AI & U: Spiritual Machines

​AI & U: Spiritual Machines:

​Where does the boundary between human imagination and machine intelligence really lie? AI & U: Spiritual Machines invites you to step beyond the buzzwords and explore how technology doesn’t just change the way we work—it transforms the way we think, dream, and imagine the future.

​       Through two to three short “micro-lectures” and an open, collaborative discussion, we’ll trace how ideas about artificial intelligence have been shaped not just by engineers and entrepreneurs, but also by thinkers and cultural critics. From the promise of “spiritual machines” to the unsettling persistence of past systems in our supposedly new technologies, we’ll ask: what futures are we building into the code itself?

​        This session isn’t about dry philosophy or abstract theory. It’s about engaging directly with the questions every technologist faces—whether you’re scaling a startup, hacking on side projects, or pushing the edge of what machines can do. How do concepts like acceleration, disruption, and innovation look when we zoom out and consider their cultural and human implications? What happens when our tools reshape not only industries, but our sense of self?

​       Bring your curiosity, your skepticism, and your imagination. No jargon required. Just an open mind and a willingness to rethink what AI means for you, for us, and for the strange new world we’re all helping to code.

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​Charles Zacks is a researcher of contemporary philosophy of religion and Editor in Chief of The Graduate Journal of Harvard Divinity School. He founded New Publishing, a contemporary publishing company in 2024 and is staffed as an editor at L’Amour - La Mort, a para-academic literary magazine based in Stockholm, Sweden.