NOAI ideas festival will bring together artists, philosophers, techies in New Orleans

The producers of the NOAI Festival, a three-day gathering of speakers, performances and presentations taking place in New Orleans this weekend, don't agree on what the acronym of their event stands for — and everybody is fine with that.

Joseph Makkos, one of the organizers, said NOAI is short for “New Orleans Artificial Intelligence.” Another, Grace Bertuccelli-Booth,?said it means “No Artificial Intelligence.” And a third, Blake Bertuccelli-Booth, Grace's husband, said?it stands for “New Orleans Arts and Innovation.”

Confusing? Certainly. Par for the course with this crew? Absolutely.

The second annual NOAI free festival of ideas, set for Saturday through Monday at the New Orleans Jazz Museum, is produced by the 11:11 Philosophers Group, a collective of New Orleans artists, thinkers and techies who are always ready to cheerfully argue a point.

The Philosophers gather at 11:11 a.m. most Sunday mornings at Petite Clouet Cafe in the Bywater. There, they debate and discuss computer science, philanthropy, politics, art and — for the last several months — the nuances of hosting an event with dozens of participants and potentially hundreds of attendees.

The group was formed in 2021 by Blake and Grace Bertuccelli-Booth a few months after their first date. Blake is a New Orleans native who grew up in Los Angeles after his father moved there to help make the music for the television show "Friends." Grace is an educator and a professional clown, often performing at New Orleans area hospitals.

“We decided to create?a little group to gather and talk about philosophical ideas,” Blake Bertucelli-Booth said. “We were reading the history of Western philosophy at that time, and we were excited to apply ethics to the work we did every day.”

The loosely organized club has attracted more than 100 people to its meetings over the last three years. Up to a dozen show up most Sundays at the cafe. Attendees range from Bywater artists to New Orleans business honchos.

Real estate developer Sean Cummings and Greater New Orleans Inc. CEO Michael Hecht have attended gatherings. Alex Ebert of the indie rock group Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes is a regular. Out of towners often drop in.

They all come for a little mental exercise.

“We just talk about weird philosophical ideas, everything from determinism to whether reality is real, and whether truth exists,” Bertuccelli-Booth said.

Bigger platform

Last year, the 11:11 Philosophers decided to produce an event that would be a bigger platform for discussing the intersection of technology and community, and to raise money for nonprofit organizations.

Since artificial intelligence was dominating conversations at the time, the group chose AI as a focus. The first NOAI, also located at the New Orleans Jazz Museum, attracted more than a hundred attendees.

This year's version is expected to double in size.

It will feature more than 40 presentations and speeches, along with private events at the Bywater home of John Cameron Mitchell, creator of the rock musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and a French Quarter residence owned by famed filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola.

Speakers range from personal injury attorney Morris Bart to Ruth Messinger, a former New York City politician and social justice activist.

Tech experts will explore computing ethics, web accessibility and AI concepts. Dr. MarkAlain Déry will talk about the mission of nonprofit WHIV Radio, dedicated to human rights and social justice; while DJ Johnson, owner of Baldwin & Co. bookstore, will discuss the power of literacy, education and community engagement.

Additional presenters include Josh Fleig of Louisiana Economic Development; Leroy Brown, from the Atlanta-based nonprofit Opportunity Hub; and the Humane League's Aron Ross, who will address the “existential consequences of ignoring animal rights.”

Ebert is introducing his AI afterlife app.

Bertuccelli-Booth said the diverse lineup is inspired by writer and Tulane University professor Walter Isaacson’s vision of New Orleans becoming a hub of innovation.

“Isaacson says that New Orleans has a unique opportunity to be like Renaissance Italy, where we bring together all of the things that are key to radically cool innovation,” he said. “That's the arts, philanthropy and commerce. When you tie in technology, you can get amazing ingenuity. That’s why tech is a focus.”

Isaacson himself is a fan of NOAI.

“I applaud this event," he said. “New Orleans has the opportunity to flourish by connecting its creativity in the arts and sciences to technology."

The event will also include performances from the Chess Boxing Circus, inspired by the real-life sport, and the Electric Monks, a performance art group that uses two computers, a dozen different AI technologies, a microphone, a projector and other hardware to create a “Choose Your Own Adventure”-style experience.

“The premise is that hope for AI is for humans to become like monks,” said Bertuccelli-Booth. “They won't actually have to do anything. They can just be spiritual.”

Through the 'veil of AI'

NOAI is a big tent, and the 11:11 Philosophers encourage participants to define it as they see fit.

To Grace Bertuccelli-Booth, it is a “gathering of incredibly eclectic and interesting folks and it is a festival that provides opportunities for pretty much any interest and innovation in New Orleans.”

Co-producer Phil Brimer sees it as a blank canvas that's “up for interpretation because everybody's bringing something different.” And co-producer Baylee Badawy, founder of the Chess Cave in the French Quarter, jokes that “it's an outlet for my chess.”

Blake Bertuccelli-Booth has a contrarian take.

“I would never be part of a festival that was AI related,” he said. “That’s totally not cool and it’s being co-opted by big giant companies. I think the best thing to do is to create a festival that questions what AI can be.”

“Really this is about engaging the community in a new way through the veil of AI,” said Makkos.