MCCHE Precision Convergence Webinar Series with Andrew Maynard and Jeffrey Abbott
What does it mean to be human in an age of AI?
by Andrew Maynard, Arizona State University, Jeffrey Abbott, Blitzscaling Ventures
Date: Thursday, June 18, 2026
Time: 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Location: Online
Abstract
Advances at the cutting edge of artificial intelligence are challenging long-held beliefs around what makes us special as humans 鈥� while simultaneously promising to amplify who we are, and who we aspire to become. As they do, growing tensions are precipitating an existential crisis; not around the emergence of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), but a loss of identity and purpose. In this talk we will approach this crisis from two complementary perspectives, exploring both the nature of the challenge and opportunities to harness it. Drawing on the recent book AI and the Art of Being Human, Jeffrey Abbott will frame this as both a practical challenge and a unique opportunity. Using the tools and stories the book is built around, together with his personal and professional insights, he will explore what continues to bring meaning and value to being human as AI systems become increasingly capable; including how harnessing this will be essential to building authentic companies, even as autonomous and agentic capabilities threaten to replace people. Andrew Maynard will build on this as he explores the increasingly close coupling between AI and humans; including drawing on his thinking around concepts such as constitutive resonance, and how our relationship with AI potentially alters both user and technology. Together, both speakers will explore new perspectives on what it might mean to be human in an age of increasingly powerful and transformative AI.
