Heartland AI Ethics Forum Draws Full House in Watertown, Sparks Deep Discussion on Technology, Humanity, and Local Control (Audio/Video)
- Steve Jurrens
- Apr 29
- 4 min read
Northeast Radio SD News – Watertown, SD - At the Watertown Regional Library Tuesday afternoon for the Heartland AI Ethics Forum, a first‑of‑its‑kind community conversation on artificial intelligence, rural sovereignty, and the future of human work. The event was organized by Zachary Thompson of Liberty Forge AI Consulting and moderated by Steve Jurrens of Northeast Radio SD.
Jurrens opened the evening by noting that communities like Watertown are rarely invited to participate in national conversations about emerging technology. “Nobody on this panel is here to sell anybody anything or pitch a product,” he told the audience. “Let’s see what we can learn about AI — study it, ask questions.”
The panel brought together a diverse group of voices: technologists, authors, faith leaders, attorneys, and agricultural researchers — each offering a different lens on how AI is reshaping society.
A Call for Rural Voices in AI Ethics
Forum organizer Zachary Thompson said the event grew out of a concern that the ethical direction of AI is being shaped almost entirely by coastal institutions and tech giants.
“Very little of the middle of the country has its voice heard in the ethical debates,” Thompson said. “This is going to affect everyone, for good or bad.”
Thompson emphasized that rural communities must assert their values early — especially around data ownership, worker protection, and human judgment.
“Data is your property,” he said. “The value of human judgment is going up in this environment.”
He also warned against fully autonomous systems making decisions without human oversight, citing concerns raised in recent debates over military AI.
Centralized vs. Local AI: Who Holds the Power?
A theme of the night was the tension between centralized AI systems — controlled by large corporations or governments — and distributed, human‑led AI that communities or individuals can run themselves.
Thompson pointed to China’s social‑credit system as an example of what can go wrong when AI becomes a tool of centralized control.
“We’ve seen AI develop into a centralized model… facial recognition, pre‑crime, punishment without human input,” he said. “That’s not the model we want.”
Instead, he argued for local control:
“I’m hopeful to see farmers and business owners running their own models, holding on to their data, and not relying on someone else harvesting and selling it.”
Technical Deep Dive: What AI Is — and Isn’t
Dr. Matthew Cole, a biotech researcher, joined remotely to explain how AI systems actually work and why they sometimes “hallucinate.”
Cole compared modern AI to a child that can produce answers but doesn’t always understand the truth.
“AI is meant to generate a response… sometimes it hallucinates because it thinks something logically makes sense,” he said. “It doesn’t know what’s truthful and what’s not.”
He stressed the importance of human verification:
“You’ve got to double‑check its work,” Cole said. “If I can’t find the article it cites, I throw it out.”
Cole also predicted that as AI chips become standard in phones and laptops, more processing will happen locally — reducing reliance on massive data centers.
Creativity, Humanity, and the Limits of Machines
Watertown author KT Webb spoke about AI’s impact on creativity and the publishing world. While she uses AI for brainstorming and organization, she said it cannot replicate human emotion.
“It doesn’t make me feel the way something written by a human would,” Webb said. “AI doesn’t have that quirkiness or personal touch.”
She warned that some authors are already using AI to write entire books — a trend she believes undermines the heart of storytelling.
“The written word is meant to be emotional… AI doesn’t feel,” she said.
Faith, Ethics, and the Human Soul
Sister Barbara Younger, a Benedictine prioress with 40 years of tech experience, urged the audience to consider the spiritual and ethical dimensions of AI.
“Technology is a tool — like a hammer,” she said. “It can do harm or good. But what protects our humanity?”
She warned that younger generations may accept AI‑generated information uncritically unless adults teach discernment.
“We have the gift of years and experience,” she said. “Young people won’t know any different unless we guide them.”
Finance, Privacy, and the Cost of Compute
Attorney and financial professional Matt Roby discussed AI’s growing role in budgeting, investing, and tax preparation — and the privacy risks that come with it.
Roby admitted he considered uploading his tax return into an AI tool for analysis, but stopped himself:
“I thought, you know… that’s probably not the best idea,” he said, drawing laughter from the crowd.
He also predicted that the rising cost of AI infrastructure will reshape the software industry:
“The cost of computing is going to get passed on to businesses and individuals,” Roby said. “There’s going to be a real cost‑benefit analysis.”
The Big Picture: Jobs, Culture, and the Future of Work
Panelists agreed that AI will reshape the workforce — but not necessarily in the apocalyptic way some fear.
Roby noted that blue-collar and skilled-trade jobs may become more valuable as white-collar automation increases.
“AI isn’t taking away the guy building a house or paving a road,” he said. “There’s going to be a fresh look at hands‑on work.”
Webb added that parents must teach children how to evaluate information critically:
“We can’t just say, ‘You’ve got access to the internet — good luck,’” she said. “We have to guide them.”
A Community Conversation Just Beginning
As the forum closed, Thompson said he hopes Watertown becomes a model for rural communities engaging proactively with AI.
“We have the agency to do good or ill with this technology,” he said. “We need to understand it — and shape it — before someone else does it for us.”
Audience members applauded the panel for tackling difficult questions with honesty and humility.
The full event was livestreamed on Northeast Radio SD’s platforms and will be archived for public viewing.
