Shared Wisdom: A Conversation with Sandy Pentland and Cade Metz
On December 2, 2025, the Lab is thrilled to host a conversation with Sandy Pentland, Stanford Digital Economy Lab Faculty Lead and Stanford HAI Center Fellow, about his new book, Shared Wisdom: Cultural Evolution in the Age of AI.
In Shared Wisdom: Cultural Evolution in the Age of AI, Alex Pentland delves into the history of innovation, emphasizing the importance of understanding how technologies and cultural inventions impact human society. Humanity’s great leaps forward—the rise of civilizations, the Enlightenment, and the Scientific Revolution—were all propelled by cultural inventions that accelerated our rate of innovation and built collective wisdom. Solving current global challenges such as climate change, pandemics, and failing social institutions will require similarly fundamental inventions.
Shared Wisdom provides a unique perspective on human society and offers insights into how we can use technologies like digital media and AI to aid, rather than replace, our human capacity for deliberation. Drawing on his expertise in both social science and technology, the author bridges the gap between these two disciplines and offers a holistic view of the challenges and opportunities we face in the age of AI. By looking deep into our history, Pentland argues that the better we understand the key factors that accelerate cultural evolution, the greater our chances of surmounting our current problems.
Visit the Digital Economy Lab website for more information.
Related Events
Wolfgang Lehrach | Code World Models for General Game Playing
While Large Language Models (LLMs) show promise in many domains, relying on them for direct policy generation in games often results in illegal moves and poor strategic play.
While Large Language Models (LLMs) show promise in many domains, relying on them for direct policy generation in games often results in illegal moves and poor strategic play.
Caroline Meinhardt, Thomas Mullaney, Juan N. Pava, and Diyi Yang | How Can AI Support Language Digitization and Digital Inclusion?
What does digital inclusion look like in the age of AI? Over 6,000 of the world’s 7,000-plus living languages remain digitally disadvantaged.
What does digital inclusion look like in the age of AI? Over 6,000 of the world’s 7,000-plus living languages remain digitally disadvantaged.
AI+Science: Accelerating Discovery
AI+Science: Accelerating Discovery is an interdisciplinary conference bringing together researchers across physics, mathematics, chemistry, biology, neuroscience, and more to examine how AI is reshaping scientific discovery. Experts will separate hype from reality, spotlighting where AI is already enabling genuine breakthroughs and where its limits and risks remain.
AI+Science: Accelerating Discovery is an interdisciplinary conference bringing together researchers across physics, mathematics, chemistry, biology, neuroscience, and more to examine how AI is reshaping scientific discovery. Experts will separate hype from reality, spotlighting where AI is already enabling genuine breakthroughs and where its limits and risks remain.