Crutch or Catalyst? How AI Is Changing the Ways We Relate

As AI becomes increasingly embedded in our lives, it has taken on roles as a therapist, a friend, even a lover. When we allow AI systems into our communities and our closest circles, what happens to our agency, our inner lives, and our ability to form relationships with other people? Join MIT professor and author Sherry Turkle and podcaster and tech & culture critic Bridget Todd for a conversation about what we gain and lose when we delegate acts of attention and companionship to systems designed to be available and responsive in our times of need.

What does the evidence show about human-AI relationships? What about human-AI emotional reliance? Where do we draw the line? Is there even a line to be drawn? Moderated by Dean Sean Kelly, Turkle and Todd will bring their personal experiences and research findings to bear on an emerging field with little consensus — and very high stakes. This conversation will consider how engagement with AI is reshaping what we expect from friendship, family, and community, and what responsibilities belong to technology companies, public institutions, and each of us as users of technology and creatures of belonging.

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