• Event Date: September 22, 2026
  • Event Start Time: 2:00 PM
  • Event End Time: 3:30 PM
  • Event Location: 152 Frelinghuysen Rd, Busch Campus, Psych Bldg., Room 105
  • Event Type: Hive Mind Series
  • Event Semester: Fall 2026

Synopsis: Public discussions of artificial intelligence often swing between enthusiasm and alarm: AI is described as a transformative technology that may expand human capabilities, or as a threat to work, creativity, education, truth, and even humanity itself. But evaluating many of these claims requires us to think carefully about concepts that cognitive scientists have studied for decades: intelligence, learning, reasoning, representation, understanding, memory, and agency.

  • What does it mean to be “AI literate”? 
  • What do we need to understand about intelligence, learning, and cognition in order to make sense of what AI systems can, and cannot, do? 
  • What can cognitive science contribute that other approaches may not? 
  • How does the shared history of AI and cognitive science shape the way we think about artificial minds today?
  • Does studying cognitive science naturally lead to AI literacy, or does developing this kind of understanding require us to integrate ideas across the different areas of the field?