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Distinguished Speaker Series presents Nicholas Thompson and Nita Farahany
November 16, 2023 @ 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
FreeNicholas Thompson & Nita Farahany
AI and the Future of Everything: In Conversation with a Technologist and a Neuroethicist
Center for the Arts
UB North Campus
More About Nicholas Thompson & Nita Farahany
Nicholas Thompson
CEO of The Atlantic | Former Editor-in-Chief of WIRED
Nita Farahany
Author of “The Battle for Your Brain” | Legal Scholar & Ethicist | Director of The Duke Initiative for Science & Society
You’re driving home after a long day, desperate to stay awake. Suddenly, a mild zap from your headrest bolts you upright, alert. You’re safe—no caffeine required. This kind of revolutionary device is already in action, and they’re only getting more sophisticated. Nita Farahany is at the forefront of the technology and ethics of wearable AI devices that use our biological and neurological data. An internationally acclaimed thought leader who bridges law, ethics and technology to champion ethical progress in science and technology, she says these “mind-reading” neuroscience and AI technologies will revolutionize everything. The same zap that can save a drowsy driver can also be used in the workplace to increase safety measures or tell businesses whether their customers really love what they’re looking at.
Farahany leads audiences on an optimistic, but cautionary, tour through the future of AI programs, like ChatGPT, and neurotechnology. She goes over the necessary regulations and shifts that need to be implemented with this rapidly developing technology, including how employers must build employee trust when adopting new technologies in the workplace. If we want to make the most out of AI and neurotech, transparency is vital.
Farahany’s talks break down AI and neurotech to diverse academic, legal, corporate and public sector audiences. Her impactful insights have reverberated on stages from TED and the World Economic Forum to the Aspen Ideas Festival and beyond. She consistently shapes public discourse and policy on neuroscience, artificial intelligence and societal impacts through her rigorous scholarship, and influential public engagements with academics, policymakers and corporations.
President Obama appointed Farahany to the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues, where she served for seven years. She currently serves on the National Advisory Council for the National Institute for Neurological Disease and Stroke, as an elected member of the American Law Institute and on the Global Future Council on Frontier Risks for the World Economic Forum, among others. Farahany is a co-editor-in-chief of the Journal of Law and the Biosciences and is on the board of advisors for Scientific American. As an ethics consultant, her expertise is sought by corporations and governments worldwide. Her contributions have been recognized through election to prestigious bodies including the American Law Institute, the Uniform Laws Commission and the AAAS.
Farahany is the Robinson O. Everett Distinguished Professor of Law & Philosophy and founding director of the Duke Initiative for Science & Society. She is a widely published scholar on the ethics of emerging technologies, including the book “The Battle for Your Brain: Defending Your Right to Think Freely in the Age of Neurotechnology.” She spearheads research on futurism, law and ethical implications of emerging technologies for society—offering a roadmap for cognitive freedom in our increasingly interconnected world.