The Medium is the Message
Marshall McLuhan's famous dictum applies to everything we publish on Smartacus. In each piece, we're showing how humans can work in collaboration with AI. We aim to produce work that is both exploratory and instructive, incorporating methods made possible by the remarkable force that’s racing beyond our ability to understand it and perhaps our ability to control it.
Writing has entered a new age. Our task on this platform is to prove it. Hence our opening Monday night of our series, The AI Moment in Saratoga, with a focus on AI’s Transformation of Journalism.
Among the highlights:
Prairie Gunnels, Ellen Beal, Gerald Stulc, and Michael Nelson Monday night at AI’s Transformation of Journalism.
Michael Nelson, president and chief reven officer of Five Towers Media, described his recent AI revelation, the moment four months ago that he reluctantly concluded it was time to jump on the bandwagon and revolutionize the production of his three titles.
Ellen Beal, co-chair of the Saratoga Book Festival, previewed the AI track assembled for Sunday, October 5th.
Prairie Gunnels, Skidmore sophomore and Smartacus AI writer, shared her student’s perspective and described her interest as exploring ways AI can help to make our world more inclusive.
Torch Club President Gerald Stulc called a vote on a suggestion that the Torch Club and Academy for Lifelong Learning collaborate in a survey to determine the conversations we most need to have to address the challenges that confront us. That survey is now in development.
Our Smartacus Neural Net effortlessly extracted these further details from the transcript:
Michael Nelson’s AI Revelation
Michael Nelson, President of Five Towers Media, detailed his own "aha" moment regarding AI integration. He described the realization that it was necessary to revolutionize the production of his main titles, which include the podcasts Buying Local, Food for Thought, and Blue Collar Start Up.
Michael explained how his team integrates AI into their publishing process, emphasizing that it's "not a completely automated AI tool" but involves crucial human integration.
“I can take one podcast interview and turn that into dozens of pieces of content,” he said. “AI saves us countless hours and lets my team focus on the high-level stuff — the strategy, the creativity — instead of getting buried in transcription and editing.”
Ellen Beal Previews the Saratoga Book Festival’s AI Track on Oct. 5
Ellen Beal, co-chair of the Saratoga Book Festival, previewed the AI track she has assembled for Sunday, October 5th, as the Saratoga Book Festival's observance of The AI Moment.
The program at Universal Preservation Hall will feature three back-to-back conversations exploring the promise and perils of Artificial Intelligence. The scheduled programs are:
• AI for Creatives (11:00 am – 12:00 pm).
• Radical Next: Reclaiming Your Humanity in a Post-Human World (12:30 – 1:30 pm).
• What Comes Next? with Gary Rivlin and Matthew Lucas (2:00 – 3:00 pm).
Prairie Gunnels on Inclusive AI
Prairie Gunnels
Prairie Gunnels, a Skidmore sophomore and a Smartacus AI Writer, shared her perspective on AI as a student navigating a technologically evolving academic world. She noted the challenging environment where AI use is often "pretty much prohibited from using it in a classroom setting," sometimes counted as plagiarism, which can go on a student's record.
“I think generative AI can do so much good right now,” she said. “What excites me most is how it can be used to make our world more inclusive. For example, Apple just released headphones that translate speech in real time. You could be talking with someone in Spanish, and the headphones translate their words into English as you listen. That is revolutionary — it connects people across countries and cultures, especially here in the U.S., where we have such diversity but also language barriers. Tools like this could transform how we live together — if we use them responsibly and stay alert to the disadvantages and concerns that come with AI.”
Priority Conversations: A Community Survey
Torch Club President Gerald Stulc took a vote on the motion that Dan Forbush made to survey the community on the conversations we most need focused on the multitude of the challenges we face and opportunities at hand to address them. The list that comes out of this will serve as a guide for inviting speakers to Torch Club dinners, planning courses in the Academy for Lifelong Learning's spring term, and interviews we should publish on Civic Conversations and AI at Work.
We asked ChatGPT to start us off. Here’s our latest draft.
Becoming Frederick Douglass: An Evening with Nathan Richardson
Nathan Richardson as Frederick Douglass
Let’s put November 17’s Torch Club dinner on our calendars as we host Nathan Richardson in his celebrated recreation of Frederick Douglass. Since launching the Frederick Douglass Speaking Tour in 2012, Richardson has dedicated himself to capturing the abolitionist's "physical, spiritual and intellectual essence."
By 2025, the speaking tour had delivered over 500 performances nationwide. A typical performance is an immersive experience, featuring dramatic readings of Douglass's most famous speeches—such as "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?"—and interactive question-and-answer sessions where audiences can engage directly with "Douglass" and the history he represents.
Richardson’s visit is an opportunity for reflection and dialogue about democracy, justice, and the unfinished work of freedom. His portrayal connects Douglass’s 19th-century voice to today’s challenges, reminding us that questions about equality, citizenship, and moral courage are as urgent now as they were then. Following the performance, Torch Club members and guests will be invited into a facilitated conversation to explore what Douglass’s legacy means for Saratoga and for our shared future.
