Join us for a focused session exploring one of the most important shifts emerging in AI today: the move toward systems that can both understand the world and act within it! As new approaches to AI push beyond language models toward world models and agent-based systems, a deeper question emerges: → As systems begin to model reality and anticipate outcomes, → how should they decide what to do? This event brings together foundational voices in AI to explore the transition from understanding → decision → action, and what it means for how intelligent systems are designed. If you are building, designing, or thinking seriously about AI systems, this is a conversation about what comes next. Curated by Helena Vallée 🎙️ Featuring Alan Mackworth Professor Emeritus, UBC Alan is a pioneer in artificial intelligence and co-author of Artificial Intelligence: Foundations of Computational Agents. His work focuses on intelligent agents, decision-making, and how systems act under uncertainty. Talk: The Essence of Intelligence is Appropriate Action Alan will explore why intelligence is fundamentally about action, not just learning or reasoning, and how agents form beliefs, make decisions, and operate in complex environments. This talk builds on joint work with David Poole. Peter Danielson Professor Emeritus, UBC Peter is a leading voice in artificial morality and game-theoretic approaches to ethics. His work examines how agents make decisions in environments shaped by other agents and competing incentives. Talk: Artificial Morality: From Toy World Models to Experiments on AI Decisions Peter will extend the discussion into multi-agent systems and explore how moral reasoning emerges in artificial agents making real decisions. 🧭 Program 🌀 11:00 AM – Arrival & Networking Doors close at 11:15 AM as we’ll be running a focused program. 🎙️ 11:30 AM – 11:45 AM – Opening Context Issam Laradji (Founder of VAM) will frame the current AI landscape, including recent developments in world models and agent-based systems. 🎙️ 11:45 AM – 12:25 PM – Alan Mackworth 🎙️ 12:25 PM – 12:40 PM – Break 🕛 12:40 PM – 1:20 PM – Peter Danielson 🎙️ 1:20 PM – 1:45 PM – Discussion & Q&A 🌀 1:45 PM – 2:15 PM – Networking 🧠 About the Host: Helena Vallée is a product strategist focused on systems architecture and human factors in AI. With a background in law, product management, and ethics, she curates VAM! events that turn complexity into clear, actionable insight. 🌟 Founder of VAM Issam Laradji is a Research Scientist at ServiceNow, Adjunct Professor at UBC, and Founder of VAM. Through VAM, he creates spaces for the AI community to connect, think deeply, and explore the future of intelligent systems. ✨ About Northeastern University Founded in 1898, Northeastern is a global research university and leader in experiential learning. The Vancouver campus offers graduate programs in high-demand tech fields and serves as a hub for innovation and collaboration. 🫧 Light refreshments will be served. 🐾 The space is not pet-friendly (service animals welcome). Bicycles are not allowed inside the building.