What if artificial intelligence did not begin with modern technology but with the Earth itself or even before?

In this thought-provoking talk, Darren Le Baron reframes artificial intelligence through the lens of ancestral knowledge systems, drawing on ancient traditions where intelligence was understood as relational, ecological, and embodied. From the initiatory rites of Indigenous cultures he explores how psychedelics have long functioned as interfaces, technologies of perception that connect human consciousness to wider networks of knowing embedded in land, fungi, and cosmology.

Bridging ethnomycology with modern AI discourse, Darren highlights striking parallels between mycelial networks and contemporary neural architectures, while critically examining the risks of developing intelligence without wisdom or context. As the psychedelic renaissance converges with rapid advances in AI, this talk invites a radical rethinking of both proposing a model of “symbiotic intelligence” rooted in ancestral frameworks, ecological awareness, and responsible innovation. This is not just a conversation about the future of technology, but a call to remember the original intelligence systems we have always been a part of. 

EVENT DETAILS:

• DOORS OPENS: 6.30pm

• SESSION STARTS: 7pm

THE VENUE

Join us at 6.30pm on Monday 15th June at Love Shack, a vegan restaurant and cocktail bar spread over three beautiful exposed brick arches in the heart of Hackney, East London.