In a brief video, tech philosopher George Gilder ponders — with technology remaking our world — isn’t it time to assess the role that intelligence plays in our universe?

Cosm is the root of the English words cosmos, microcosm, and cosmopolitan. It comes from the Greek word kósmos and means order, government, world, universe.

Science popularizer Carl Sagan used to proclaim the insignificance of humans in a universe with as many stars as there are grains of sand on all the world’s beaches.

Topological theorist Jennifer Cano responds that there are as many electrons in a single grain of sand as stars in the universe. These electrons comprise a nanocosm, a quantum universe with plenty of room at the bottom for intelligence at the top.

With this in mind, the Walter Bradley Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence is sponsoring the COSM 2024 conference (October 31–November 1, Hyatt Regency Bellevue, Washington).

At the exclusive national summit, you’ll meet and hear from a Turing award winner (Bob Metcalfe, for the ethernet), a renowned chemist (James Tour on a new sci-fi material for technology), and the man who named Moore’s Law, (Carver Mead).

Learn about the new technology that will replace the chip. About why Wikipedia is failing in its mission and what type of worldwide knowledge base should replace it (Larry Sanger). And, in general, about what’s AI hope and what’s just AI hype.

Should you come to COSM? Here’s a test:

Do you remember the Y2K Milllennium Bug scare that grabbed headlines in 1999? Back then, would you rather have known all about that (pfft!)? Or about ever smarter phones would change society globally within the next two decades?

If what’s going to happen with technology in the next two decades is the kind of thing you need to know for your future, you can hear from people who are helping make it happen at COSM. Register here.