AHA at MIT Media Lab

We optimize AI decision support for accuracy and speed. But what if those aren't the right goals? THIS THURSDAY: Krzysztof Gajos (Harvard) on expanding the success criteria for AI-powered decision support 🔗 Join us: zoom.us/j/91647096870 #AHA #MITMediaLab #AI #HCI

Join us: Join us: zoom.us/j/91647096870

From early algorithms to generative AI to autonomous agents — each shapes us differently. Under what conditions does media actually support human flourishing? THIS THURSDAY: AHA Seminar Series featuring Sunny Xun Liu (Stanford Social Media Lab) Link in comments!

🌐 AI is now more persuasive than political ads — for controversial sociopolitical questions. So what does that mean for our shared reality? THIS THURSDAY: AHA Seminar Series with Thomas Costello on AI & the future of belief. April 2 | 4–5pm ET | Join us: zoom.us/j/91647096870

Full agenda: media.mit.edu/events/aha-sym…

Save the date 📅 "Raised by AI?" — MIT Media Lab's AHA Symposium — April 28, 2026. For the first time, a generation is growing up with AI in their classrooms, homes, and pockets. How do we ensure they thrive? Streaming live for all → sign up for the link: eepurl.com/jvfw8o

"I think we may have a crisis on our hands." AHA's Rosalind Picard — who founded the field of affective computing — on the unregulated rise of emotionally intelligent AI, in @TIME. Link: time.com/7379564/ai-emo…

Congratulations to Dreaming Objects — winners of HARD MODE! 🏆 They imagine a future where AI lives in the things around us. Objects everyone can interact with, have fun with, and grow alongside in real life. They take home a $50K SAFE investment. Watch this space. 🚀 #HARDMODE

Huge thanks to platinum sponsors @AnthropicAI , @Akamai , and @Qualcomm — and to @MarcRaibert from @BostonDynamics for bringing Spot and showing us where intelligent hardware is headed. This is what advancing humans with AI looks like. 🤖

HARD MODE: what a weekend. 🔧🤘 200+ builders. 40+ teams. 48 hours. One mission: prototype the future. The challenge: rethink how AI helps humans connect, learn, reflect, work, play, and thrive. Demo day was something else. 🥹 #HARDMODEhackathon #AdvancingHumansWithAI

We analyzed aggregated insights from people's 2025 AI chat histories — here's what we're seeing (exploratory findings, small sample): Emotional support themes showed up across nearly all users, regardless of how they used AI.

🧠 Is AI making us better thinkers — or doing our thinking for us? TOMORROW: AHA Seminar Series featuring Valdemar Danry on AI & the future of critical thinking. 📅 Thurs, March 5 | 4–5pm ET | Free & virtual 🔗 Zoom link: zoom.us/j/91647096870 #AI #CriticalThinking #HumanAI

@MIT 🔗 media.mit.edu/projects/the-o…

Built a benchmark measuring AI's impact on human wellbeing? Submit it to AHA's Open Benchmark for the Human Impact of AI — a collaboration between researchers at @MIT, USC, and UC Berkeley. We'll run it on datasets you can't access elsewhere. Link in comments.

Link: media.mit.edu/projects/repor…

Most AI benchmarks measure performance. We measure impact on people. New from AHA @MITMediaLab: a framework for benchmarking AI's effect on human flourishing. 80 experts. 40+ institutions. One question: does it help humans thrive? Read the report - Link in comments.

@TheAtlantic read the article here: theatlantic.com/technology/202…

AI can now apologize, advise, and persuade — fluently, convincingly, at scale. But no one stands behind the words. AHA's Deb Roy on what this means for language, dignity, and the social contract → link in comments via @TheAtlantic

Volunteer at HARD MODE — MIT's hardware × AI hackathon, March 6–8. 200 builders. 48 hours. One design brief: hardware for human flourishing. Wanna join? apply here: forms.gle/DUDAvunyihmgbS…

Proud AHA moment 🌍 Our co-director Pat spoke at the UN ECOSOC Chamber for Women and Girls in Science Day on "AI and the Future of Human Flourishing", joined by an all-women MIT delegation. He honored the women who shaped his work: Dr. Pattie Maes, Dr. Sherry Turkle, and his mom!