This is BC + AI: part solarpunk R&D lab, part community potluck, all heart, no gatekeepers.

We are British Columbia's grassroots AI collective. We believe in DIY over gatekeepers, community before clout, and building a future where artificial intelligence serves culture, creativity, and the planet. From hackathons in Vancouver to art-tech jams in the Fraser Valley, we are a mycelial network of technologists, artists, researchers, and storytellers building the future together.

Our GitHub is where our community-driven tools, open-source R&D, and hackathon data live. We emphasize sharing knowledge, code, and learnings rather than siloing them off.

While our code lives here, our community lives on Discord. If you want to collaborate, join a working group, or just say hi, head over to our main hub:

• Join the BC + AI Discord 💬: This is where all our active discussions, project braintrusts, and newsletters happen.
• Volunteer Platform: (Link to the upcoming BC + AI volunteer survey will go here!) We are always looking for coders, designers, and organizers to help build public-interest infrastructure.

Our repositories reflect our radically local, ethically bold approach to AI. Here is what you'll find:

• Hackathon Archives & Templates: We host multi-round, cross-disciplinary events like the Data Storytelling Hackathons. Check out our public datasets and projects (vanai-hackathon-004) to see how we tackle real-world questions with AI.
• Community Data & Transcripts: Open-source archives of our monthly Vancouver AI meetups (vancouver-ai), ensuring our conversations and learnings are accessible to everyone.
• Ecosystem Tools: Custom bots, WhatsApp filters, and community management scripts built by our members to keep our network thriving.

We are open to co-creating. If you want to contribute to our open-source projects or spin up something new:

1. Read our Code of Conduct to understand our community values (ethics by default, respect for sovereign data).
2. Check out our Contributing Guidelines for how to open issues or submit PRs.
3. Jump into the Discord and introduce yourself in the #introductions channel!

Multi-modal, multi-cultural, radically local, and future-facing. Built in British Columbia.