Humans in the age of AI

Artificial intelligence is alternately billed as the most consequential technology in history or a speculative bubble that will pop and lead to economic chaos. 

It’s a difficult contrast to comprehend. For some people, the potential of the technology provokes feelings of euphoria; for others, dread and paralysis. 

When Menlo Park resident and photojournalist Mark Tuschman came to us with the idea of doing a profile and photography series that would highlight the viewpoints on artificial intelligence from different corners of the community, we eagerly agreed. 

From techno-optimists to doomers, AI experts to casual users, we set out to capture as many different views as we could this summer. We asked participants how AI has or could impact participants’ lives, livelihoods and outlook. In the end, we conversed with and photographed 20 local people: students, educators, entrepreneurs, physicians, a restaurant owner, photographer, biologist, mathematician, rabbi and venture capitalist. 

One theme: participants had nuanced views about AI. The accelerationists could recognize the potential risks to safety or critical thinking skills; the pessimists conceded that AI could improve efficiency or help cure diseases. AI was a tool, multiple participants said, that humans could wield for good – or for evil. 

Healthcare emerged as an area ripe for AI deployment. Dr. Thomas Osborne, a physician and researcher at Stanford, said it could reduce administrative drudgery, discover life-saving drugs and improve patient outcomes. 

“This is the most important and exciting time in human history,” he said. 

Other participants saw troubling risks. Terry Winograd, a retired Stanford computer science professor, said that computers were likely to play a role in major social unrest, possibly from AI-induced shifts in the labor market. 

Jai and Saahil Giri, two 15-year-old twins from Mountain View, were emblematic of the drastically different outlooks from a generation fluent in the impact of the digital world. Saahil worried that robots would take over the world, and said he would never converse with a chatbot like he would a friend. In contrast, Jai’s enthusiasm was palpable: AI is already in our streetlights, Netflix algorithm and electric vehicles, he pointed out, and he couldn’t imagine a world without it.  

“I was born into a world where it’s everywhere. I didn’t sign a waiver or anything, right?” Jai said. “AI was probably used in the hospital that I was born at.” 

Whatever your own views on AI, multiple participants said that putting your head in the sand during these conversations is the wrong approach. AI will likely impact work, relationships, safety, health, education and other areas of our lives. With such high stakes, a diversity of perspectives is needed, said Dr. Lisa Lehmann, to discern a safe path forward. 

“I’m a big believer in the value of the wisdom of the crowds,” said Lehmann, a physician and bioethicist with a doctorate in moral philosophy. 

The people featured in this profile series are all members of our community, a community at the very center of AI development. We hope this project can be a conversation starter with your friends, family, neighbors and beyond. 

Note: Mark Tuschman took all photographs for this project. Bensen and Tuschman interviewed participants together. Conversations have been edited for length and clarity. 

Click on the portraits below to view each participant’s remarks.