<aside> <img src="notion://custom_emoji/3b7b79b0-95af-4500-931c-e5c63e5df242/133c6f79-9a33-809e-b97a-007a409367c7" alt="notion://custom_emoji/3b7b79b0-95af-4500-931c-e5c63e5df242/133c6f79-9a33-809e-b97a-007a409367c7" width="40px" /> “The rapid advancement of generative AI technologies has sparked a transformative wave across various sectors, but one of its most intriguing and still to be determined impacts is in the realm of community building.”
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Inside BC's Growing Grassroots AI Ecosystem: How Vancouver's AI Community Grew Into Something Beautiful. 2,400 participants, 13 meetups, and the birth of a provincial AI innovation community association that puts people before profit
Building a Grass Roots AI Community of Practice
Our research challenges one of the most pervasive myths in AI discourse: the notion that technology impacts all places uniformly. This "placeless narrative" imagines AI as a universal force landing identically in Vancouver, San Francisco, or Mumbai—ignoring the critical variances in infrastructure, culture, and community that shape technology adoption.
Drawing on Heraclitus' ancient wisdom that "you cannot step into the same river twice," we recognized that our Vancouver AI community had to be rooted in local context. What works in Silicon Valley won't necessarily translate to East Van. As Indigenous scholars Glen Coulthard and Leanne Betasamosake Simpson argue through their concept of "grounded normativity," knowledge isn't abstract or universal but "deeply rooted in place and context."
This isn't academic posturing—it's the foundational understanding that allowed our community to flourish. As our research states, most "media reports about AI are often placeless, due to universalizing narratives and an underlying assumption of digital homogeneity." We rejected that assumption from day one.
What began as a handful of curious minds has exploded into something remarkable. Throughout 2024, we've hosted 13 monthly meetups with over 2,000 total attendees. Our gatherings draw 120-250 people, packing venues from my old Future Proof Creative headquarters at the Vancouver Biennale to the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre.
But the magic isn't in attendance figures—it's in the wild diversity of who shows up. Our meetups bring together "entrepreneurs, researchers, teachers, start-ups, representatives from medium and large organizations, visual artists, poets, musicians, fashionistas, designers, 3-D artists, programmers, dancers, foodies, accountants, lawyers, project managers, clothing designers, and educational leadership." This cross-pollination creates an energy you won't find in siloed tech meetups or academic conferences.
What wasn't captured in our academic article (submitted before it happened) is how this single community has fractured into a beautiful array of specialized groups. We've seen the organic emergence of Surrey AI, Womxn's AI, Squamish AI, and Mind AI & Consciousness meetups—all inspired by the original model but adapted to specific contexts and interests.
This wasn't planned or orchestrated. It happened naturally as participants recognized the value of our approach and adapted it to their own communities. The result? A de facto grassroots BC+AI ecosystem emerging from below, not imposed from above by industry initiatives or corporate takeover.
https://kriskrug.co/2025/02/16/bcs-ai-ecosystem-a-mycelial-network-of-creation/