The MIT Media Lab is excited to launch the multi-faculty research program "Advancing Humans with AI" (AHA). The program aims to address a critical gap in AI research and development: while tremendous resources are devoted to improving AI's technical capabilities, far less attention is paid to understanding how humans respond to these systems and how to design AI that maximizes positive human outcomes. As AI rapidly integrates into every aspect of daily life, concerns arise about potential negative impact such as overreliance, misinformation, manipulation, skill atrophy, loss of agency, and unhealthy human-AI relationships. The AHA program is led by Professor Pattie Maes,  recipient of the 2025 ACM SIGCHI Lifetime Achievement Award in Human Computer Interaction and recognized pioneer in human-computer interaction and AI, alongside Dr. Pat Pataranutaporn, whose work on Cyborg Psychology focuses on designing AI systems that promote human flourishing.

"AI is more than just an engineering challenge; it is also a human design problem," says Professor Maes. "Our goal is to understand how we may create AI systems that augment and support people without replacing them or diminishing their dignity and meaning. We want people to maintain agency and purpose in a world increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence."

The program will create a new research effort around human-AI interaction through three complementary methods of inquiry:

1. Inspiring potential AI futures and applications through the design and deployment of novel AI experiences designed to benefit people;
2. Investigating both positive and negative impact of AI use on human behavior and experience through rigorous studies;
3. Inventing new models, methods, and interfaces that aim to elevate people's capabilities, agency, and flourishing.

Dr. Pataranutaporn adds, "We need an 'AHA moment'  and a fundamental shift in how we approach AI development and deployments. With ambitious goals and novel scientific approaches, we aim to not just make smarter machines but also to use these systems to make us smarter, ensuring human flourishing across different domains of the human experience."

The AHA program unites industry, the nonprofit sector, and academia in ambitious moonshot research efforts targeting critical human-AI interaction challenges. The program's annual symposium aims to convene researchers and thought leaders to explore breakthroughs and envision  new possibilities for human-centered AI systems. Throughout the year, a series of workshops will provide hands-on exploration of emerging topics, complemented by a regular speaker series featuring experts from diverse disciplines and backgrounds.

This collaborative ecosystem thrives on meaningful engagements across sectors. Forward-thinking organizations interested in supporting the program and collaborating  more closely are invited to get in touch and learn how they can get involved.

Launch Event: "Can We Design AI to Support Human Flourishing?"

The AHA program will officially launch on April 10, 2025, with a flagship symposium at the MIT Media Lab. This day-long event will feature a remarkable lineup of influential thinkers and pioneers from academia, industry, and the non-profit sector including:

• Arianna Huffington, Co-founder of HuffPost and founder and CEO of Thrive Global
• Douglas Rushkoff, Author of Team Human and Professor at the City University of New York
• Tristan Harris, Executive director and co-founder of the Center for Humane Technology
• Sandhini Agarwal, Member of Technical Staff, Trustworthy AI team lead, OpenAI
• Sherry Turkle, Professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology at MIT
• Jonnie Penn, Professor of AI Ethics and Society, University of Cambridge
• Mor Naaman, Professor of Information Science at Cornell Tech
• David Rand, Professor of Management Science and Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT
• Isabella Loaiza, Postdoctoral Researcher at the MIT Sloan School of Management
• Jamie Teevan, Chief Scientist and Technical Fellow at Microsoft
• Brendan McCord, Founder and Chair, Cosmos Institute
• Howard Gardner, Professor at the School of Education, Harvard University
• Pat Yongpradit, Chief Academic Officer at Code.org and  Lead of TeachAI
• Jaron Lanier, Prime Unifying Scientist, Office of the CTO, Microsoft

The event will be moderated by the Media Lab's distinguished faculty and researchers including Deb Roy, Andrew Lippman, Rosalind Picard, Cynthia Breazeal, Mitchel Resnick,  Tod Machover, Pattie Maes, and Pat Pataranutaporn.

The symposium will explore what it means to flourish in the age of AI across multiple domains: interior life, social life, vocational life, cerebral life, and creative life. Interactive demos and "Inspiration Stations" will showcase cutting-edge research from the AHA program. 

In person attendance is by invitation only, but the symposium will be streamed online. For more information, visit https://www.media.mit.edu/events/aha-symposium/ or contact us through  aha@media.mit.edu