He Put an AI Brain Inside a Walkie-Talkie

About This Episode

On their 400 acres in British Columbia, Mike Gilliland and Euvie Ivanova can call up an AI assistant over a walkie-talkie from the middle of the bush.
The Future Thinkers co-founders join me to talk about building Portal.Place, and why it turned out to be even more work than everyone warned them. Portal.Place sits near Wells Gray Provincial Park. Today it operates as a seasonal campsite rather than a residential community. On a busy summer day there can be 200 to 300 people on site, which means two wells, pumps, septic, backup generators and a spare pump ready to go, because nobody wants a hundred campers without water. While they reinvest in infrastructure, annual maintenance runs to six figures. The long-term plan is a rural culture and tech R&D lab: longer-term cabins, a proper makerspace, festivals and pop-up villages that bring tech people, artists and local homesteaders together. Mike explains how he 3D printed a CNC machine for about $1,200 and now uses AI to model replacement parts for old machinery. They also talk about the barbell strategy behind their life on the land: forest school and very little screen time for the kids, alongside AI agents and robotics. And Euvie, who grew up during the collapse of the USSR, explains why you're only as resilient as the community around you. In this episode:
• Why Portal.Place is a seasonal campsite today, and why people assume it's a commune
• How an email to their mailing list led to buying 400 acres
• Zoning, roads and the infrastructure behind rural projects
• Wells, pumps and keeping hundreds of campers happy
• A 3D-printed CNC machine for about $1,200
• Forest school, screen time and the barbell strategy
• Why being far better prepared than your neighbors can make you a target
• AI-modeled replacement parts and the coming "replicator"
• Village Stack: AI agents on the walkie-talkie network
• A drone-scanned digital twin of the land, and plans for cabins and a makerspace NEW: BEYOND THE CODE ON SUBSTACK
I've launched the Beyond the Code Substack, where I write about the tech catching my attention, from AI to crypto, and what it means for us.
https://byndthecode.substack.com GUESTS
Mike Gilliland, CEO & Co-Founder, Portal.Place; co-host, Future Thinkers
Euvie Ivanova, Co-Founder, Portal.Place; co-host, Future Thinkers
Portal.Place: https://www.portal.place
Future Thinkers: https://futurethinkers.org HOST
Yitzy Hammer, Founder, DLT Law (https://www.dltlaw.io)
X: https://x.com/ijhammer · LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ijhammer LISTEN
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7x77TlOnI7BSz4fnIkhvVs
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/il/podcast/beyond-the-code/id1673598418
Website: https://www.beyondthecode.fm/ Would you trade city life for 400 acres and a walkie-talkie AI? Tell us in the comments, and subscribe for new conversations on law, AI, crypto and tech. #BeyondTheCode #AI #SmartVillage