Artificial intelligence, social media, biotechnology, energy systems, propaganda, and geopolitics — each is transformative on its own, but together they're converging in unprecedented ways that are rapidly reshaping our world. On this episode of World Class, Colin Kahl shares expertise and insights from a panel of scholars on how emerging technologies are impacting society, politics, and global security.

Drew Endy is a bioengineer at Stanford University who studies and teaches synthetic biology. Endy served on the US National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) the Committee on Science Technology & Law (CSTL) the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Synthetic Biology Task Force and, briefly, the Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Board (DIB). He currently serves on the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Advisory Committee on Variola Virus Research.

Andrew Grotto is a research scholar at the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University. Grotto’s research interests center on the national security and international economic dimensions of America’s global leadership in information technology innovation, and its growing reliance on this innovation for its economic and social life

Jeff Hancock is a leading expert in behavioral sciences and the psychology of online interaction, Professor Hancock studies the psychological aspects of social media and AI technology. He is the Harry and Norman Chandler Professor of Communication at Stanford University, Founding Director of the Stanford Social Media Lab, a senior fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute (FSI), Founding Editor of the Journal of Online Trust & Safety, and previously the co-director of the Stanford Cyber Policy Center.

Jennifer Pan is a Professor of Communication and a Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute at Stanford University. Her research focuses on political communication and authoritarian politics. Pan uses experimental and computational methods with large-scale datasets on political activity in China and other authoritarian regimes to answer questions about how autocrats perpetuate their rule

The audio for this episode was originally recorded at an event held at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies on May 5, 2026.

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