In this episode of For the Good of the Public, Michael and Phebe share a conversation with Dr. Rosalind Picard and Michael Sacasas about artificial intelligence (AI). Dr. Picard is a scientist, inventor, engineer, a member of the faculty of MIT's Media Lab, founder and director of the Affective Computing research group at the MIT Media Lab and co-founder of Affectiva (now part of Smart Eye) and Empatica. Michael is the executive director of the Christian Study Center of Gainesville, Florida and author of The Convivial Society newsletter about technology, culture and the moral life. In this conversation, Sacasas and Dr. Picard discuss the implications of advanced Artificial Intelligence, and how Christian resources might contribute to how civic leaders and the general public navigate these technological developments and the attending challenges and opportunities.

Watch the video recording of this talk on YouTube!

“What I think is exciting about this moment, and this conversation around artificial intelligence, is that I think that people are engaging with these developments in a way that says, We don’t just have to passively receive these technological developments. We can be discerning. We can even shape how these technologies develop.” -Michael [01:24]

“I think at its very core, the advancements around AI are causing us to ask some of the most essential questions that Christianity has provided answers for around what does it mean to be human? Who are we? What were we created for?” -Phebe [03:08]

“Because there has been a long history of various cycles of development in AI and AI winters and hype cycles that come with it as well, right now we’re in a moment that feels as if things are changing very quickly, evolving very quickly.” -Michael Sacasas [07:17]

“If we can inspire more people working on technology to serve the folks that are being left out, the world would be a much better place.” -Dr. Picard [14:43]

TIMESTAMPS

[00:00] Intro

[03:38] About Dr. Rosalind Picard

[04:07] About Michael Sacasas

[04:37] The term “artificial intelligence”

[07:18] AI in this moment

[12:57] Dr. Picard’s faith has impacted her work

[17:05] Wisdom to share

[20:53] Pitching Affective Computing

[22:33] How to live faithfully in the moment

[24:47] Outro

REFERENCES

• MIT Media Lab
• MIT’s Affective Computing
• Empatica
• Affectiva
• Christian Study Center of Gainesville
• The Convivial Society
• For the Good of the Public Summit
• President Biden’s Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence
• ChatGPT