NYC AI Users - AI Talks, Demo & Social: AI Regulation and Architecture

AI technology like OpenAI's ChatGPT, Google's Gemini, Github's Copilot, Midjourney and many others will play an increasingly large role in our day-to-day lives. To this end, New York AI Users will host our monthly tech talks & social gathering at Thoughtworks' private space in NoMad. We're very excited to host with Thoughtworks, a global tech consultancy. They will graciously provide free drinks and food for the event, and we're excited to take advantage of their top notch AV system for the talks. The space and accommodations will be perfect for our talks and the social that follows.

From the creators and organizers of ®, New York AI Users organizes high-quality AI events that both educate and connect AI enthusiasts in the New York area who use or want to use AI to meet their creative, entrepreneurial, and technical aspirations. No technical background is required, only an interest in learning about these tools of the future.

For our October meeting, we will gather at Thoughtworks and we will host:

• Talks on AI:
• For our first talk, we will hear from Ashmini Perera Weerakoon. This talk untangles the EU AI Act, the first comprehensive regulation for AI systems, including traditional AI/ML and generative AI like large language models (LLMs). It examines the Act's risk-based approach, implications for customer success and business operations, and its influence on global regulatory standards. Key topics include the categorization of AI risks, compliance challenges for stakeholders, and how the Act balances innovation with safeguarding fundamental rights. Ashmini Perera Weerakoon is a tech consultant at Ernst & Young, specializing in Responsible AI. She began her career at EY in the Governance, Risk, and Compliance practice, primarily working on compliance with data policies such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). Following the AI boom with ChatGPT, she shifted her focus to the Data and AI practice. Since then, she has implemented innovative AI use cases for clients, worked within the firm’s Responsible AI Center of Excellence, and presented on AI regulation to an international audience at the Global OpenAI Center of Excellence. Outside of work, she hosted a short-lived podcast called AI with Ash, exploring the philosophical implications of AI. Ashmini lives in New York City and shares glimpses of her life through vlogs on her YouTube channel. She is a Boston College and Brooklyn Tech alumna, where she studied biology, chemistry, and computer science. In her free time, she enjoys reading and playing with her cat, Fitz.
• For our second talk, we will hear from Diwank Singh. This talk explores a new paradigm of building software stemming from the emerging reasoning abilities in LLMs. Software can now "think" and "understand". This means that computing will be more and more persistent, deliberative and contextual. Drawing inspiration from the original 12-factor app manifesto, we introduce a new manifesto for AI apps that emphasizes prompt-first design, continuous learning, and persistent agents. Diwank is a seasoned entrepreneur, computer scientist, and 2013 Thiel Fellow, with over a decade of experience building AI products. He’s now focusing on building an open-source platform for AI workflows at julep.ai . His current research revolves around exploring new paradigms in software computing, privacy-preserving LLMs and agent-driven architectures.
• After the talks, there will be social time with the attendees and the speakers for the remainder of the evening, with free drinks and food

We’re excited to see you soon!

Note:

• There will be no refunds for cancellations within 48 hours of the event

Host or Publisher David Cunningham