The Cybernetics Conversation 2026
Our annual in-person conversation, bringing together the cybernetics community for three days of discussion, debate, and collaboration.
The Cybernetics Conversation 2026
Our annual in-person event, masterminded by John Beckford. Sessions include celebrating Stafford Beer at his centenary, Dan Davies and The Unaccountability Machine, Information and Cybernetics, and Ethics and AI. Session leaders welcome.
Cybernetics Live
Our regular online seminar series features speakers from across the cybernetics and systems community, typically on the third Wednes>
Anticipating the human and social consequences of next generation AI — before it’s too late
After decades of relatively slow progress, AI systems are now advancing rapidly, frequently surprising even their designers. This talk will: (1) review whether that pace of change will continue, or whether AI is about to reach a “wall”; (2) anticipate the range of deep problems likely to arise if insufficient guardrails are put in place, allowing misaligned AI to interact destructively with existing societal and civilisational fault lines; (3) explore options for reaching and maintaining global agreements so that next generation AI is a “BGI” (beneficial general intelligence) rather than a “CGI” (catastrophic general intelligence).
About the speaker. David Wood is a futurist and commentator focusing on technology’s impact on society and business. As Chair of London Futurists he has since March 2008 hosted nearly 400 public events on technoprogressive topics. He is co-host of the highly rated London Futurists Podcast, which has released 129 episodes on the theme “Anticipating and managing exponential impact”. He is also Executive Director of the LEV (Longevity Escape Velocity) Foundation, whose mission is “conducting and inspiring research to comprehensively cure and prevent human age-related disease”. Earlier in his career, he spent 25 years at the heart of the early mobile computing and smartphone industries, including co-founding Symbian in 1998 and serving on its executive leadership team until 2009. He is the author or co-editor of 12 books about the future, including Vital Foresight, The Abolition of Aging, Smartphones and Beyond, and The Singularity Principles.
Wednesday 17 June 2026 · 17:00–19:00 BST
How might Cybernetic Thinking inform Quantum Information Theory?
Sally Ingram
Requested so as to assist the exploratory power of Quantum Information Theory, a gedanken experiment is proposed in which we inspect the intuition of many that living systems are quantum in their foundation and, then, necessarily, computational. The opportunity to tease out the verity of this computational conjecture is neatly afforded by examination of the possible working of a tertiary DNA structure as effectively being that of a ‘biological qubit’.
A model for the possible means of working of this ‘qubit’ is explored, circumstantial evidence offered where possible, and various adjustments of the mainstream Darwinian theoretic suggest themselves as the model unfolds. Equally, some of the contextual differences between man-made and natural computing become apparent. A summary of findings illustrates the eminent suitability of this ‘biological’ object as offering a first — and compelling — means of approach to the reality of a ‘natural qubit’ and cellular computation. It naturally promises to extend the definition of ‘information’.
About the speaker. Having begun work in publishing at 18, Sally returned to study natural science as a mature student and, after completing a degree in Applied Biology at Imperial College London, began postgraduate study in Sunderland applying fractal geometry to living systems and their evolution. The study was short-circuited by the realisation that living systems are necessarily and profoundly quantum mechanical (QM) and necessarily quantum computing. Having then to find another approach to living systems analysis, she was introduced to the existence of the Viable System Model (VSM) by her mathematical supervisor and cybernetician, Professor Alfredo Moscardini. After interview with Stafford Beer in 1994 she moved to Winchester, Hampshire, and with two cybernetic colleagues helped set up a new Cybernetics-founded Business Studies Department. At the same time, it was intended that a new PhD be set up, in which the first order system would be the QM eukaryote cell and the VSM could then be tested against that analysis. Beer saw the PhD as an experiment that would serve to ensure the VSM was ‘quantum ready’. Insufficient funding ended the position.
Enacting Cybernetics Journal
Enacting Cybernetics is an open-access journal published by the Cybernetics Society, focused on exploring and developing the many ways in which cybernetics may be practised in the world.
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