How should artificial intelligence shape our understanding of what it means to be human?

As AI advances rapidly, questions about its ethical, cultural, and social implications are more urgent than ever.

A public panel featuring UW-Madison experts in philosophy, history, communications, and ethics as they explore how AI intersects with meaning, knowledge, and human values. The University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Center for Humanistic Inquiry into AI and Uncertainty will engage in rich dialogue not just on what AI can do—but also on what it should do, and how communities can shape its influence with insight, care, and awareness.

Our moderator was Jeremy Morris, Professor of Media and Cultural Studies and Director of Graduate Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he also serves as Faculty Director of the Center for Humanistic Inquiry into AI and Uncertainty.

Featured Speakers:
• Catalina Toma is a Professor of Communication Science at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and Associate Editor of Computers in Human Behavior. Her research examines how people understand and relate to one another through communication technologies, focusing on the social and psychological dynamics of digital interaction.

• John J. Curtin is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. His research focuses on substance use disorders and other mental health conditions, advancing innovative, technology-based approaches to prevention and treatment.

• James Goodrich is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. His research centers on normative ethics, with particular attention to the intersection of political philosophy and economics, and to the moral questions that arise in public policy and markets.

• Courtney Bell is a Professor of Learning Sciences at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and Director of the Wisconsin Center for Education Research. She studies teaching domestically and internationally, with a focus on measures of teaching quality. Her work also helps instructors learn how to support all students’ growth and development. 

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Upper House Commons gathers the university community for spiritual, intellectual, and vocational formation.

We explore big ideas and engage in conversations that matter within arts and humanities, justice and society, leadership and vocation, science and technology, spiritual formation, and theology. Whether you are a student or faculty member at UW–Madison or beyond, working in the marketplace, or serving in the church, we see you as part of our university community. Gather with us for one of our programs —our “commons”— each a pasture for shared spiritual, intellectual, and vocational formation.

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