At TED2023, AI Takes Center Stage

The theme of this year’s TED Talks conference is “Possibility,” and one possibility on everyone’s mind is the impact of AI — not just on work and life, but on art, culture, creativity and what it means to be human. That is just the kind of big idea that the organizers of TED love to get their teeth into, and this year’s lineup is jammed with movers and thinkers in the AI space.

The advent of AI is “as significant as the advent of the internet” and “the most important conversation we will be having, for better or worse,” said TED founder Chris Anderson at a briefing ahead of the talks in Vancouver this week. “We’d better get it right.”

Toward that end, the annual ideas conference has programmed multiple sessions and speakers to explore various aspects of AI, including OpenAI cofounder Greg Brockman, AI researcher Eliezer Yudowsky, computer scientist Yejin Choi, AI prognosticator Gary Marcus, education innovator and Khan Academy founder Salman Khan, the founder of AI training firm Scale.ai Alexandr Wong, and others working in the field.

The organizers also promised a range of views including strong dissents and critiques from the triumphalism of the technology innovators and enthusiasts. The program also features talks from artists, storytellers and creative professionals representing the most human aspects of culture and expression.

“We have intentionally curated a more diverse lineup of speakers and attendees from the standpoint of geography, cultural background, ages and interests to spark more vital dialogues,” said Monique Ruff-Bell, TED’s director of events.

Both Ruff-Bell and Anderson emphasized the theme of optimism, reflecting TED’s purpose of turning the power of ideas toward social goals. “Optimism is written on these walls,” said Ruff-Bell.

The organization is also putting money behind that mission. Anna Vergehese, Executive Director of The Audacious Project at TED, announced that ten impact organizations selected by the project team from around the world have received a total of $1 billion in capital to scale up their operations, in blocks ranging from $50M-$200M. The Audacious Project is an evolution of the TED Prize, which awarded $1 million to a single recipient.

“We’ve literally seen that program grow by a thousand times,” said Verghese.

TED is also partnering with Every.org, a philanthropy platform, to provide each of the 1800+ attendees to this year’s conference with a $500 voucher to contribute to any of over 1.2 million nonprofits.

Notwithstanding the amplification of giving, Anderson noted that TED, itself a nonprofit, is still rebuilding from the pandemic, and is therefore missing some familiar elements from its program such as the inclusion of TED Fellows.

As the conference got underway, organizers waxed enthusiastic about the return of the in-person event, as well as the growing popularity of TED on short-form video platforms like Tik Tok. Tik Tok CEO Shou Chew will be on the program the afternoon of April 20.