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On January 20 2026, Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford Data Science, and the Starling Lab for Data Integrity, hosted “Entering a New Era of Human Civilization: A Discussion with Craig Mundie and Tom Friedman”
As AI continues its unprecedented transformation of our world, Craig and Tom discussed their 25-year friendship and the recent trends that led them to conclude, in a recent op-ed, that we’ve entered a new era of human civilization.
What do we call this new era? What will the impact be on our daily lives, and our geopolitics? Craig and Tom tackled these questions by discussing a new technical and normative framework to establish trust in AI systems. This work emerged from conversations with leaders across the U.S., Europe, and China, and has now arrived at Stanford as part of a new multi-department Stanford initiative researching AI trust frameworks.
INTRODUCTIONS
Russell Wald – Executive Director of the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (Stanford HAI)
Colin Kahl – Director, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies
SPEAKERS
Thomas Friedman – Journalist / author (NY Times)
Craig Mundie – Technologist (ex-Microsoft)
Moderator: John Hennessy – Stanford School of Engineering
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