Hundreds of jet-lagged academics, the bleeding edge of artificial intelligence, huddled beneath a giant vinyl banner, competing for corporate giveaways and lukewarm hotel catering.
Paying top dollar to watch a hippo lie completely motionless in murky water for forty-five minutes. Watching a massive mammal exist, floating inertly while staring into space.
Thousands of academics are on the deck of a decommissioned aircraft carrier because nothing naturally complements natural language processing quite like cold ocean wind and military hardware.
A vintage silver Mercedes next to puddles and tagged concrete walls in a dreary back alley felt like a fitting metaphor for the entire trip: a slick, expensive, parked right on top of gritty infrastructure.