Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA - July 23, 2023: The MIT Media Lab is a research laboratory at the ... [+] Massachusetts Institute of Technology, growing out of MIT's Architecture Machine Group in the School of Architecture. Its research is not restricted to fixed academic disciplines, but draws from technology, media, science, art, and design. The media lab, also known as the Wiesner Building E15, was founded in 1985.gettyWith so much going on in the world of artificial intelligence, many people are asking for some kind of risk/benefit analysis how much good will these new technologies do against the potential harms?Its clear that artificial intelligence is helping people in a number of fundamental ways. In healthcare, its helping with diagnosis. Its also making people more productive. In general, AI is facilitating access to information, and in education, its offering us the ability to have individual tutoring, coaching and mentoring. AI will be very useful to people in more ways than one. (If you want examples of any of these positives, check out this page from the World Economic Forum).Theme of the conferencePattie MaesBut theres also some skepticism when it comes to its overall impact, and people are looking at specific risks.Thats part of why MIT is putting together a forward-thinking research program and symposium on how we can get humans to thrive in the age of AI.Addressing IssuesEvent materials explain some of the major concerns, and Ill break them down here with a little context.Over-reliance on AI will people start to cede too much responsibility to these models?Manipulation and misinformation will AI spread false information or factually inaccurate ideas?Dependence and loss of skills as AI becomes more creative and capable, do human skill atrophy?Unhealthy emotional attachment will we know how to safely interact with capable and sentient AI?All of these questions deserve some attention, and demand that various stakeholders come together to solve these problems.Aspects of AIs ImpactThe creators of this event have also staged some interesting categories of discussion and presentation that go into different dimensions of the human impact of artificial intelligence.Ill go over these as well.First, theres our interior life, in the words of the planners, our personal growth and emotional well-being.Theres our social life, and the life of a community, as well as our vocational lives, where job displacement and shifts are key concerns.Theres a humans cerebral life, where we look at capabilities like critical thinking, learning and intellectual growth.And last theres our creative life, where we consider people applying human creativity to business and personal goals.In each of these, well see the imprint of AI, and well see it on a deeper level relatively soon.Speakers and PresentersIn terms of speakers, the MIT program has a deep bench.Notable author Doug Rushkoff is on board, along with Microsoft's Jaron Lanier and Ariana Huffington of HuffPost fame. There are also numerous other speakers from MIT, Harvard and Cornell presenting at the symposium, and an array of professionals and experts who can lead us into asking those deeper questions.How will AI affect us emotionally? How will it affect our jobs? What can we expect as we move forward?In past conferences and events, Ive seen people tackle these questions with a pretty impressive tenacity. We have to be forward-thinking if we want to deal with the biggest innovations that weve seen in our lifetimes. The hockey stick projection of technology advances is real, and exponential change will revolutionize our ideas of the world around us. So the earlier we get started, the better. This April event promises to bring sorely needed analysis to what were all working on right now.