I had no idea what to expect as we ventured into the Austin Convention Center the night of March 8 to retrieve our SXSW 18 Interactive Badges.

I had planned my schedule as best I could, with multiple panels selected for every possible time slot. Before the conference began, I had no idea how a dominant trend of my experience would emerge because my schedule bounced between a plethora of tracks.

But between the few tech panels I attended, walking through the trade show and talking with colleagues about the panels they attended, I think I know what the dominant topic was this year.

Bots.

I don’t mean this as a dominant trend meaning there’s a whole bots track or hundreds of panels about AI tech, but the fact that some panels I didn’t expect to talk about AI and bot technology even brought up the topic, some casually like the relatively-new term has been part of the vernacular forever.

In the last panel I attended that featured Iron Chef Cat Cora and prominent journalists in the food and housekeeping genre, they immediately turned to AI robots assisting in food prep, deciding which protein smoothie you need after a workout or what recipes you can make with the ingredients you have on hand (or ordering anything you’re out of immediately). With how casual they ventured into this realm, how comfortable they were with the idea of bots in the kitchen, I knew there’s been a recent shift in expecting this tech to become mainstream very soon.

The session I attended that covered digital personas post-mortem did weigh the negatives of bots and AI featuring the voice of the deceased, but also examined the positives and what tech already exists in this area.

Bots are rapidly moving from simple programs that access info in a FAQ list or help you navigate Slack. They’re soon to be everywhere, part of our everyday lives — love it or hate it.

I’m not sure if I’m prepared for that, but at least I’m more aware of the possibilities the tech has. They can also create adorable raps for you, so maybe it’s not all creepy.

Overall, SXSW was an incredible experience. I was immersed in so many topics that interest me, and stumbled into a few new things. I only ducked out of one panel that was a little hard to follow, one that discussed the fundamental love of driving by humans and how automated cars would never completely take over the automotive industry. Interestingly timely given the Uber-pedestrian accident this week in Arizona.

Gender and sex issues were also hot topics, ranging from gendered fashion terms and their detriment to the fashion industry to taking biological differences into consideration regarding the design of everything from healthcare systems, to tech, to clothes.

Emotional panels like the one focused on community building following the Pulse Nightclub terror attack and shooting diverged from the abstract innovation topics I experienced most of the week, but even there were the calls for utilizing social media in ways to connect people to help in times of tragedy.

And then, all of the “houses” surrounding the main events in the hotels and convention centers: from learning about food insecurity at the Land O’ Lakes installation to seeing emerging tech at Sony’s Wow Studio.

To say I hit the entire spectrum of topics at SXSWi would be an understatement.

I was glad at the end to not have spent a huge amount of time tracking down celebrities and attempting to get into the biggest keynotes. I found some obscure but really interesting panels on the fringe — some that had small audiences but yielded the most interesting discussions I experienced that week.

I’m already looking forward to next year and hoping to save up so I can go again. Now I face the daunting task of designing and pitching my own panel.

I have no idea where to begin, but that’s a good problem to have.

Featured Image: Cindy Royal