Presented as part of The PASEO Festival, STEMarts Lab is producing the “AI in Action” Forum on Sunday, September 14, 2025 to open the door to a conversation for people to better understand what AI is, how it works, and how it can be used for good. This free event is open to the public from 2:00-3:30 PM at the Harwood Museum’s Arthur Bell Auditorium in Taos, NM. The interactive AI in Action Forum will showcase community-focused projects and creative applications of AI made possible through a grant from the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation.
Artificial intelligence is quickly becoming part of our daily lives—from the way we search for information to how we make decisions and tell stories. Guests are invited to join the nonprofit organizers and special invited guests for this human-centered, community-focused event where participants can explore, ask questions, and be part of the conversation.
“AI in Action is about more than AI as technology—it’s about community empowerment,” says organizer Agnes Chavez. “We want to empower youth and citizens to participate in shaping an ethical and inclusive AI future.”
Compelling presentations and immersive demos from guest speakers will highlight the power of AI when guided by ethics, creativity, and community values. Audiences will explore how AI can serve as a force for good to include community-engaged art, culture, and storytelling.
The afternoon will begin with a virtual welcome from Vilas Dhar, President of the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, who will speak to the urgent need of building AI literacy worldwide and empowering every community to take part in shaping an inclusive, human-centered AI future.
Following this welcome from Vilas, the program will feature a series of engaging conversations with artists, youth leaders, and AI experts. This event is designed to spark curiosity, open meaningful dialogue, and empower attendees to take an active role in shaping a more ethical and inclusive AI future.
Voices of New Mexico’s Future: Youth-Led AI for Sustainable Development
Moderated by: Cyndi Coon, Futures Thinker, and STEMarts Ambassadors
This portion of the presentation will be a fireside chat focused on ethical, empathetic, and culturally grounded applications of AI. Attendees will walk away with a new understanding of responsible AI innovation aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – driven by youth.
Led by STEMarts Lab’s AI/Data Science STEAM Team, youth will share how they are using generative AI to explore real-world solutions to local and global challenges through a community-centered lens.
Students ages 14–24 from Taos, New Mexico, conduct place-based research by interviewing community members to identify pressing needs where AI could make a difference. Using tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Suno, Loveable, and NotebookLM, participants turn their insights into speculative narratives and AI-powered prototypes.
These youth-led projects show how generative AI can support sustainable development when applied with empathy, creativity, and cultural awareness.
Behind the Code: Space Messengers AI
Presented by Agnes Chavez and Bethany Rivera, Space Messengers Collective
Space Messengers AI is an immersive art installation that offers a glimpse into an international, community-driven project—brought to life through light, sound, motion, and responsive AI.
Learn how STEMarts Lab built a custom AI model for the Space Messengers installation to premiere at The PASEO Festival. This deep dive takes you behind the scenes of an immersive community-driven AI art experience powered by science-informed and ethically-guided AI practices.
The custom AI Large Language Model (LLM) was designed by an interdisciplinary team to categorize, cluster, and reconfigure thousands of messages—collected from youth and communities around the world—which are then visualized as an interactive 3D display inspired by the cosmic web, continuously evolving as new messages are added in real time.
Through this immersive and participatory experience, every festival-goer becomes part of a living conversation—helping shape how we imagine the universe and our role within it.
Additional guest speakers to be announced soon.
