About us
This is group for technologists in Charlottesville that primarily serves as the hub for some of Charlottesville's most interesting technology events, including beSwarm, beCraft, First Wednesdays, and others.
Contact the organizers if you have any questions!
Upcoming events
13
Cville AI Explorers (CvAIEx) - Meeting #18
Studio IX, 969 2nd St SE, Charlottesville, VA, USAin’t Misbehavin’: Keeping AI Agents Out of Trouble
AI safety training is supposed to teach models how to behave safely, but what happens when they don’t?
In this collaborative talk and demo, Ben Cutter and Carson Sweet will explore the difference between training an AI agent to behave safely and putting technical controls around what it can actually do. We’ll look at how safety post-training, guardrails, and agent sandboxes address different parts of the problem, then put those ideas to the test with a deliberately troublesome AI agent.
Along the way, we’ll cover practical approaches to sandboxing local agents, why you might or might not want a sandbox, and how these controls can limit the blast radius when an agent goes off-script.
As a bonus, we’ll show how a small model can be fine-tuned into our own Wile E. Coyote, an AI with a highly specialized dislike of roadrunners, and share resources for experimenting with fine-tuning yourself.
About the Speakers
Ben Cutter is Head of Engineering at Hardshell, with nearly 12 years of engineering experience at Indeed and a master’s in Systems Engineering from UVA. His current work focuses on AI infrastructure and security.
Carson Sweet is a veteran technology executive, entrepreneur, and cybersecurity practitioner with more than 30 years of experience across startups, cloud security, and enterprise technology. His current work focuses on AI agents, cybersecurity, and safety.
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## Event Details
Date: Wednesday, October 28th
Time: 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Location: Studio IX – 969 2nd St SE, Charlottesville, VA***
## Schedule
5:30 PM – Setup begins
5:45 PM – No book club, Mike is out of town
6:00 PM – Doors open
6:30 PM – Opening and hackathon
7:15 PM – Demos and lessons learnedOrganizers
Owen Zanzal - https://www.linkedin.com/in/owenzanzal/
Mike Powers - https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-powers-4262033/
Chat with us on Cville Slack #cvilleaiexplorers
If you aren't a member of Cville Slack, DM me your email, and I'll send you an invite.Sponsors
Studio IX
Coworking space in downtown Charlottesville, Virginia, designed for freelancers, entrepreneurs, and remote workers.
Studio IX offers a flexible shared office environment with options for open workspaces, dedicated desks, and private offices. The space fosters a collaborative community through weekly events and mixers, featuring a 'warm industrial' atmosphere with ample natural light.
Amenities include high-speed internet, soundproof phone booths, conference rooms, and premium coffee. Studio IX is staffed by a community manager on weekdays and provides 24/7 access for members.
Tours of the space are available; interested individuals can contact them via:- Email: COWORK@STUDIOIX.CO
- Phone: 434.260.3803
- Website: https://www.studioix.co/
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