Heartificial Intelligence: A Book Discussion About Artificial Intelligence

Where should machine automation end? Is it acceptable to have a digital assistant arrange your calendar, but not to have a robot spouse? Are companion robots acceptable for seniors in need of comfort, but not okay for toddlers exposed to emotional software that could influence their behavior? Is it desirable to live a life within the virtual reality of Facebook’s Oculus Rift, but not if your thoughts are sold to advertisers who manipulate your purchases?

Each chapter opens with a fictional vignette, helping readers imagine how they would respond to various Artificial Intelligence scenarios while demonstrating the need to codify their values, as the algorithms dominating society today are already doing.

Funny, poignant, and accessible, this book paints a vivid portrait of how our lives might look in either a dystopia of robotic and corporate dominance, or a utopia where humans use technology to enhance our natural abilities to evolve into a long-lived, super-intelligent, and altruistic species.

The event includes a reception at 11:30 a.m. with luncheon and program starting at noon.

John C. Havens is the Executive Director of The Council on Extended Intelligence, a program created by the IEEE Standards Association and the MIT Media lab to proliferate the ideals of responsible participant design, data agency and metrics of economic prosperity prioritizing people and the planet over profit and productivity. Mr. Havens is the author of Hacking Happiness: Why Your Personal Data Counts and How Tracking it Can Save the World (Tarcher/Penguin, 2014). His work has appeared in Mashable, The Guardian, Slate, and Fast Company. He is the founder of the non-profit Happathon Project, which combines emerging technology and positive psychology to increase well-being. A former professional actor appearing in principal roles on Broadway, TV, and film, he is also a keynote speaker and consultant who has worked with clients like Gillette, P&G, HP, and Merck.

The Union League Club adheres to a no denim or athletic wear dress code for this event.