Sundance Story Forum Online Panel #2
Tackling the Ethics of AI through the Making of GHOST IN THE MACHINE with Valerie Veatch
Director Valerie Veatch returns with her third film to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in competition with her new documentary, Ghost in the Machine. The provocative feature exposes the buried history of artificial intelligence and entrenched structures of power that have shaped the technology. In this special three-hour session, Veatch will present a deep-dive into the making of her documentary as well as the technology’s implications with regards to race, gender, data, labor, the climate, and more. Veatch will lead a series of three panel discussions with nine experts who appear in her film. These exclusive conversations will offer insight into finding and shaping your story with your documentary participants, and prove essential for those interested in the systems surrounding the development of AI.
This panel will include Veatch, Richard Mathenge, Mophat Okinyi, Krystal Kauffman, and Milagros Miceli.
Sundance Story Forum Online Panel #1
Tackling the Ethics of AI through the Making of GHOST IN THE MACHINE with Valerie Veatch
Director Valerie Veatch returns with her third film to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in competition with her new documentary, Ghost in the Machine. The provocative feature exposes the buried history of artificial intelligence and entrenched structures of power that have shaped the technology. In this special three-hour session, Veatch will present a deep-dive into the making of her documentary as well as the technology’s implications with regards to race, gender, data, labor, the climate, and more. Veatch will lead a series of three panel discussions with nine experts who appear in her film. These exclusive conversations will offer insight into finding and shaping your story with your documentary participants, and prove essential for those interested in the systems surrounding the development of AI.
This panel will include Veatch, Thema Monroe-White, Tiera Tanksley, Johnathan Flowers, Alix Dunn, and Sam Black.
Launch event & book signing
Dolly’s Bookstore, 504 Main St., Park City
Join third-time Sundance Film Festival director Valerie Veatch for the feature documentary and launch event for GHOST IN THE MACHINE, an investigation into the untold origins of artificial intelligence, revealing the fantasies behind the hype that got us here and where we go next. This documentary challenges dominant AI narratives and is mandatory viewing for anyone curious about AI.
Authors Dr. Adam Becker (More of Everything Forever), Dr. Emily M. Bender (The AI Con), Dr. Jessie Daniels (Nice White Ladies), and Dr. Ezekiel Dixon-Román (Inheriting Possibility) - all featured in the documentary - will be on hand with the filmmakers to sign books and engage in conversation unpacking the AI hype.
Books and refreshments will be available.
Panel Discussion: Sundance Beyond Film
Beyond the Hype: A Documentary Deep Dive into AI
Filmmakers behind two 2026 Sundance Film Festival documentaries about artificial intelligence — Valerie Veatch (Ghost in the Machine), Daniel Roher, Charlie Tyrell, and Daniel Kwan (The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist) — examine the evolving technological landscape in this session that unpacks the intricate history and potential futures of AI in society.
Featuring: Valerie Veatch (Director, Ghost in the Machine), Daniel Kwan (Producer, The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist), and Daniel Roher and Charlie Tyrell (Co-directors, The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist)
Moderated by Alix Dunn (CEO, The Maybe)
Panel Discussion @ Solidarity House
Who Stewards the Future: Artists, Audiences, and the Fight For Agency
As technology increasingly mediates how we fund our work, tell our stories, and reach our audiences, are we building systems that expand human agency—or erode it? This panel explores how the platforms we use and the stories we tell about technology shape both our power as artists and our audiences' sense of control over their own futures.