The MLK2026 Celebration Program, AI and Human Welfare, features leading technologist, Dr. Sylvester A. Johnson.
In partnership with the NorcalMLK Foundation's SIDGE Center, the 2026 AI and Human Welfare program will feature foundation executive director, Dr. Aaron Grizzell, in an important conversation on artificial intelligence and human wellbeing with Dr. Sylvester A. Johnson, co-founder and CEO of the Corporation for Public Interest Technology in Washington, D.C. and chair and professor of Black Studies at Northwestern University. Dr. Johnson is a leading technologist and scholar, who works at the intersection of technical and humanistic stakeholders to advance more democratic, inclusive outcomes for an innovation-driven society. His current research focuses on a study of human identity in an age of intelligent machines and human-machine symbiosis.1
This conversation is a platform for fostering a deeper understanding of AI's potential to help and/or harm human welfare and the ethical considerations needed to guide the innovation economy into the future. It serves as a catalyst for collaboration, inspiring us to weigh in on their own future in the areas of fairness, transparency, and ethical principles in AI advancements.
NOTES:
1. See Sylvester Johnson, Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, Northwestern University, and Sylvester Johnson, Corporation for Public Interest Technology.
