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Is AI Productivity Worth Our Humanity? with Prof. Michael Sandel

Is AI Productivity Worth Our Humanity? with Prof. Michael Sandel

Your Undivided Attention vor 1 Jahr

Tech leaders promise AI will bring unprecedented abundance. But what happens to human dignity when our labor becomes obsolete? In this episode, Michael Sandel explores why AI-driven prosperity could leave society hollow — and the lessons we can learn from

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Tech leaders promise that AI automation will usher in an age of
unprecedented abundance: cheap goods, universal high income, and
freedom from the drudgery of work. But even if AI delivers
material prosperity, will that prosperity be shared? And what
happens to human dignity if our labor and contributions become
obsolete?

Political philosopher Michael Sandel joins Tristan Harris to
explore why the promise of AI-driven abundance could deepen
inequalities and leave our society hollow. Drawing from his
landmark work on justice and merit, Sandel argues that this isn't
just about economics — it's about what it means to be human when
our work role in society vanishes, and whether democracy can
survive if productivity becomes our only goal.

We've seen this story before with globalization: promises of
shared prosperity that instead hollowed out the industrial heart
of communities, economic inequalities, and left holes in the
social fabric. Can we learn from the past, and steer the AI
revolution in a more humane direction?

Your Undivided Attention is produced by
the Center for Humane Technology. Follow us
on X: @HumaneTech_. You can find a full
transcript, key takeaways, and much more on
our Substack.

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Take Michael’s online course “Justice”

Michael’s discussion on AI Ethics at the World Economic Forum

Further reading on “The Intelligence Curse”

Read the full text of Robert F. Kennedy’s 1968 speech

Read the full text of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1968 speech

Neil Postman’s lecture on the seven questions to ask of any new
technology

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