Sherry Turkle, MIT professor and bestselling author, will join mindfulness pioneer Jon Kabat-Zinn on October 14 at All Souls Church in New York City for a live conversation celebrating Turkle's new book, Artificial Intimacy: Who We Become When We Talk to Machines. The event, produced by Steve Stein and WisdomFeed Publishing, marks the third conversation between the two thinkers, following two online episodes of the StreetSmart Wisdom Podcast that explored the collision of the analog and digital worlds.
Published September 29 by Little, Brown and Company, Artificial Intimacy examines what happens as artificial intelligence moves beyond information and productivity and increasingly enters the deeply human territory of companionship, empathy, advice, loneliness, and relationships. The book raises urgent questions about how we govern and think about the challenges posed by machines that simulate emotional connection.
During their first StreetSmart Wisdom conversation, Turkle described the urgency of the moment: "This is a break the glass moment. How are we going to govern? How are we going to think about the challenge we face?" Kabat-Zinn approached the same moment through the relationship between the digital world and our analog humanity: "What is happening now is the convergence of the analog and the digital in such a way that we had best... realize the full dimensionality and potential of the analog world before... we lose it to... fake empathy from machines."
Those questions are at the heart of Turkle's new book. In that earlier conversation, Turkle posed a question that has become increasingly central as conversational AI enters everyday life: "The question for me is, is pretend empathy enough? And how do we as people who have this extraordinary gift for real empathy because of... the arc of a human life... How do we connect?"
The October 14 conversation brings together Turkle's decades of research into our evolving relationship with technology and Kabat-Zinn's decades of work on mindfulness, awareness, and presence. Turkle will sign copies of Artificial Intimacy following the program. The event will be held at All Souls Church, 1157 Lexington Avenue, New York City, with in-person and livestream attendance available. Information and registration can be found at https://wisdomfeed.thrivecart.com/artificial-intimacy/.
WisdomFeed Publishing extends special thanks to All Souls for opening its Upper East Side sanctuary to this conversation and the New York community. The event furthers WisdomFeed's mission of taking ancient ideas down to street level, and it underscores the growing need for public dialogue about how technology shapes human connection.
As artificial intelligence becomes more integrated into daily life, the implications for empathy, relationships, and mental health are profound. Turkle and Kabat-Zinn's conversation offers a timely opportunity to consider what it means to be human in an age of increasingly intimate machines. Their dialogue may influence how individuals, technologists, and policymakers approach the design and use of AI, emphasizing mindfulness and authentic human connection.
