LibertyCon 37: Full Schedule

7:00pm EDT

AI: How Worried Should We Be, And How Soon?

Friday June 20, 2025 7:00pm - 8:00pm EDT

CC - Mtg Room 5 (Main Event Programming)

Join us for a thought-provoking discussion on the rapidly evolving world of Artificial Intelligence (AI). As AI continues to transform industries and revolutionize the way we live and work, many are left wondering: how worried should we be, and how soon? Our panel will explore the current state of AI research and development, discuss potential risks, and examine the existential risks associated with superintelligent AI. This panel aims to shed light on the complexities of this emerging technology and inspire a more informed conversation about its potential impact on society. Don't miss this timely and insightful discussion on the future of AI and its implications for our world. Dr. Ben Davis hosts.

Guests

Dr. Ben Davis

Ben Davis has a Ph.D. in Nuclear Physics and an M.S. in Nuclear Astrophysics from the University of Notre Dame. He taught at the college level for several years on a number of technical subjects ranging from computer programming and math to, of course, astronomy and physics. In the... Read More →

Craig Stanfill

Craig W. Stanfill obtained his PhD in artificial intelligence in 1983, and has spent his career doing ground-breaking research in AI and enterprise computing. He has written numerous scientific papers, co-founded a software company, and been awarded more than 80 patents. He continues... Read More →

Rich Weyand

Rich Weyand started writing eight years ago and has published over thirty-five novels in seven series: CHILDERS (Military), EMPIRE (Galactic Empire), COLONY (Colonization), PANTHEON (Hard Fantasy), AGENCY (Espionage), TALBOT (Exploration), and SHARP (Espionage). He writes ‘competent... Read More →

Tony Andarian

Tony Andarian is the author of the Sanctum of the Archmage epic fantasy novels and games. They are published by his personal imprint, Andarian Publishing. Invested from a young age with an overactive imagination, he's had a lifelong love of science fiction, fantasy, computer games... Read More →

Eric S. Raymond

Eric S. Raymond is a wandering anthropologist and troublemaking philosopher who happened to be in the right place at the right time, and has been wondering whether he should regret it ever since. He's probably best known for having wrtitten the foundational papers on open-source software... Read More →

James P. Nettles

With a 30-plus-year career in consulting, Nettles has advised a diverse range of clients, from startups to Fortune 100 companies in financial technologies, media, entertainment, and green technologies. His work focuses on privacy, futurism, and disruptive technologies, exploring how... Read More →

Frank Hood

When I graduated college I wanted to be a great writer like Shakespeare, Bradbury, Hardy, or Heinlein. Five years later and $14 richer off my writing career, I decided I needed a career that put food on the table as well. My wife, a chemist and wonderful writer herself (S. T. Gaffney... Read More →

Friday June 20, 2025 7:00pm - 8:00pm EDT
CC - Mtg Room 5 (Main Event Programming) Chattanooga Convention Center 1 Carter St, Chattanooga, TN 37402

STEM, Round Table

4:00pm EDT

Interstellar Research Group (IRG) (Formerly TVIW) Update Panel on Space Exploration

Saturday June 21, 2025 4:00pm - 6:00pm EDT

CC - Mtg Rm 6 (Science Track)

The IRG Update Panel on Space Exploration will cover the recent activities of the Interstellar Research Group along with our vision for the future of space exploration both within our solar system and eventually to planets orbiting other stars. Stephen Euin Cobb moderator.

Moderators

Stephen Euin Cobb

Stephen Euin Cobb is an author, novelist, magazine writer, futurist, award-winning podcaster, and host of The Interstellar Research Group's video series “From Here to the Stars,” for which he won the Iridani Award in 2021. For over ten years, he produced a weekly podcast, "The... Read More →

Guests

Ken Roy

Kenneth Roy is a retired, professional engineer who is currently living in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. As a long-time hobby he has been working with the idea of terraforming. He invented the “Shell Worlds” concept as a way to terraform planets well outside a star’s Goldilocks’ zone... Read More →

Les Johnson

Les is a physicist, author, and NASA technologist. He has been a LibertyCon GoH 3 times, winner of the Phoenix Award, and was featured in the March 2019 issue of National Geographic. Les leads two NASA space missions, holds 3 patents, and is a member of the International Academy of... Read More →

Doug Loss

Doug Loss is retired, but was an IT security analyst from Maryville, TN. He has been an SF reader since childhood (more than 55 years) and a war gamer for over 50 years. He's an avid blues music fan and is currently serving on the Board of Directors for the Interstellar Research Group... Read More →

Martha Knowles

Now retired, Martha Knowles was a professional librarian and records management specialist. She was the TVIW Treasurer from 2014-2020, and administrator and Registrar for the first four TVIW symposia. Since TVIW became the Interstellar Research Group, she has continued to be involved... Read More →

Stephen Fleming

At various times, Stephen Fleming has been paid to be an optical physicist, laser fabricator, software developer, field engineer, product manager, corporate trainer, marketing executive, salesman, general manager, entrepreneur, author, venture capitalist, board member, investment... Read More →

Saturday June 21, 2025 4:00pm - 6:00pm EDT
CC - Mtg Rm 6 (Science Track) Chattanooga Convention Center 1 Carter St, Chattanooga, TN 37402

STEM, Round Table

5:00pm EDT

Technological Future of War

Saturday June 21, 2025 5:00pm - 6:00pm EDT

CC - Mtg Room 5 (Main Event Programming)

Master of Ceremonies Mike Massa moderates this roundtable on the Technological Future of War and how the steady march of technology makes combat across all spheres more lethal.

Moderators

Mike Massa

LC37 Master of Ceremonies

Mike Massa has lived an adventurous life, including stints as a sailor, a banker, and a tech-head. He's lived outside the US for several years, beyond the usual military deployments. Mike writes novels and shorts in MilSF, SF, Fantasy, Horror, and non-fiction.A lover of Liberty Con... Read More →

Guests

Rick Partlow

Rick Partlow is an Army veteran with a degree in History from Florida Southern College. He is the author of 51 military SF and space opera novels including the Dragon Award finalist Direct Fire

Craig Stanfill

Tom Mays

Thomas A. Mays is an active duty Surface Warfare Officer and former Major Command Afloat Captain in the United States Navy. When the day-job permits, Tom writes short stories and novels of military SF, hard SF, space opera, and fantasy for his own Patron Cycle and the CKP 4HU, among... Read More →

Gray Rinehart

Graham W. "Gray" Rinehart Rinehart is a writer, an editor, a singer/songwriter, and a retired Air Force officer. He is the only person to have commanded a USAF satellite tracking station, written speeches for Presidential appointees, devised a poetic form, and had music on The Dr... Read More →

Gerald Hall

Gerald Hall has had an extraordinarily diverse background. A lifelong science fiction fan, Gerald is a graduate of the N.C. State University's School of Engineering. After graduation, he served in uniform as part of the Intelligence Community for more than thirty years, deploying... Read More →

Charles E. Gannon

LC37 Literary Guest of Honor

Dr. Charles E. Gannon is best known for the Caine Riordan series of hard sf novels, which include multiple best-sellers, 4 finalists for the Nebula, 2 for the Dragon, and a Compton Crook winner. His epic fantasy series, The Vortex of Worlds, has also been an awards finalist and a... Read More →

Saturday June 21, 2025 5:00pm - 6:00pm EDT
CC - Mtg Room 5 (Main Event Programming) Chattanooga Convention Center 1 Carter St, Chattanooga, TN 37402

STEM, Round Table

10:00pm EDT

Mad Scientist Guest of Honor Edition Roundtable

Saturday June 21, 2025 10:00pm - Sunday June 22, 2025 12:00am EDT

M - Plaza Ballroom A/B

Roundtable discussion of various and timely science topics moderated by Les Johnson. This is a remarkable panel dating back to the earliest LibertyCons. Everyone gets a say but no one gets to say too much. This year the participants will be the current STEM GOH and 4 Past Science Guests of Honor.

Moderators

Les Johnson

Guests

Dr. Ben Davis

Robert E. Hampson

Dr. Robert E. Hampson is a Neuroscientist and author. By day, he is a professor at Wake Forest School of Medicine, studying how our brains encode memory. By night, he writes military, adventure and hard-science Science Fiction as well as nonfiction articles explaining science to the... Read More →

Stephanie Osborn

Few can claim the varied background of award-winning author Stephanie Osborn, the Interstellar Woman of Mystery. Veteran of more than 20 years in the civilian space program, as well as various military space defense programs, she worked on numerous space shuttle flights and the International... Read More →

Kim Steadman

LC37 STEM Guest of Honor

Kim Steadman received both her Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering from Georgia Tech. After graduate school, Kim started her career at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. While at JPL, she worked on several missions including the Mars Exploration Rover... Read More →

Saturday June 21, 2025 10:00pm - Sunday June 22, 2025 12:00am EDT
M - Plaza Ballroom A/B Chattanooga Marriott Downtown 2 Carter St, Chattanooga, TN 37402, USA

STEM, Round Table