Will AI secure humanity’s future?

Artificial Intelligence is reshaping our world, transforming economies, societies, daily interactions and the institutions that support them. Many researchers and policymakers view this as a pivotal moment, one that could lead to greater global wellbeing if managed well or to growing instability if risks are left unchecked.

Supporters argue that AI is driving positive change across the world. It is advancing human welfare by making scientific research faster and more reliable, improving diagnostics and treatment in healthcare, and strengthening environmental planning through climate modelling. It is boosting productivity leading to economic growth and helping public services respond more accurately to social needs. Some highlight its potential to widen democratic participation by improving access to information and enabling new forms of civic engagement.

Critics warn that AI presents potentially unsurmountable challenges. Its enormous energy demands will worsen the climate crisis. The inherent biases in its data will perpetuate discrimination and social inequity. The rise of deepfakes and misinformation, will erode trust and kill democracy. In the job market, AI-driven automation will displace roles, reshape careers, and concentrate power and wealth with a limited few. Ultimately the rapid pace of its development and deployment may lead to our inability to govern and control it.

Join us to hear four speakers present their competing viewpoints. Consider the debate, ask questions of the panel and decide whether you are persuaded that AI will really improve our daily lives safeguard the planet and save humanity.

Meet the speakers and chair

Michael Muthukrishna (@mmuthukrishna, @michael.muthukrishna.com) is Professor of Economic Psychology in the Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science at LSE and an affiliate of the Developmental Economics GroupatSTICERD and of the LSE Data Science Institute. He is also Founder of LSE Culturalytik (a new approach to culture and diversity), Co-Founder of the London School of Artificial Intelligence (LSAI), and Scientific Advisor to the AI startup, Electric Twin. His most recent book, A Theory of Everyone: Who We Are, How We Got Here, and Where We’re Going, was published by Basic Books in 2023.

Hetan Shah is chief executive at the British Academy, the UK’s national academy for humanities and social sciences. He is Chair of Our World in Data, which brings together research and data to make progress against the world’s largest problems. Hetan was appointed in 2024 by the UK Parliament to the board of the National Audit Office, the UK’s independent spending watchdog. He is Visiting Professor at the Policy Institute, Kings College London and a Fellow at Birkbeck, University of London. Hetan serves on a number of advisory boards, including the UCL Policy Lab and the Resolution Foundation.

Judy Wajcman is Emeritus Professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science, where she held the Anthony Giddens Chair in Sociology. At the Alan Turing Institute (2019-2025) she led the Women in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence research project. She is a member of the British Academy, a visiting professor at the Oxford Internet Institute, and a member of the AI 100 Standing Committee at Stanford University. Prior to joining LSE in 2009, she was the Professor of Sociology in the Research School of Social Sciences at the Australian National University.

Andrew Murray is Dean of LSE Law School and Professor of Law specialising in new media and technology law. A fellow of the RSA, he has advised the UK House of Lords and the Saudi government, and previously held visiting posts at Sciences Po and the Amsterdam Law and Technology Institute. He delivered the 2020 TMC Asser Lecture and is a reviewer for major international research awards.

More about this event

This event is part of the LSE Festival: How to save the planet running from Monday 15 to Saturday 20 June 2026. This year's Festival explores how existential threats including the climate crisis, conflict and AI are affecting all parts of the world, transforming the way and where we live, and how our societies function. With a series of events asking what can we be doing to save the Earth, its people and environment? Booking for all Festival events will open on Monday 18 May.

The Data Science Institute (DSI) (@LSEDataScience, @lsedatascience.bsky.social) in an interdisciplinary institute fostering the study of data science and AI with a focus on the social sciences through research, education and engagement

Hashtag for this event: #LSEFestival

From time to time there are changes to event details so we strongly recommend that if you plan to attend this event you check back on this listing on the day of the event.

LSE holds a wide range of events, covering many of the most controversial issues of the day, and speakers at our events may express views that cause offence. The views expressed by speakers at LSE events do not reflect the position or views of the London School of Economics and Political Science.