Lowell Lecture
Empathable: Our Path to Human Empathy in a World of Machine Learning and AI
Date & Time
March 31, 2022 at 7 p.m. - 9 p.m.
Location
Museum of Science
1 Science Park Boston, MA 02114
Driving Directions
Speaker(s)
Micah J. Wonjoon Kessel, Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett, and Radiolab’s Molly Webster
Presenting Organization
Topics
Current Affairs Politics Science
Contact
SubSpace (subspace@mos.org, 617-723-2500)
Join the Museum of Science, Boston and Playground of Empathy for a discussion hosted by Radiolab’s Molly Webster, with one of the world’s brightest minds on ‘how we feel’, Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett exploring the intersection of human emotions and empathy in the age of AI.
In the blinding new dawn of AI Design, behind every automated interaction is an encoding of how we feel and view others. With video surveillance, facial recognition, and algorithmic matching, our feelings and viewpoints are suddenly translated and put into the world as truths. ‘Truths’ that influence billions, leading to judgements, accountabilities, and fates, often without a human touch. Is there a greater need than ever to take responsibility in entering a deeper understanding of the relationship between AI and our emotions? It seems that with every report of AI diminishing our humanity, that perhaps we’ve spun out of control.
But there’s hope at the forefront of brain science, where we understand better than ever how emotions are made and how easily our assumptions can lead us to false conclusions about each other. This gives us the opportunity to change our choice making to be closer to how we would want to be treated ourselves and translate that into the AI and machine-learning that is changing the landscape of our society today.
Join Webster, Dr. Barrett, and Emotions Centered Experiential Designer, Micah Kessel for this one-night only trailblazing conversation to dive deep into the complexities of how our emotions are shaping the future of humanity in our automated society.
This program is free due to the generosity of the Lowell Institute.
COVID-19 Protocols
As we prepare to welcome you back on-site and into our theaters for our 2022 SubSpace season, we are taking every step to keep our collaborators, speakers, artists, staff, and audiences safe. Measures we have implemented include:
• In accordance with the current City-wide vaccination requirement, you must show proof of vaccination against COVID-19 to enter the Museum. Please see our Visitor Code of Conduct for details.
• All audience members must wear a mask whenever inside the Museum and our theater spaces. Reduced seating capacities in all theater spaces to allow for more social distancing
• Increased cleaning frequency of high-touch surfaces and spaces Enhanced operations and maintenance of our heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems, including utilizing higher efficiency air filters and increasing the introduction of fresh air through our ventilation systems.
• Implemented a mandatory Museum vaccination policy for all staff and volunteers. Details can be found here: https://www.mos.org/press/press-releases/Museum-of-Science-Vaccine-Employee-Policy
The Museum of Science will continue to monitor and follow CDC, state and city guidelines and communicate changes to the above protocol to ticket holders in advance of each program. All these policies are subject to change and guests who do not comply with the Museum policies will not be admitted into a program nor receive a refund.
Please visit our website for the most up-to date policies and protocols: https://www.mos.org/visit/code-of-conduct