As AI becomes increasingly embedded in our lives\, it has taken on roles as a therapist\, a friend\, even a lover. Wh en we allow AI systems into our communities and our closest circles\, what happens to our agency\, our inner lives\, and our ability to form relations hips with other people? Join MIT professor and author Sherry Turkle and pod caster and tech & culture critic Bridget Todd for a conversation about what we gain and lose when we delegate acts of attention and companionship to s ystems 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 b e drawn? Moderated by Dean Sean Kelly\, Turkle and Todd will bring their pe rsonal experiences and research findings to bear on an emerging field with little consensus — and very high stakes. This conversation will consider ho w 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.
CATEGORIES:Speaker/Panel LOCATION:Lewis Hall\, 5th floor at the Berkman Klein Center's Multi-Purpose Room 515 GEO:0.000000;0.000000 ORGANIZER;CN="Matt Kristoffersen":MAILTO:mkristoffersen@jd27.law.harvard.ed u URL;VALUE=URI:https://hls.harvard.edu/events/crutch-or-catalyst-how-ai-is-c hanging-the-ways-we-relate/ ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://hls.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/event-thumb.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 DTSTART:20261101T060000 TZNAME:EST END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE END:VCALENDAR