AI Literacy Salon: Signal and Sign

AI literacy is a new way of thinking about the future.
AI Literacy is a space to consider where AI meets human process — deciphering how these tools can shape our attention, our communication, and the ways we work with computers and each other.
Most conversations about AI focus on what it can do. This one asks something different: what does it mean to understand it?
At a technical level, AI systems like large language models are fundamentally prediction engines — they generate outputs by calculating what word, image, or action is most likely to come next. That logic shapes not just what AI produces, but how it reasons, where it fails, and what it quietly optimizes for. AI literacy means developing the ability to see that logic clearly — so you can work with it intentionally rather than inherit its assumptions.

Salon #2: Signal and Sign
Language: Statistical or Symbolic
We use language to mean things. AI uses language to calculate things. That difference matters more than most of us realize.
In a famous experiment, researchers found a single neuron in a patient's brain that fired for Jennifer Aniston — her photo, her name, even a cartoon sketch. One cell, one concept. That's how human cognition organizes meaning: sharp, symbolic, compressed.
Large language models do something else. They process language as statistics — probabilities and distances between tokens. The output can sound like understanding, but no concept is held anywhere inside. The fluency is real. The comprehension isn't.
This salon sits in that gap. As AI gets embedded in how we write, summarize, and decide, the difference between meaning and pattern-matching is shaping real judgment calls. We'll explore what that means for how we communicate, think, and what literacies we need to stay intentional.
In this space, we invite curiosity over conclusions — come ready to think, question, and engage.
Facilitated by Nitzan Hermon

Nitzan Hermon is a coach and educator working at the intersection of complexity, systems thinking, leadership, and personal development.
Featured Guests:
Johnny Dance

Johnny Dance is an investor, author, and artist. Originally from Australia, he spent many years in Hong Kong and London before settling in Boston. He is writing a book on mathematics games and ontology.

Kristy Zadrozny

Kristy Zadrozny is a NYC therapist and Chief Clinical Officer at Calla Collective, a reproductive mental health practice. Drawing on psychodynamic theory, motivational interviewing, and mindfulness, she helps thoughtful people wake up from autopilot and build a richer relationship with uncertainty and meaning.

Stephen P. Williams

Stephen P. Williams is a journalist, author, and ghostwriter who writes narrative nonfiction and fiction, and collaborates on books with leading thinkers and public figures. Lately, he’s been teaching the models of a large AI company how to write better, in the process learning what it is like to collaborate with a machine.