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Sherry Turkle, Ph.D.
Abby Rockefeller Mauzé Professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology, MIT
Alison Flowers
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist in Chicago and the founder of Spiralbound
Artificial Intimacy: Who We Become When We Talk to Machines
Book Giveaway: FAN is giving away copies of Artificial Intimacy to attendees, while supplies last.
If social media came for our attention, artificial intelligence is now coming for our capacity for attachment. Chatbots that speak to us in a human voice offer themselves as best friends, lovers, and psychotherapists, and a growing share of teens and adults now turn to them for companionship and emotional support, many preferring these relationships to human ones.
In Artificial Intimacy: Who We Become When We Talk to Machines, MIT’s Sherry Turkle, Ph.D. (FAN ’15, ’21), the psychologist who pioneered our understanding of human-computer relationships, argues that when we talk to chatbots as intimate machines, we accept as sufficient what they can offer: the mere performance of intimacy, empathy, and love. We begin to think that pretend empathy is empathy enough. Drawing on decades as a chronicler of digital culture, Turkle traces our new habit of talking to machines across the life cycle, from children’s earliest attachments to how we face death. She shows how machines that promise to be the perfect companion, always there and asking nothing in return, are quietly teaching us to avoid risk, sidestep hard conversations, deny grief, and relinquish the very skills that make us human: empathy, resilience, and the ability to navigate uncertainty.
In this long-awaited follow-up to her bestseller Reclaiming Conversation, Turkle offers both a cautionary tale and a roadmap for reclaiming our humanity in the age of AI.
Turkle is the New York Times bestselling author of Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age, Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other, and the award-winning memoir The Empathy Diaries. She will be in conversation with Alison Flowers, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist in Chicago and the founder of Spiralbound, a production company that brings investigative reporting together with immersive storytelling.
This event is suitable for youth ages 12 and up. It will be recorded but not live streamed and available on FAN’s website and YouTube channel.
NO REGISTRATION REQUIRED.
Event Sponsors
- The Alliance for Early Childhood
- The Ancona School
- The Avery Coonley School
- Avoca D37
- Baker Demonstration School
- Beacon Academy
- Bennett Day School
- Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School
- Brickton Montessori School
- British International School of Chicago
- Catherine Cook School
- Compass Health Center
- Connections Health
- Countryside Day School
- Evanston Township High School D202
- The Family Institute at Northwestern University
- Family Service Center
- Foundation 65
- The Frances Xavier Warde School
- Francis W. Parker School
- Glencoe D35
- Glenview Public Library
- Gorton Center
- Hyde Park Day School
- Illinois Student Assistance Commission
- Josephinum Academy
- Kenilworth D38
- Lake Bluff D65
- Latin School of Chicago
- Leo Catholic High School
- Lycée Français de Chicago
- North Shore Country Day
- Northwestern University Office of Neighborhood and Community Relations
- Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy
- Oakton College
- Pope John XXIII School
- Regina Dominican College Preparatory High School
- Rogers Park Montessori School
- Santa Clara University School of Law
- Science & Arts Academy
- The Sonia Shankman Orthogenic School
- Stevenson High School D125
- Township High School D113
- Township High School D214
- Wilmette Public Library
- The Winnetka Public Schools
- Wintrust Bank
- Woodlands Academy of the Sacred Heart
- Youth & Opportunity United (Y.O.U.)
Upcoming Events
Human Raised: Nurturing Connection, Curiosity, and Lifelong Learning in the Age of AI
Dana Suskind, M.D.
Pediatric cochlear implant surgeon and founder and co-director of the TMW Center for Early Learning + Public Health at the University of Chicago
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Situated: Find the People and Places That Bring Out Your Best
Angela Duckworth, Ph.D.
Rosa Lee and Egbert Chang Professor at the University of Pennsylvania
Nicholas Epley, Ph.D.
John Templeton Keller Distinguished Service Professor of Behavior Science at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business
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