Transcendence in the Age of A.I.
A conversation on A.I., evolution, consciousness, and the future of the human
This event concluded on June 25, 2026.
PLEASE NOTE: This event concluded on June 25, 2026. This event is no longer available for purchase. Description “If you let me, I’ll be so real for you.” So says David, the little robot boy in A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001). Is it a warning or a promise? Daemonic machine or brute algorithm, existential threat or liberating agent—and possibly all of the above—artificial intelligence has brought humankind to one of the great thresholds of our time. Spielberg’s film, developed from Stanley Kubrick’s long-gestating project, foresaw many of these hopes and fears, along with a few philosophical quandaries in between. Using the film as an entry point, MacGuffin Media’s Joel Gunz hosts a conversation on A.I., evolution, consciousness, and the future of the human, with Michael Garfield and J.F. Martel.
Instructor Bio
J.F. Martel is a Canadian author, filmmaker, lecturer, and cultural critic known for his work on the arts, philosophy, and the uncanny. With a background in film production and an interest in metaphysics, Martel explores the intersections of creativity and the ineffable, challenging conventional boundaries of understanding. He is best known for his book Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice, which argues for the intrinsic value of art beyond commodification and utilitarianism. Martel’s writings often appear in various publications, where he discusses the spiritual and existential dimensions of culture. As a filmmaker, he has directed several documentaries and short films. Through his work, Martel invites audiences to reconsider their perceptions of reality and embrace the mysteries that lie beneath the surface of the workaday world. He co-hosts the Weird Studies podcast with the music historian Phil Ford.
Michael Garfield is an evolutionary biologist turned economically-illegible author, artist, and musician who has spent the last twenty years studying and developing better frameworks for understanding the intersection of technology, ecology, and consciousness. Along the way, he has worked as a vertebrate paleontologist, scientific illustrator, touring performance philosopher, innovation researcher, nondual philosophy zine editor, art director, and complexity science communicator, with stints at The Santa Fe Institute, Mozilla, and The Long Now Foundation. Dig into his writing and podcasts at Humans On The Loop and learn more about his latest group project—a new federation for the development of commons-based collective intelligence infrastructure—at Atlas Research.
Joel Gunz believes that the search for meaning is among the highest of human pursuits, and it’s this impulse that drives his work. He’s a writer, filmmaker, the host of the annual HitchCon film conference and the weekly MacGuffin Film Club and is the editor of The Hitchcockian Quarterly. His recent publications include “Hermetic Hermeneutics in Hitchcock’s Vertigo” (Book TBA, David Sterritt, ed., forthcoming 2026), “Travels in Hitchcock’s Multiverse” (Re-viewing Hitchcock: New Critical Perspectives, Robert Kapsis, ed., 2025) and “A Comparative Look at Hitchcock’s Murder! and Mary” (Hitchcock Annual, Sidney Gottlieb, ed., 2025). His 2021 film essay Spellbound by L’Amour Fou was selected by several festivals and won Best Short Documentary at the Medusa Film Festival.