It’s HAI Time: Ensuring Human-Centeredness Before It’s Too Late
Event Details
Event Type
Location
Gates Computer Science Building, Room 119
Overview
Artificial intelligence can only be as human-centered as its creator. If we fail to realize human-centeredness in our inner world, AI will only further augment the off- centeredness of our outer world. From climate change to the rise of AI, it is no coincidence that self-imposed existential threats are the issues on the table. Can we realize human-centeredness before it is too late? What would it take? In a refreshing yet challenging provocation, John Mack explores today’s virtual realities—from Pokémon GO to the Metaverse—to reveal the virtual realities within ourselves and to uncover a deeper awareness on what it truly means to be “human-centered.”
John Mack
Founder, Life Calling
John Mack is an author, artist, speaker and founder of the nonprofit, Life Calling, whose mission is to preserve our humanity in the Digital Age. Over the past decade John has expressed concern over the effects on our humanity in the wake of our increasing dependence on smart-devices. In September 2022 Mack debuted Life Calling’s signature program A Species Between Worlds: Our Nature, Our Screens in New York City, a public educational forum and immersive exhibition which serves as an invitation to contemplate our relationship to our devices and the surrounding world while inciting the introspection needed to prevent the loss of our humanity.
Mack is an honoree of The Explorer’s Club 50: Fifty people changing the world who the world needs to know about. He is a frequent speaker at conferences and universities on the subjects of technology, awareness and consciousness and has served as an adjunct lecturer for the Graduate program of Design at the University of Lisbon. Additionally, Mack serves as a board member of Fairplay, an organization that strives to create a world where kids can be kids, free from the false promises of marketers and the manipulations of Big Tech.