The debate was introduced by keynote speaker Dr. Christina Colclough. In her speech, Colclough addressed ___

After the keynote speech, the audience was given 10 minutes to discuss and send in questions to the following panel discussion.

The panel discussion, moderated by ISFIT debate manager Fredrik William, included the following members:

• Keynote speaker Dr. Christina Colclough, a large voice within the fields of labour movements and the politics of digital technology, as well as their intersections.

• Anders Eidesvik, an advisor at the politically independent organisation Langsikt and a journalist, writing for some of the biggest media houses in Norway. The topic of AI is centrestage in a majority of Eidesvik’s analyses and articles.

• Dr. Hans Jørgen Gåsemyr, a senior researcher at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (and previous ISFIT-er!). Dr. Gåsemyr’s research is concentrated on Chinese domestic and international politics.

• Dr. Jenia Jitsev, a computer scientist, neuroscientist, and machine learning researcher. Dr. Jitsev is the scientific lead and co-founder of LAION (Large-Scale Artificial Intelligence Open Network), a German non-profit research organization committed to collaborative, open science around machine learning and AI.

In response to a question from the audience, Dr. Colclough stated that we have to “reinvent democracy” to protect our rights against AI-abuse, a good transition into Friday’s debate: Democracy: Yay or Nay?

“Joik is alive!”

Ella Maries concert at Skala on Thursday can only be described as a powerful, moving and special experience. With all songs but one being sung in northern Sámi and her strong vocals - which Ella describes as her heart language - it is impressive how she moves and touches an audience who doesn’t understand the words. Her delivery of the songs and joiks, and her energetic presence on the stage makes it hard not to pay attention, dance and have a good time.

She kicks off the concert with a powerful joik about the wolf, which she explains symbolizes the authorities. Following the power vibe, she sings what she calls a power joik for the women, which gets the crowd going. She then calms down the mood, with a calm and vulnerable song about the feeling of emptiness after a protest. Having started out as a protester for Sámi rights, before becoming a solo artist, is apparent in her songs, and she has several political statements to make during the concert. She acknowledges the conflict in Gaza, and says that she stands in solidarity with Palestine. “When I don’t have words, I have joik”, she says, and sings a joik for the children of Palestine.

Joik is the traditional Sámi music, and is usually dedicated to a person, to nature or to an animal. Ella Marie raises the concern that the joik is a dying tradition, and that she is here to prove it is still alive. She sings a beautiful joik about the crow a capella, which makes the crowd go quiet. Her activism also is apparent here, as she explains that the crow is a symbol for the police. 

Ella Marie ends the concert on a lighter note, with songs that make you want to dance and have a good time - just like her, dancing, jumping and having fun on stage in her red, glittery jumpsuit. As I walk out of the concert venue, I see smiles all around, and I feel empowered by the strong, vulnerable, fun, provoking and engaging concert experience that Ella Marie delivered.