The ClimateAction.tech (CAT) Generative AI Exploratorium is a 4-part community exploration that invites all curious CATs to explore diverse perspectives on how generative AI might support or oppose different types of climate actions. If you’re new to the series, you might want to start with the recap of the first 💬 questioning session, second 📚 learning session, and third 🐱practicing session.
In this post, you’ll find a recap of the fourth CAT Gen AI Exploratorium session dedicated to 🌊 reflecting, as well as reflecting prompts you can try on your own, regardless of whether you currently have the time and capacity to actively participate in the Exploratorium.
If you feel inspired to participate more actively, be sure to join the #gen-ai-exploratorium channel in the CAT Slack to find out how you can still start your exploration at your own pace.
🌊 Reflecting session recap
After four eventful weeks, the guided part of the Exploratorium came full circle with the fourth and final 1.5-hour long live session that took place on Wednesday, Nov 27, and was attended by 8 mindful explorers.
As in previous sessions, we started with a brief warmup during which we introduced the session’s goal: to take a step back, look at the big picture, reflect on each part of the journey, and observe what has nourished us and what might still be missing.
During the main discussion part of the session, we visited the CAT-themed Elemental Reflection Landscape in the Exploratorium Mural, which reminded us of the journey so far – the questioning, learning, and practicing we did in previous weeks. With the landscape, we were also able to lean into the visual aspects of the metaphors that have been introduced in previous sessions and explore the tensions and connections within and across all elements to fully engage our imagination and inspire reflection.
To help us reflect on systemic challenges and opportunities, the landscape also introduced the imagery and story of the 🌊 Regenerative River. The river is formed by our desire and efforts to transform the tech landscape, but also blocked by systemic dam(n)s that often feel bigger and stronger than our collective climate action:
Whatever path you have taken so far, you now have the opportunity to contribute your droplet of water to the 🌊 Regenerative River. The river represents our collective desire for change. In isolation, the sweat and tears that flow as you try to face the climate crisis on your own might feel insignificant. But when we combine them into collective currents, we form a river that shapes the land through which we flow, together.
As in previous sessions, explorers divided into breakout rooms to make discussion and reflection easier in smaller groups. Four explorers who gathered in the 💧Healing Tears room chose a systematic approach and moved from one part of the Reflection Landscape to the other, while the two explorers who contributed to the 🪣 Communal Bucket room focused on big-picture reflection.
The design and different areas of the Reflection Landscape inspired diverse discussions on trends in our industry, business incentives, and how we might better expose the true costs of the tech we design, build, and use daily without much thought. Ideas of how we might slow down our use and development of gen AI – and digital technologies more broadly –, were also explored.
The one hour dedicated to open discussion felt even shorter than usual, as explorers were just starting to uncover the shadows and assumptions we take for granted in the tech industry, and wondering about how we might collectively steer our currents toward more fair and just tech – not just for humans, but the entire planet.
After the discussion, we gathered in the main room for our final cooldown and sharing. We reflected on the importance of community to handle stress and inspire action, and giving ourselves the time and space for open discussions. We also briefly discussed how playfulness – which played a bit part in the design of the Exploratorium – can nurture our imagination and help us learn better (I’ll share more about that in my final reflections at the end of the post.)
🌊 Reflecting activity prompts
Reflection prompts from the CAT Elemental Reflection Landscape
If you weren’t able to attend the reflecting session or don’t currently have the time to engage more fully with the Exploratorium, you can still spend some time reflecting on your own explorations at the interaction of climate action and generative AI – or any other technology you’re currently exploring.
With these prompts from the reflection landscape, I invite you to spend some time reflecting on how you are approaching questioning, learning, practicing, and systemic change in tech.
As a 💬 Questioning Bird who is exploring diverse perspective and uncovering questions, reflect on:
- Enlightening perspectives: What perspectives have been revealed that were not visible before? How did the questions you uncovered make you feel?
- Navigation challenges: What assumptions and biases have clouded your view? What made it hard to see and navigate new perspectives?
As a 📚 Learning Tree who is spreading roots wide and deep to absorb and share insights and learnings with others, reflect on:
- Forest of knowledge: What learnings have you absorbed so far, and what have you shared with others? How have you spread your roots deeper and wider to make new connections?
- Cultural shadows: What in your cultural landscape is casting shadows over your tree that might be limiting your growth and learnings? How is the predominant tech culture shaping these shadows?
As a 🐱 Practicing CAT who is committing to (climate) action, reflect on:
- Acts & impacts: What paw prints have you left with your actions so far? Who or what have you impacted?
- Unintended consequences: What bird nests have you disturbed in your pursuits? What and who can you be more mindful of in your practice?
As part of the 🌊 Regenerative River who is shaping the tech landscape, reflect on:
- Collective currents: Where do the collective currents need to flow to transform the industry and support human and planetary flourishing?
- Systemic dam(n)s: What systemic blockers are getting in the way of collective currents of transformation?
Further reflection prompts
In addition to exploring prompts that are related to different parts of the exploration, you might also try the following:
- Think about how you might make space for additional questioning, learning, and reflecting in your daily tech practice. Revisit the Exploratorium Mural or these session recaps whenever you need additional inspiration.
- Keep having conversations in CAT and other communities to process conflicting responses, learn and reflect together.
- To further reflect on your explorations, try writing about your experiences in a journal, diary, or just a plain text file on your computer. Give your thoughts the space to fully unfold.
- Explore your responses and thoughts through different mediums and engage all your senses: can you find or create an image or a song that expresses how you feel about climate & generative AI?
- Continue nurturing your appreciation of nature and building empathy for more than human life.
Up next: continue the exploration at your own pace
With the reflection part, the Exploratorium now forms a full circle that can help you deepen your understanding and practice, as well as provide some additional inspiration for your climate journey.
Even if you didn’t manage to participate in the Exploratorium during the guided community exploration in November, you can still visit the Exploratorium on your own or with others to explore the intersection of climate action & generative AI at your own pace. The Exploratorium Mural offers all the instructions and resources you will need on your journey, including tips for self-paced exploration.
To get the link to the Exploratorium Mural, you can still join the #gen-ai-exploratorium channel in the CAT Slack or send me a message.
And if you’re looking for another opportunity to connect with fellow CATs, I hope you’ll join us at the upcoming 🎉 CAT 2024 – year in review and celebration online event on Tuesday, December 10, during which we’ll review everything that’s been going on in the ClimateAction.tech community this year – including the Exploratorium.
My final reflections and hopes
On a personal note, I hope this experience inspires explorers – and you, dear reader – to seek and find more time for questioning, learning, practicing, and reflecting together. As tech workers, we’re currently facing immense pressures to quickly adopt and embrace generative AI to increase our productivity, despite its large environmental impacts. We read and listen to news of rising cloud emissions while our planet’s vital signs are flashing red.
In such a climate – pun intended – it’s easy to feel overwhelmed, angry, afraid, and powerless. It’s easy to feel like sharing these feelings and having discussions is “unproductive”. But sharing and learning together are often the first steps toward action.
At a time when we are being dazzled by the wonders of machine learning, I also wanted the Exploratorium to be a love letter to how wonderful organic, human learning is. Unlike machines, we don’t just learn by ingesting terabytes of data. We learn best and make sense of the world together, through conversations, sharing stories, and by supporting each other when it’s time to act and change the world.
And when it comes to action, the Exploratorium doesn’t promise quick and easy answers to such a complex topic as climate and generative AI. But it is my hope that it can help you train your questioning, learning, practicing, and reflecting muscles and get you in better shape to face these uncertain times.
I am grateful to everyone who was able to dedicate their time and attention to this exploration despite everything that’s currently going on in the world, whether it was just by reading any of the recaps, or engaging more actively. If you were inspired by any parts, please share them far and wide to strengthen our collective currents of transformation.
And I am especially grateful to all explorers who were able to contribute their thoughts, feelings, and discussions to our shared space. Having the honor to observe your conversations made me a bit more hopeful about our collective future. I can’t wait to see where further explorations take us!
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