What Makes a Good Life? A Guided Public Discussion on AI

The oldest question philosophers have asked is: What makes a good life? This inquiry has been important not only for guiding individual decisions, but also for shaping institutions and public policy. Now, amid the rapid changes AI is bringing to every aspect of our lives, and the growing debate about its risks and benefits, we must ask: What makes a good life, and how does AI enable or hinder it?

Together, we will explore this question through prompts and shared reflection.

Dr. Ece Tekbulut is a political philosopher and the founder of Thinking Through. She earned her Ph.D. from Columbia University. Through Thinking Through, she brings rigorous philosophical inquiry into everyday life, convening groups to engage with themes central to contemporary society, especially where people feel at an impasse. One such focus is AI’s impact on human flourishing. Her work fosters public discourse on AI's implications and the ethical questions that surround it, and she writes on AI and society for Medyascope.

Wissam Kahi is the founder of Odyssey Lead, where he helps companies capture the value of AI that usually gets lost between the boardroom and the front line. For seven years he led digital transformation across United Rentals’ network of more than 1,500 locations, and he learned there that AI only sticks when the people who do the work help shape it. His essays on Substack and his novella The Panama Dilemma explore the question at the heart of tonight’s discussion: what makes a good life when the machine is doing the living?

Matt Konwiser is an Ecosystem Leader and Field CTO at IBM. He serves on the AI Advisory Council at the Global Technology Industry Association (GTIA) and writes a regular column on AI for CFO Intelligence Magazine. He also co-hosts AI Diatribe, a podcast built around direct, practical conversations about where AI is headed and what organizations should do about it.

Anew is a gathering space and discovery center for social transformation located in NYC. We host interactive events and workshops, an accelerator program for nonprofits, and a retail lab featuring ethically-sourced coffee and gifts.