Laura Sibony

I discovered AI while writing a professional thesis on recommendation in literature in 2017. And it is still the literary touch, the concern for style and word choice, that led me to be interested in eloquence competitions, and thus to give speeches early on, take the stage, and defend ideas.

We use AI daily, most often without knowing it. That is why it is essential to show and tell it, before judging it as a whole, or practicing it without perspective.

I help collaborators discover AI in all its forms, particularly analytical and predictive, through interactive experiences and artistic collections, to support change without naivety.

I am mainly invited for interactivity and cultural immersion: I was fortunate to discover AI in 2017 at Google Arts & Culture, through practice, working on the curation of eight million digitized masterpieces.

Telling the story of artificial intelligence.

Others handle the conferences "Double your revenue in three minutes with AI" better. For my part, I mainly seek to show what it is and what it is not, in its analytical and predictive forms, as well as generative or agentic.

Knowledge of cultural collections: unforgettable and rewarding for art enthusiasts!

I have worked at Google Arts & Culture, at the Boston Consulting Group, and I published Fantasia, Tales and Legends of Artificial Intelligence with Grasset in 2024. I have been teaching since 2018 at HEC, Sciences Po, the University of Strasbourg, and I regularly speak at Institutes, Alliances, and French High Schools.

Very interactive: we use experiences to illustrate the major concepts of AI - drawing for what data is, an AI karaoke (on the works of Freddie Mercury) for the difference between data and knowledge base, we create our own image discriminator to watch for biases...

I address the general public, and it's even better if they are interested in arts and culture.

Companies that are very practice-oriented are often delighted to have a more refreshing perspective on AI, to take a step aside thanks to artistic collections, to better understand their core business.

A better understanding and mastery of the major concepts of AI: data, learning modes, biases, filters...

I believe in informed practice: in interactive experiences that reveal aspects of AI, rather than those that only aim to accelerate already known tasks, without learning.

I was fortunate to discover AI while writing a professional thesis on recommendation in literature for HEC, and I have since maintained this cultural approach to AI, which illustrates better and for everyone what AI is, what it is not, and what it changes. This led me to work at Google Arts & Culture, to teach (at Sciences Po, HEC, ISEG, in Institutes and French High Schools...) and to publish in 2024 Fantasia, Tales and Legends of Artificial Intelligence with Grasset. I also briefly worked at BCG, supporting AI transformations, and won the Impact award at the Google Deep Mind hackathon with a project for prioritizing patients in emergencies using AI.

The publication of the book, with Grasset, has brought me a remarkable diversity of clients, from public conferences at book fairs to more specialized conferences in the fields of insurance, transport, hospitality, education... In French and English.

I am very touched by the recurring feedback on my pedagogy: it is essential for me to inspire everyone to learn more about AI. I know that I won't make experts in an hour of conference, but I hope to provide them with the concepts and the right images to continue learning and practicing.

I have spoken to classes from CE1 (you will see this in the show "Ecce Robots" on France TV) to reading clubs for retirees, from the Alliance Française in Madrid to the French High School in Kuala Lumpur. No audience scares me: AI is precisely what gives meaning to the eight million digitized masterpieces by Google Arts & Culture, as well as to all kinds of vast databases! However, when a very practical approach is expected, I often recommend collaborating with someone else: with startup founders for a technical demo, for example.

The book, of course: Fantasia, Tales and Legends of Artificial Intelligence (Grasset, 2024) My books on public speaking: The School of Speech (Hachette, 2020, re-edition 2027), and Speaking Well in Public (Marabout, 2022) Numerous certifications through MOOCs: I strongly believe in continuous learning (see my LinkedIn profile) The impact award and the incubation of the AURA project: Augmented Reaction Assistant, a tool for prioritizing patients in emergencies using AI, incubated by Bayes Impact.

Clients speak best about it: the word "pedagogue" often comes up, for my interactive and participatory approach to AI.

They participate, that's for sure! And if I sense the mood, we can conclude with an AI karaoke... But with me, no experience is innocent: all illustrate a concept or a limitation of AI.

A lot! I use the eight million digitized masterpieces by Google Arts & Culture, and many anecdotes... It's no coincidence that my book is titled "Tales and Legends of Artificial Intelligence."

I am always a keynote "Inspiration" (to be honest, even more: Initiation), but they can be followed by a hands-on workshop. When we have the time, that's the best. I have a "drawer" structure: I know what experiences I will need based on the points I want to illustrate. The structure is therefore flexible.

Completely! I teach in formats of 26 hours, so you can imagine there is plenty of material to draw from for one or two-hour conferences (I assure you: more interactive than classes, and with the aim of engaging and raising awareness as much as teaching).

Through practice, through having made mistakes on certain experiences, through stories and images.

A better understanding of the major concepts of AI: what it is, what it is not, what it changes. I do not limit myself, far from it, to generative AI. We see, in an interactive and visual way, what data is, knowledge bases, learning modes, biases, filters...

AI is not limited to Chat-GPT, far from it! I want to show that we use AI daily, most often without knowing it: it secures our bank account, optimizes our computer's battery, targets the content we see on social media, and has made my grandmother a conspiracy theorist.

I prefer in-person. Of course, I adapt, even when there are technical issues (always to be expected...), and I send the experiences at the end: online, everyone can redo them at home and at their own pace. But the experience is less immersive in hybrid, so I favor in-person interaction.

I have enough to tell that I don't need technology, but it's a shame! Not very serious though, since I always send the experiences online, to be redone at home at one's own pace, at the end.

Either a computer with a good connection; or an HDMI cable and a projection screen. Everything is online: no PowerPoint!

Yes, I have already spoken in Spain, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, Canada, Malaysia. No problem with international travel. I am fully bilingual in French and English, I only need interpreters (often AI interpreters, by the way) for other languages.

I provide the experiences online, and if needed, copies of my book. The filming or recording is to be discussed.

Naturally.

Absolutely! My secondary activity as a writer gives me a great deal of freedom in managing schedules, which makes me particularly flexible and responsive.