AI Anxiety + Human Flourishing Symposium

At a time when anxiety is increasingly felt about the rapid advancement, widespread adoption, and future uncertainty of artificial intelligence, this symposium convenes changemakers in emerging technology, higher education, and the contemplative sciences to address the driving question, “How can we prepare young adults for a future with AI?”

Seeking to understand the stressors – career obsolescence, digital alienation, existential dread – the focus is on how AI anxiety is affecting the minds of young adults and how contemplative interventions can enhance wellbeing at the human-AI interface. By identifying possible future pathways, the symposium is an incubator to learn from global contemplative traditions and cutting-edge science, gain perspective on emerging technologies, and actualize the human capacity to revitalize for flourishing.

The symposium kicks off the AI + Human Flourishing Initiative homed at UVA’s Contemplative Sciences Center. The format of the symposium is designed to facilitate dialogue among three core interlocutors: 1) AI Industry Leaders, 2) Educators, and 3) Contemplatives.

Program

The program will foster meaningful dialogue to advance research and practice in four distinct yet overlapping half-day sessions. Each session will begin by announcing outcomes of a recent poll among young adults on AI anxiety. The deliverable of the symposium will be an undergraduate course offered at the University of Virginia on AI Anxiety.

This symposium is organized by the AI + Human Flourishing Initiative at the Contemplative Sciences Center.

Please visit Visitor Information | Contemplative Sciences Center for information on parking, ADA parking, shuttles, and guest Wifi.