Safeguarding the Future

Safeguarding the Future

The promise of AI seems unlimited - but what about the downside? Last March, the Octet Collaborative hosted an interdisciplinary colloquium devoted to the question of AI & Human Formation, which became the basis for this special season of the Infinite Corridor podcast.  Over the course of a rich day of interdisciplinary conversation, we considered what is formed by AI and how human formation takes place.  Finally, we turned to the critical question of who is responsible for the impact that AI will have on human formation and the world we are building.  Is it scientists?  Industry?  Government?  Or might it, somehow, be all of us? In this episode, we hear from MIT biologist Kevin Esvelt, a scientist on the forefront of genetic engineering and other fields deeply interwoven with the rapid ascent of AI, to hear his concerns for safeguarding the future, and how he bears the weight of his own responsibility to shepherd the technologies he builds well, for the flourishing of all humanity.

AI and Human Flourishing

AI’s potential seems limitless - and not only according to those building it and profiting from the current AI boom. Curing disease, solving the climate crisis, ending the epidemic of loneliness: there seems no end to the intractable problems that suddenly seem to maybe, just maybe, be solvable with the help of AI. But what sort of people will we become in the process? Are problem-solving and human flourishing necessarily the same thing? Last March, the Octet Collaborative hosted an interdisciplinary colloquium devoted to this question, which became the basis for this special season of the Infinite Corridor podcast. In this, the second of three episodes taking you directly into the conversation, we hear voices spanning technology, entrepreneurship, and the humanities, addressing the question of human flourishing. The conversation sheds light on the importance of considering not only how we shape and use AI as a tool, but how we might be deliberate about using it in a way that shapes us toward deeper wisdom, stronger communities, and a clearer vision of what makes us human.

What Does AI Form in Us?

What will we become with AI? It’s a question easily lost alongside fevered speculation about what AI will do to the economy, politics, national security — and yet it may be the most important question of all. How will AI shape us, as we build it and use it? Last March, the Octet Collaborative hosted an interdisciplinary colloquium devoted to this question, which became the basis for this special season of the Infinite Corridor podcast. In this, the first of three episodes taking you directly into the conversation, Octet senior theologian Nathan Barczi is joined by MIT professor Roz Picard and MIT researcher Sarp Gurakan for the conversation that framed the day’s conversation, asking: What does AI form in us? Future conversations in episodes 2 and 3 will address AI and human flourishing, and the critical question of safeguarding the future. Welcome to season 3 of the Infinite Corridor podcast, a special edition on what we will become with AI.

Alan Love: Restoring a Common Table to the Sciences

Alan Love ‘95, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Minnesota and Director of the Minnesota Center for the Philosophy of Science, talks about how his personal journey of faith and career — traversing an undergrad biology degree at MIT and hospitality work in campus ministry — dovetails perfectly with his interest in the philosophy of science, suggesting that scientists need to walk across the quad, leaving behind their siloes of specialization.

Nathan Matias: Algorithms, Equity, and Citizen Science

Computer Scientist Nathan Matias, PhD ‘17, a professor at Cornell University and founder of the Citizens and Technology Lab, talks about the ethics and implications for equity and justice of machine learning — including how they take a crash collision into his own family history as a Guatemalan American and his ongoing formation as a Christian disciple.