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Visionary Ideas

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Engaging Dialogue

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Tough Questions

All for the Greater Good

THE PROGRAM
Day One | Monday, April 20th

  1. Welcome (9-9:15a)

    • Eric Schnurer, Founder, Greater Good Initiative (Live)

    • Bob Shapiro, Vice Dean, Columbia School of International & Public Affairs; President, Academy of Political Science (Live)

    • Fred Davie, Executive Vice President, Union Theological Seminary (Live)

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  2. Perspectives on Artificial Intelligence

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  • Opening (9:15-9:30a) 

                Daniel Hulme, Founder and CEO of Conscium, the world’s first commercial research organization focused on understanding machine 

                consciousness. (Virtual)

  • Human Decision-Making with AI (9:30-9:45a)

     Dan Manning, former fighter pilot and Pentagon official focusing on human involvement in AI decision-making. (Live)

  • Where the Technology is Headed (Speaker from Nvidia)

  • Understanding the Technology (10-10:15a)                                                                                                                                                                   Dr. Melanie Mitchell, professor at the Santa Fe Institute and author of numerous books and scholarly papers on AI including Artificial Intelligence: A Guide for Thinking Humans. (Virtual)

  • What is AI? What is Intelligence? (10:15a-10:30a)

                Dr. Benjamin Rosman, founding director, Machine Intelligence and Neural Discovery (MIND) Institute, University of Witwatersrand,                                      South Africa. (Virtual)

 

Break (10:30-10:45): I Interlude

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3. Governance Of, By and for AI (10:45a-12:00m)

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  • Katie Harbath, founder and CEO of the technology policy firm Anchor Change, and former public policy director for global elections at Facebook. (Live)

  • Tiago C. Peoxoto, the World Bank’s Digital Government/GovTech Coordinator for the Western Balkans and the EU. (Virtual)

  • Michelle Parker, executive leader focused on advancing AI policy and governance – bridging technology, national security, and organizational change. (Live)

  • Bruce Schneier, fellow and lecturer at Harvard's Kennedy School working at the intersection of security, technology, and people. (Live)

  • Anatoly Motkin, founder and president, StrategEast Center for a New Economy, a non-profit organization dedicated to fostering knowledge-driven economies in developing countries. 

 

Lunch (12m-12:30p)

 

4. International Competition & (In)security (12:30-1:45p)

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  • Jason Healey, Senior Research Scholar at Columbia and Founding Director of the Atlantic Council’s Cyber Statecraft Initiative. (Live)

  • Dr. Heidy Khlaaf, Chief AI Scientist at the AI Now Institute, focusing on the assessment and safety of AI within autonomous weapons systems. (Virtual)

  • Dr. Kevin Cutright, Visiting Fellow at the Converging Risks Lab of the Council on Strategic Risks; former West Point philosophy professor; author, The Empathetic SoldIer; leveraging his Army career to research AI as a decision-making aid in the national security domain. (Live)

 

5. AI & The Coming Economy (1:45-3:00p)

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  • Matthew Stoller, founder of the American Economic Liberties Project and author of Goliath: The 100-Year War Between Monopoly Power and Democracy. (Live)

  • Andrew Stern, former president of the Service Workers International Union, the nation’s largest union – and expert on the future of work. (Live)

  • Dr. Benjamin Rosman, founding director, Machine Intelligence and Neural Discovery (MIND) Institute, University of Witwatersrand, South Africa. (Virtual)

  • Dr. Kathryn Anne Edwards, economist, opinion columnist for Bloomberg News, and co-host of the podcast, Optimist Economy. (Live)

 

Break (3-3:15pm):  Music Interlude

 

The Future of Creativity (3:15-5:00p)

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  • Justine Bateman, filmmaker, author, and founder of the non-AI CREDO 23 Film Festival. (Live)

  • Tuhin Chakrabarty, assistant professor of computer science at SUNY Stonybrook studying labor-market effects of A.I. models, including their ability to copy well-known authors. (Virtual)

  • Yuval Sharon, opera and theater director with an unconventional body of work that expands the operatic form, currently directing the Met’s new production of Tristan & Isolde. (Live)

  • Hito Steyerl, repeatedly named one of the most influential figures in contemporary art, filmmaker, moving image artist, writer, and innovator of the essay documentary. (Virtual)

  • Kevin Erickson, director of the Future of Music Coalition, with direct experience in concert booking and promotion, community radio, independent music retail, and as record producer and musician. (Live)

 

Virtual Cocktail Reception (5-6p)

THE PROGRAM
Day Two | April 21st

7. People vs. AI  (9:00-10:15a)

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  • Keynote: Jaron Lanier, computer scientist, author, and visual artist. (Live)

 

8. Differential Impacts on Different Populations (10:15-11:30a)

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  • Maria Teresa Arnal, former chief executive for Mexico and/or Latin America of several of the world’s leading tech firms – including Google, Stripe, and Twitter. (Virtual)

  • Dr. Rianna Walcott, Associate Director of the Black Communication and Technology (BCaT) Lab, combining digital research, Black feminist praxis, decolonial studies, arts and culture, and mental health advocacy in her work. (Live)

  • Paola Ricaurte, media and digital culture professor at Mexico’s Tecnológico de Monterrey. (Virtual)

  • Tara Thwing, AI researcher and recognized subject matter expert on democracy, human rights and governance, shrinking civic space, democratic backsliding, elections and participatory governance reforms in sub-Saharan Africa.

 

9. Impacts on People: Health & Mental Health (10:45a-12m)

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  • Natasha Dow Schüll, cultural anthropologist and NYU associate professor exploring the psychic life of technology with a focus on addiction, anxiety, and affect modulation. (Live)

  • Chris Hemphill, Healthcare Data Scientist, Founder - Head of Applied Data Science & AI, and Fellow for Healthcare AI & Health Equity at the NYU McSilver Institute. (Live)

  • Sara (Meg) Davis, leading major new international study exploring the digital experiences, risks, and rights of young adults across Colombia, Ghana, Kenya, and Vietnam as part of the Digital Health and Rights Project (DHRP).  (Virtual)

  • Dr. Gary Marcus, professor emeritus of psychology and neural science at New York University; founder of Geometric Intelligence, a machine learning company; and author of The Algebraic Mind, Kluge, The Birth of the Mind, and Guitar Zero.

 

Lunch (12m-12:30p)

 

10. The Future of AI: Policy & Morality (12:30 -1:45p)

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  • Keynote: Jim Fruchterman, leading social entrepreneur, MacArthur Fellow, Founder of Benetech and Tech Matters, and author of Technology for Good. (Virtual)

  • Linda Raftree, founder of the MERL Tech Initiative, a social venture sitting at the intersection of digital technology and the social sector supporting thoughtful tech-enabled program design, implementation, and monitoring, evaluation, research and learning (MERL). (Live)

  • Dr. Michael Kearns, professor of computer and information science, economics, and statistics at the University of Pennsylvania, working on machine learning, artificial intelligence, algorithmic game theory, and ethical algorithm design; co-author of The Ethical Algorithm. (Live)

 

11. Student Social Entrepreneurs (1:45-3p)

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  • Eric Schnurer w/ Guest Entrepreneur

  • Winners of Columbia University social entrepreneurship competition:

    • Proprietary five-tier security architecture protecting users from social engineering and foreign intelligence threats

    • Cross-border payment infrastructure enabling humanitarian organizations to move money faster, cheaper, and more reliably across borders

    • AI-driven, integrated platform to help governments prototype solutions rapidly

    • Public engagement platform using NLP to aggregate community feedback into real-time, actionable insights for public agencies

    • Secure, LLM-based assistant that helps small and medium-sized municipalities fix their biggest fiscal challenge

    • Secure, AI-powered platform that discovers, manages, and transfers online assets

    • AI-powered low-bandwidth digital support system that empowers rural teachers in Colombia to deliver project-based, multigrade learning

    • AI-supported simulation tool for stress-testing early-stage infrastructure financial models

    • Curated, low-risk investment options enabling renters to earn interest on their security deposits while held in trust by landlords.

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