THE FERTILE HYPOTHESIS OF AN “EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL” AI

In collaboration with the Rencontres Orient-Occident, Fondation Opale will bring together Antoinette Rychner, Richard-Emmanuel Eastes, and Thomas Steiner for a round table discussion exploring a prospective question: could artificial intelligence one day open the door to extraterrestrial communication?

“What if an intelligence from elsewhere made contact with us… would we be ready? Would we even be able to welcome it when we already struggle to communicate with each other—across cultures, species, living beings, and machines? This debate begins from a science-fiction hypothesis: if aliens were to reach out, it would most likely be through artificial intelligence. After all, who would send living beings across galaxies when digital clones would suffice? Such an encounter might be imperceptible to us—and above all, incomprehensible.”

Antoinette Rychner is a French-speaking Swiss playwright and author. She has received several awards, including the SACD Prise for French-language playwriting (2013) and the Swiss Literature Prise (2016), and was awarded the Canton of Neuchâtel Writing Grant in 2017 and 2022.
Richard-Emmanuel Eastes is a graduate of the École Normale Supérieure, holds an agrégation in chemistry, and has a PhD in both education sciences and philosophy. He is a member of the AI steering group at HES-SO, an associate member of the Laboratory for the Study of Science and Technology at the University of Lausanne, and a lecturer at several higher education institutions.
The round table will be moderated by Thomas Steiner, who holds a doctorate in management information systems, is a professor and head of the Cyberlearn centre at HES-SO, and has directed both the Swiss School of Tourism and the Haute École de Gestion. In 2020, he founded his own company, working as a consultant on AI applications, destination restructuring, and strategic planning.

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