“Civilization now depends on self-deception, perhaps it always has,” writes novelist Ted Chiang in the bestseller Exhalation: Stories. Is generative artificial intelligence giving birth to a new era of self-deception, where anyone without talent or training can make music, sonnets, and film?
In his keynote presentation as part of the Pennington Public Library’s Beyond the Page series, Dr. Nathan C. Walker stated:
We often define civilizations by their historical, artistic, and philosophical advancements. What happens to societies when humans outsource their voices to algorithms trained on the totality of human expression? Will it result in what critics have called the great flattener, reducing what makes people unique and imperfect to the lowest predictive denominator? Or will this technological advancement become a great equalizer, empowering the most vulnerable and those who have never had the privilege to unlock their potential? Can any of us be truly free if we are bound to a co-intelligence movement that uses AI as a creative companion? Or is the very question itself a threat to civilization and a form of self-deception?
This event is part of the Pennington Library’s 2026 Beyond the Page – an initiative designed to broaden our imaginations and understanding of our world, our neighbors, and ourselves through the joy of sharing a good book. The featured book, Exhalation, contains nine stunningly original, provocative, and poignant stories, where author Ted Chiang tackles some of humanity’s oldest questions, along with new quandaries only he could imagine. Please visit PenningtonLibrary.org/2026BeyondThePage for a full calendar of events and more information.