The Cybernetics Conversation 2026
Our annual in-person conference, 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 Wednesday of each month, 17:00–19:00 BST.
Can Evolution Be Predicted, and If So Can It Lead to AI?
Can evolution be predicted, and if so, could it lead to AI? Opinions are divided: random mechanisms resist prediction, yet evolution also produces patterns that can be anticipated. Gerard presents a new approach that examines the blueprint of an organism and how it can change over many generations — as when two bacteria form a eukaryotic cell, or when multiple eukaryotic cells form a multicellular organism. At an abstract level, such transitions share a logic that connects physical and biological nature, from small physical particles to animals with a nervous system. An abstract analysis of this series provides new insights into the advent of artificial intelligence.
About the speaker. Driven by a passion for evolution and complexity, Gerard Jagers op Akkerhuis studies the past, present, and future of evolution. He studied entomology at Wageningen and obtained his first PhD in 1993 on the side effects of pesticides. Seventeen years later, he obtained a second PhD at Nijmegen on ‘operator theory’. He has been a guest speaker at symposiums internationally and has authored or co-authored more than 100 publications and five books. His most recent, The Third Law of Evolution and the Future of Life, was published by Springer in 2024.
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.
Calendars
For a broader view of cybernetics and systems events worldwide, see our Calendar page.