Thank you to the organizers, presenters, responders, and audience members who turned out for "Artificial Intelligence and Human Values: A Public Conversation"!
photo credit: China Wong
SPRING 2026 EVENTS
Lightning talks and panel discussion were recorded as a live episode of the podcast Prosthetic Gods on April 2, 2026
photo credit: China Wong
Campus workshop and presenter talks
8:45 am to 4:30 pm, Paul College G85
Free and open to the public, the full-day campus workshop featured presentations by leaders in the field, including a keynote public exchange between Nir Eisokovits and James Hughes, who argued opposing sides on the value of Therapy Bots, in conversation with each other and the audience, with micro-responses from UNH faculty...
photo credit: China Wong
More about the series...
Artificial Intelligence and Human Values: A Public Conversation
Artificial intelligence is no longer a distant or abstract possibility; it is already reshaping how we work, create, decide, and relate to one another. As AI systems grow more powerful and more deeply embedded in social life, a new set of questions demands our attention.
What values should guide these technologies?
Which human capacities should be preserved, transformed, or relinquished?
And who gets to decide?
In April of 2026, AI and Human Values brought together leading voices in contemporary philosophy and AI ethics, known for combining conceptual rigor with real-world relevance. Their talks will approach AI from different angles, offering complementary perspectives on what is at stake as intelligent systems increasingly shape human life.
Presenters:
- Nir Eisikovits, Professor of Philosophy and founder of the Applied Ethics Center at UMass Boston.
- James Hughes, bioethicist, sociologist, co-founder of the Institute for the Ethics of Emerging Technologies and author of Citizen Cyborg.
- Harvey Lederman, co-PI of the AI and Human Objectives Initiative and professor of philosophy at UT Austin;
- Kay Mathieson, Associate Professor of Philosophy at Northeastern University;
- Henry Shevlin, program director of the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence at the University of Cambridge;
EVENTS
Thursday, April 2
Location: Portsmouth Music Hall lounge
Each speaker delivered a short lightning talk, followed by a panel discussion moderated by Nir Eisikovits and James Hughes. The discussion was recorded as a live episode of their podcast Prosthetic Gods.
See full schedule for Thursday
Friday, April 3
Location: Paul College G85 and Lobby, UNH Durham campus
We hosted a workshop on campus at UNH, open to the public and the university community. During the workshop, participants gave longer-form talks expanding on ideas introduced the previous evening.
The Saul O Sidore Memorial Lecture Series was established in 1965 in memory of Saul O Sidore of Manchester, New Hampshire. The purpose of the series is to offer the University community and the state of New Hampshire programs that raise critical and sometimes controversial issues facing our society. The University of New Hampshire Center for the Humanities sponsors the programs. Lectures are free and open to the public.
