A.I. Salon Series: The Flourishing of the Human Condition - EDUCATION

“Linguistic Skills in Schools”: A Salon for the Societal Effects of Artificial Intelligence

In the summer of 1956, a group of academics, scientists, and engineers gathered for two months on the Dartmouth College campus in Hanover, New Hampshire. As attendee Dr. John McCarthy put it, they aimed to “concentrate on a problem of devising a way of programming a calculator to form concepts and to form generalizations...” The four organizers—Claude Shannon, John McCarthy, Nathaniel Rochester, and Marvin Minsky—were leaders in computer science, information theory, and cybernetics. The field that Dr. McCarthy later named “Artificial Intelligence” now includes activities associated with human intelligence: learning, reasoning, perception, and decision-making.

Now we are inundated with the revolutionary software concept of Large Language Models. And yet, the public feels at wit’s end with the results: how can something deemed as revolutionary as electricity cause such friction and degradation of quality of life in personal life?

Join us for an evening of conversation around a collection of over 200 published articles on the development of Artificial Intelligence. Each event in the series focuses on fields of life pursuits, allowing deeper reflection on how we live with this new tool.

“Linguistic Skills in Schools” is the second installment in the series, focused on education. School is an opportunity for a child to learn the tools to live a life in society. Beyond defining social bonds in their community, it is the time for a soon-to-be adult to become civically prepared and pursue the employment opportunities they want. Google Gemini integration into G-Suite for schools is certainly providing “A. I.-First” education, yet are we providing enough oversight into how this software is used for developing minds? Like a graphing calculator for geometry, students must still master long-hand division and algebra; what do we lose when A. I. selects our words for us?

Light refreshments of snacks and canned drinks will be provided.

Join us on October 9 at 5:30 p.m. for the second installment: EDUCATION—“Linguistic Skills in Schools.”

Admission is $30 per person, or $10 for veterans, seniors, and students. All event proceeds go to the Hart Cluett Museum.

Other series dates:
- October 23: Creativity—“Art and Algorithmic Production”
- November 30: The Environment—“Data Centers and Our Finite Resources”
- December 11: Community—“Belonging and Technological Connections”