2026 Cosmos HAI Lab Lecture

The annual Cosmos HAI Lab Lecture brings distinguished speakers on Human-Centered AI to the University of Oxford, in collaboration with Cosmos Institute and the Institute for Ethics in AI. 

We are pleased to present the 2026 Cosmos Lecture, to be delivered by Anthropic co-founder, Jack Clark. 

Jack’s lecture will be introduced by Philipp Koralus, the Director of the Human-Centered AI Lab (HAI Lab) in the Institute for Ethics at AI at the University of Oxford. The lecture will be followed by a fireside chat between Jack Clark and Brendan McCord, founder and Chair of Cosmos Institute.

Abstract

AI has the potential to change societies and change how people think more than any technology ever created by people. The enormity of these changes and how to situate ourselves in reference to it often forces us to reach for visions of the future that range from the enchanting to the apocalyptic. But the greatest challenge in front of us will be to choose how to maintain and enhance our mental autonomy in an age of powerful synthetic intelligences. In this talk, I’ll discuss the changes to come in the years ahead from the development of more powerful systems and how we can prepare ourselves to maintain sovereignty as systems become more powerful.