The invitation to a session on "Ultrafast Quantum Computing with Ultracold Atom Arrays at Quantum Speed Limit" was the first sign that I might be out of my depth.
I had travelled to one of the world’s largest festivals for the premiere of a documentary based on one of my journalistic investigations, Flight 149: Hostage of War, and with a remit to write about SXSW (South by South West), an extraordinary event that attracted more than 300,000 visitors over nine days to Austin, the capital of Texas.
I had access to a vast selection of programmes covering tech, music, film and television, including dozens of sessions on artificial intelligence, such as "Byte by Byte: Decoding AI’s impact on journalism", about which at least I understood the title, unlike "Sentient Design: AI and Radically Adaptive Interfaces" or most talks with the word "quantum" in it.
What I did understand was not exactly reassuring — there was no consensus on whether AI was going to save humanity or destroy it.
I found myself grappling with a festival of ridiculous size. One day had 655 events.
It was clear on arrival that SXSW was not just a festival but one giant informercial.
My presence on the list of media contacts — apart from prompting questions such as "what is Otago?" — also meant I was on the radar of all the advertisers.
I was tempted to take them up on their offer of a complimentary styling session but, realistically, my lack of hair would have probably prevented them delivering the promised stunning results.
The festival featured a number of major Hollywood film premieres and I was keen to see what it would be like to cover a red carpet event.
The headliner on the first day was Another Simple Favour, starring Blake Lively.
Brad, from the red carpet team, had bad news.
"Dear Press Member,
Thank you for your interest! Because of overwhelming demand and VERY limited space, we are not able to offer you a spot on ANOTHER SIMPLE FAVOR red carpet at this time.
Best,
Each day, a new email from Brad popped into my inbox.
"Thank you for your interest! Because of overwhelming demand and VERY limited space, we are not able to offer you a spot on the DEATH OF A UNICORN red carpet ...
"Because of overwhelming demand and VERY limited space, we are not able to offer you a spot on THE ACCOUNTANT 2 red carpet ...
"Because of overwhelming demand and VERY limited space, we are not able to offer you a spot on the ON SWIFT HORSES red carpet ..."
Plan B was to tackle more serious subjects.
People come from all over the world to attend SXSW and the audience numbers showed their priorities. Some of the results were not exactly encouraging. Outside "News in the Digital Age: Distinguishing Fact from Fiction" was a very long queue. Of course, a subject that important would draw a huge crowd, I told myself, people are interested in the truth.
It was not until I reached the room that I realised the session was less than half full, and the crowd was there to listen to some guru in the next room talk about how to stop yourself ageing (The Science and Art of Longevity).
There were moments to remember (see below).
It was all overwhelming, expensive, young — I must have been the oldest person there. (A musician on the door of one of the events had never heard of The Beatles.)
As a member of the media, I had a platinum badge, normally costing $NZ4000.
If you go next year, don’t buy one — you can get into most events if you queue and the standard of the so-called platinum lounges was very poor.
Go if you have a great idea that needs an audience, if you can afford it, if you can ignore the undercurrents of politics, if you are tech savvy or want to explore excellent music, documentaries and independent films.
Noteworthy
YNDLING
I interviewed Norwegian dream pop singer Silje Espevik who goes by the name Yndling, which means favourite in Norwegian.
She records in English not Norwegian because, she says, it is easier to write good lyrics in English and she sounds better in English (she’s from Bergen — a standing joke in Norway is to make fun of people with a Bergen accent).
Her music is gorgeous (the song Mood Booster is perfectly named) but I was keen to get her views on the challenges of becoming a successful musician in the world of Spotify and short attention spans.
Like many artists, she appreciates Spotify as a way to get her music to the world but it pays poorly and has contributed to the idea that "music is not worth spending money on any more ... We just assume that it should be free".
Her next album, I’m in the palm of your hand, is out in June.
AGE OF DISCLOSURE
This was one of the biggest hits of the festival, getting rapturous applause from a packed audience at the Paramount theatre, the largest venue.
Director Dan Farah got 34 members of the US Government, military, and intelligence community to go on camera to apparently reveal "An 80-year cover-up of the existence of non-human intelligent life and a secret war among major nations to reverse engineer technology of non-human origin".
I wasn’t clapping at the end.
Lots of quotes saying we are not alone in the universe, used to reinforce more startling claims about secret programmes to recover alien bodies, as if one were proof of the other.
And in a world where nearly everyone has a phone camera, why was there so little verifiable imagery of these amazing sights.
One image of a black moving object was shown many times — where are the rest?
But by all means go and see it and make up your own mind.
THE SPIES AMONG US
The award winning 2006 movie The Lives of Others is on many best-ever lists, with its gripping account of a Stasi spying operation in East Germany before the Wall came down.
The Spies Among Us is a much needed update, documentary not drama, about the Stasi and it’s victims, featuring startling revelations from a family of spies and the spied upon.
It follows the personal investigation by Peter Keup, a Stasi victim-turned-historian, who ends up meeting an unrepentant Stasi general, Heinz Engelhardt, who manages to be both fascinating and odious.
First rate, straight-forward story telling, without bells and whistles, the kind of documentary of which we need more.
DUBAI MUSEUM OF THE FUTURE
One of the major hits of the festival, attracting more than 25,000 visitors during its five-day activation and 632,000 social media hashtags.
I talked to the creative director, Brendan McGetrick, about Dubai’s plans to modernise their economy, with science and technology as drivers instead of tourism.
The exhibit featured a pretty AI-powered "Earth Dreams" installation but I am sure most people were there for something else — to get free samples of the now famous Dubai chocolate.
Which was very good indeed.
I went back for more.
Stephen Davis is a Dunedin-based journalist.
