Network fragmentation is deepening. National networks are maturing. The infrastructure and tools for controlling the movement of information online are increasingly available. We are watching the splinternet emerge, in real time, across our networks.

Meanwhile, the conversation of our time remains Artificial Intelligence. An existential threat. The cure for cancer. The end of work as we know it. The beginning of something extraordinary.

But how do these two forces intersect?

As fractures in the global internet expand, AI is changing both the mechanisms of network control and the way we access information. AI systems can identify, classify and respond to network activity at the infrastructure layer, at enormous scale and in real time, creating new mechanisms for surveillance and censorship and new challenges for communities attempting to access and share information.

At the same time, the way we consume information is changing. As our screen time on the internet becomes increasingly mediated through chatbots and AI-enabled tools, another splinter emerges as we drift from direct engagement with the information we consume.

What does this mean for communities navigating controlled spaces? How do we know what we can trust?

This edition of SplinterCon asks: what is the role of AI in the splinternet?

Over three days, developers, researchers, donors and policymakers will explore this intersection through plenaries, roundtables, workshops and exhibitions.