A Playlist for Our Future? Human Advantage in an Age of Technology

The theme for Columbia University’s incoming class of 2023 is “Press Play,” encouraging students to craft their own learning experiences and inspiring them to express their “whole, authentic self.” Building on this appeal, let’s start by imagining a “playlist for our future.” What kinds of tools and knowledge might be included in this holistic playlist? This panel will focus on questions of building human capabilities to address this new AI landscape and which lessons from the humanities and the social and behavioral sciences are needed in developing, guiding, and working alongside future technology.

In A Playlist for Our Future? Accelerating the Human Advantage in an Age of Technology and Complexity, we’ll explore:

• Generative learning as a model for human and machine collaboration, and to increase the human advantage for lifelong learning and problem solving.
• Key lessons from history and the humanities on how humans have navigated technological change in the past, and ways we can identify and address issues now and in the future.
• Practical applications, frameworks, and future research directions for industry and institutions, as well as opportunities for collaboration.

Event Speakers:

• Lydia Chilton, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, Columbia University
• Matthew Jones, James R. Barker Professor of Contemporary Civilization, Columbia University
• Alison Lord, Global Head of Talent, Google Creative Lab​
• Mickey McManus, Autodesk Fellow, researcher, computer scientist, serial entrepreneur, and author of Trillions: Thriving in the Emerging Information Ecology 
• Moderated by Beth Comstock, former vice chair and CMO, General Electric, and author of Imagine it Forward: Courage, Creativity, and the Power of Change