Artificial intelligence
Being human in an age ofAI
In recent years artificial intelligence has moved from being the domain of a few experts to potentially one of the most transformative technologies of the past several hundred years.
The speed of AI development—fueled by rapid advanced in compute power, underlying models, and geopolitics—is breathtaking. Since the release of ChatGPT in November 2022 we’ve moved from large language models which can smoothly write human-like prose to AI tools that can simulate human reasoning, solve complex problems, code based on natural language conversations, and even contribute to original research and discovery.
The implications to what it means to be human—and society more broadly—are profound, even when the considerable hype around AI is accounted for. And they are only increasing as agentic AI and “frontier models”—highly-capable advanced AI models—emerge.
These advances are calling into question how we lean, how we teach, how we make decisions, how we run organizations, how make new discoveries, how we navigate unprecedented moral and ethical challenges, how we understand ourselves, even what it means to be human in an age of AI. And the underlying theories, technologies and systems are improving almost weekly—to the point where leaders in the field of artificial intelligence such as Anthropic’s Dario Amodei have suggested that AI-accelerated progress over the next decade will lead to as much innovation as we saw over the previous 100 years.
The ASU Future of Being Human initiative is at the forefront of exploring the cutting edge of artificial intelligence at ASU nationally and globally, from emerging capabilities, to their potential implications to everything from education, research, discovery, jobs, value-creation, and the very fabric of society. The resources below represent just some of the thinking emerging from the initiative around artificial intelligence and how it potentially changes how we understand what it means to be human in an age of AI.
Latest onArtificial Intelligence
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An Academic and a VC Walk into an AI Salon …
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A Kindergartener’s Guide to AI, Qualia, Affordances, and Embodied Intelligence
Read more: A Kindergartener’s Guide to AI, Qualia, Affordances, and Embodied IntelligenceForget bats and black-and-white rooms, one of the best guides to the esoteric world of AI and experiential intelligence is a 2013 book written for kindergarteners
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Heads-up on new AI book
Read more: Heads-up on new AI bookMark your calendar: AI and the Art of Being Human launching Oct 14
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The hidden risks of using AI to write emails
Read more: The hidden risks of using AI to write emailsWhen is it OK to use AI to craft emails, and when do you risk stepping into a whole lot of unexpected hurt? Intrigued by the question, I brushed off my risk hat and dived in.
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Holding on to our humanity in an age of AI
Read more: Holding on to our humanity in an age of AIAIs are becoming startlingly good at emulating what we do. But what happens when they start to influence who we are and how we behave?
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Unpacking Agentic AI in Education
Read more: Unpacking Agentic AI in EducationA quick plug for this week’s episode of Modem Futura with Punya Mishra, which dives into what agentic AI does and doesn’t mean in education, and why this matters.
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Using AI to Assess Student-AI Conversations
Read more: Using AI to Assess Student-AI ConversationsCan ChatGPT be used to extract useful learning insights from long and meandering conversations between learners and AI?
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Stop asking students “Show Me Your Prompt!”
Read more: Stop asking students “Show Me Your Prompt!”As educators continue to grapple with students using AI for assignments, we need to move beyond the idea that showing the original prompt is useful
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The Scared Witless Educator’s Guide to Surviving ChatGPT GPT-5
Read more: The Scared Witless Educator’s Guide to Surviving ChatGPT GPT-5If you’re panicking over how to survive in world where every student has access to one of the most powerful AI’s ever made, I have a plan …
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CodeSignal turned my book into an AI-assisted professional development course
Read more: CodeSignal turned my book into an AI-assisted professional development courseAs universities and companies scramble to bring agentic AI to learning, I was intrigued by CodeSignal’s approach to using AI in a new course inspired by the book Future Rising
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Spiky surfaces and jagged edges: Moving beyond what’s known in an Age of AI
Read more: Spiky surfaces and jagged edges: Moving beyond what’s known in an Age of AIWill AI ever be able to transcend the “knowledge closure boundary” — the conceptual barrier between what’s known (or what can be inferred from what’s known and understood) and what is not — and make truly novel and transformative discoveries?
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America’s AI Action Plan: “Build, Baby, Build”
Read more: America’s AI Action Plan: “Build, Baby, Build”This morning the White House unveiled its new AI Action Plan for the US. There’s a lot here to digest, but I did want to provide my first take on the plan – and what it might mean moving forward.
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What’s Grok 4’s “Moral Character”?
Read more: What’s Grok 4’s “Moral Character”?XENOPS: An AI prompt that assesses an AI model’s “moral character.
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Motive, Means, and Opportunity: The Growing Risk of AI Manipulation
Read more: Motive, Means, and Opportunity: The Growing Risk of AI ManipulationMotive, means, and opportunity: It’s a common mantra in solving crimes. But it’s also a useful framework for approaching the potential risks of being manipulated by advanced AI systems.
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Vibe coding moral panic
Read more: Vibe coding moral panicAn AI “vibe coded” website that explores technology-driven “moral panics” over the ages
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Futures of Learning: AI in Education with Punya Mishra
Read more: Futures of Learning: AI in Education with Punya MishraFriction Required: How will a world transformed by emerging technologies like AI reshape the world? Sean, Andrew and special guest Punya Mishra cut through the hype to reveal the creative tension, hidden risks, and big-picture futures for AI-powered, human-centered education. How can the power of AI be harnessed without losing the soul of learning?
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Exploring AI through cause-and-effect
Read more: Exploring AI through cause-and-effectAs AI agents become more prevalent and powerful, a new paper outlines a framework for better-understanding how to govern and regulate them. From the Future of Being Human Substack.
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Severed Minds: Brain Implants, AI, and the Future of Being Human
Read more: Severed Minds: Brain Implants, AI, and the Future of Being HumanSean Leahy and Andrew Maynard examine Apple TV+’s hit series Severance, using its mind-bending premise of surgically split consciousness to explore real-world questions around emerging science and technology, identity, and ethical responsibility. From the Modem Futura podcast.
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The Legacy of Early 21st-Century Academia: A Foresight Report from 2100
Read more: The Legacy of Early 21st-Century Academia: A Foresight Report from 2100The Legacy of Early 21st-Century Academia: A Foresight Report from 2100
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AI on Campus: How Gen Z Is Redefining College with ChatGPT
Read more: AI on Campus: How Gen Z Is Redefining College with ChatGPTIn this deep dive of Modem Futura, Sean Leahy and Andrew Maynard tackle the sensational claims surrounding the “de-extinction” of the dire wolf by Colossal Biosciences. From the Modem Futura podcast.
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A new framework for guiding AI agent oversight
Read more: A new framework for guiding AI agent oversightAs AI agents become more prevalent and powerful, a new paper outlines a framework for better-understanding how to govern and regulate them. From the Future of Being Human Substack.
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Responsible Innovation and Artificial Intelligence: A Comprehensive Briefing
Read more: Responsible Innovation and Artificial Intelligence: A Comprehensive BriefingFrom Theory to Practice: Navigating the Challenges of Responsible AI
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US and China Vie for AI Leadership in K-12 Education
Read more: US and China Vie for AI Leadership in K-12 EducationTwo new national plans promise to overhaul classrooms with AI. Here’s how the US and China differ – and overlap. From the Future of Being Human Substack.
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Vibecasting: Studio Ghibli and AI Redefining Creativity and Intellectual Property
Read more: Vibecasting: Studio Ghibli and AI Redefining Creativity and Intellectual PropertyIn this episode, Sean and Andrew navigate the complex landscape of generative AI image tools, using the new OpenAI image generator and its Studio Ghibli–style outputs as a springboard for broader ethical questions. From the Modem Futura podcast.
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What does responsible innovation mean in an age of accelerating AI?
Read more: What does responsible innovation mean in an age of accelerating AI?Reflections and provocations from a keynote given at the 2025 Yidan Prize Conference. From the Future of Being Human Substack.
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Responsible innovation and AI acceleration
Read more: Responsible innovation and AI accelerationWhy traditional governance frameworks may fail — and what might need to change — to responsibly navigate accelerated AI futures
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When AI Takes the Wheel: Rethinking Education for a Post-Scarcity World
Read more: When AI Takes the Wheel: Rethinking Education for a Post-Scarcity WorldIn this episode Sean and Andrew embark on a deep dive on the state of AI-innovation by navigating the complexities of AI literacy, cultural responsiveness, and educational reform. From the Modem Futura podcast.
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Reimagining learning and education in an age of AI
Read more: Reimagining learning and education in an age of AIReflections and provocations from a keynote given at the 2025 Yidan Prize Conference. From the Future of Being Human Substack.
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Tech Trends 2025: Exploring Futures of Living Intelligence
Read more: Tech Trends 2025: Exploring Futures of Living IntelligenceGrab your flip flops and beach gear and join is us on this laid-back spring break episode, Sean and Andrew cover Apple’s latest hardware announcements and dive into some of the big tech trends for 2025. From the Modem Futura podcast.
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Can agentic AI build your entire online course?
Read more: Can agentic AI build your entire online course?I asked the “general AI agent” Manus to design and create an online course. There were some glitches, but the result shows what advanced AI could be capable of in the very near future. From the Future of Being Human Substack.
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