Alum Trevor Paglen at the De Lange Conference
Rice University’s 2024 biennial De Lange Conference featured an array of distinguished speakers, artists and researchers who engaged in thought-provoking discussions regarding timely technological and environmental topics Feb. 9-10 at the Baker Institute for Public Policy, including alum Trevor Paglen!
With a keynote address from Nobel laureate and renowned chemist Frances Arnold, lectures given by captivating speakers like former Rolling Stone reporter and practical futurist Michael Rogers and artistic interventions presented by perspective-altering artists like Trevor Paglen, this year’s De Lange Conference provided a star-studded roster that explored the future of biology, technology and climate change and addressed the question: Who decides these futures?
Paglen’s captivating presentation explained his “dead internet theory” and the widespread effects of artificial intelligence, facial recognition and internet algorithms. He also detailed his research on the CIA’s Project MKUltra and its legacies for contemporary disinformation techniques, and even offered a thought-provoking characterization of UFOs as a form of classified government psychological operations or “psyops.”