Co-Existing with AI: Work, Love, and Play in a Changing World: A Conversation with Kay Firth-Butterfield

New America Future of Work & Innovation Economy initiative Fellow Kay Firth-Butterfield has been thinking about the interactions between humans and artificial intelligence (AI) since she became the world’s first chief AI ethics officer and later served as the inaugural Head of AI and member of the Executive Committee at the World Economic Forum, earning her a TIME Magazine’s 100 Impact award for her leadership in responsible AI.

Her new book, Co-Existing with AI: Work, Love and Play in a Changing World, to be released at Davos 2026, is aimed at all of us humans navigating the promise and challenges of AI in our lives. 

From childhood to aging, the book is an exploration of how AI can be used at which stages of our lives. It is an invitation for us to think deeply about the role of AI, the human spirit, and the living planet, including:

• To develop a clear-eyed understanding of the responsibilities we bear with AI
• To open a space for each of us to wrestle with the profound question of how intelligence, both human and artificial, will shape every stage of our lives
• To join the conversation and together co-author the future we hand to our families, to our societies, and to the Earth itself

Join this book talk, hosted by New America’s Future of Work & Innovation Economy initiative, for a provocative and thoughtful discussion about the society we want to create as we coexist with AI.

Opening Remarks: Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO, New America

Discussant: Kay Firth-Butterfield, Fellow, Future of Work & Innovation Economy initiative, New America; CEO, Good Tech Advisory

Moderator: Shalin Jyotishi, Founder & Managing Director, Future of Work & Innovation Economy initiative; Visiting Scholar in Science & Technology Policy at Arizona State University