah Downey discusses practical AI ethics in the gap before policy and norms catch up.
Watch on YouTubeMartin Lapotka: Rawlsian AI for fairer contracts
Martin Lapotka
Martin Lapotka presents a Rawlsian approach to building fairer contracts with AI.
Watch on YouTubeSev Geraskin: ethics is not about individuals
Sev Geraskin
Sev Geraskin reframes ethics as a systems and community question, not only an individual choice.
Watch on YouTube
More from this event
The April 29 Vancouver AI Community Meetup turned the Space Centre into an ethics lab for one night. The program moved from opening protocol and community announcements into three different ways of asking the same question: when AI systems make decisions, who carries the responsibility for the world they shape?
The full event recording documents a Squamish Nation opening and reflections on reconciliation. This recap keeps that material as factual context and does not excerpt ceremonial language. The public throughline is that April's meetup grounded AI ethics in place before moving into applied governance, community values, and technical design.
Sarah Downey opened the featured program with a practical AI ethics map for builders working before policy has caught up. Sev Geraskin reframed ethics as a systems and community question, not only an individual compliance habit. Martin Lopatka brought John Rawls into agent design, using fairness, counterfactuals, and information flow as engineering constraints rather than abstract philosophy.
The practical signal was the same one that now runs through the Responsible AI Professional program: responsible AI is not a slogan you add after the system works. It is a set of choices about data, incentives, institutions, design, and who gets to challenge the result. April's meetup made that tension visible, then let the audience push on it.
What this is
Vancouver AI Meetup — April 2026 is a BC + AI community event recap with photos, recordings, and details from the Vancouver AI ecosystem.
Who it is for
AI builders, researchers, policy people, creatives, educators, students, and citizens looking for practical local AI community.
When and where
Wednesday, April 29, 2026, 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM PDT at H.R. MacMillan Space Centre, 1100 Chestnut St, Vancouver, BC V6J 3J9, Canada.
How to join
Browse upcoming Vancouver AI events, RSVP on Luma, or become a BC + AI member to support the association behind the gatherings.
See upcoming eventsLatest Luma Details
- Event:
- Vancouver AI Community Meetup: 04/29
- Date:
- Wednesday, April 29, 2026
- Time:
- 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM PDT
- Location:
- H.R. MacMillan Space Centre, 1100 Chestnut St, Vancouver, BC V6J 3J9, Canada
- Organizer:
- BC + AI Ecosystem Association
- Status:
- Scheduled
- Attendance:
- In person