AI and Mindfulness

As mindfulness practices gain more popularity and AI technologies continue to advance, it’s natural to wonder what happens when the two intersect. Can AI be used to enhance mindfulness practices or can mindfulness be used to improve AI technology? How far are we from an AI meditation teacher? What ethical concerns arise when machines are designed to understand human emotion and intention? 

This latest wave of AI has produced evocative new user interfaces for research, creative writing, art, design, and more.  When we hosted Shinzen Young to speak about technology at the Mindful Society Global Institute in 2021, he invited everyone to watch a documentary about AlphaGo. He then shared his vision for an AI-powered meditation coach. His prediction was certainly on point. It seems more plausible today than ever before. Yet at the same time, mindfulness is all about the one thing AI can’t do: experience. 

In this session, we will host an open discussion at the intersection of AI and mindfulness, using evocative examples to spark conversation. We don’t have all the answers here, and we probably won’t by the end of the session, either. But we will find more clarity by exploring diverse perspectives. 

Also, here’s a surprise twist: about half of the sentences in this description were written by an AI, and the other half were written by a human being

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Featured Speaker: Jay Vidyarthi MSc, Attention Activist, Founder, Still Ape

Jay Vidyarthi is an attention activist and the founder of Still Ape - the world's first UX design studio focused exclusively on mindfulness, compassion, and wellbeing. He is working toward a society where access points to self-care and collective transformation are as diverse as the people who need them. He also teaches mindfulness to individuals and groups, where he inspires people to reclaim their freedom of attention in our culture of influence.

As a human-centered designer, Jay's been involved in creating Muse: the brain sensing headband, Sonic Cradle, the Healthy Minds Program, Brightmind, and 10+ more mindful technologies. He helped start the Mindful Society Global Institute and serves on its advisory council. He’s taught design at major institutions and his work and ideas have been recognized and featured internationally (Harvard, MIT, CHI, UToronto, Mindful.org, Forbes, Vice, World Happiness Week, Fast Company, TED, TransTech200, UX Awards, etc).