Aspen is a place for leaders to lift their sights above the possessions which possess them. To confront their own nature as human beings, to regain control over their own humanity by becoming more self-aware, more self-correcting, and hence more self-fulfilling.
AI and the Future of Society: A Conversation with Jack Clark and Samuel Kimbriel
By John Peabody, Director, Content Strategy
July 9, 2026
Philosophy & Society
Few questions today feel more timely than those surrounding artificial intelligence and humanity. As AI advances at a remarkable pace, it raises profound philosophical questions: What does human agency look like in an age of artificial intelligence? What happens to human community? And is it possible to realize a vision of a good society in our technological age?
These are the kinds of questions at the heart of the Aspen Institute’s work.
Before a packed audience at The Times Center in New York, Jack Clark, Co-Founder of Anthropic and Head of Public Benefit, joined Samuel Kimbriel, Founder and Director of the Aspen Institute’s Philosophy & Society, for a wide-ranging conversation about AI’s philosophical and societal implications. Rather than focusing only on the technology’s capabilities or risks, they explored the deeper challenge of ensuring that technological progress serves human flourishing.
The conversation was both expansive and candid. Audience members lined up to ask Clark thoughtful questions about AI, its impact on society, and who we want to become as these technologies reshape our world. Together, the discussion invited participants to think beyond what AI can do and consider the values that should guide its development and use.
We thank Jack Clark and Samuel Kimbriel for their willingness to face such primary disagreements directly.
Back to where we started, AI is not creating one future. It is opening up several. Which one gets created may depend on whether the people closest to the work bring their voice, and name what no one else is naming.
A group of leading practitioners in development and entrepreneurship learned a difficult lesson. Cheap intelligence does not close the gaps that aid is supposed to fix. In fact, if nothing is done, it can make those gaps even wider.
