--- title: "Is deep and meaningful human-AI cooperation possible?" subtitle: "A conversation between Athena Aktipis, Paul Rainey, and Andrew Maynard, on the potential, pros, and pitfalls of human-AI symbiosis." author: "Andrew Maynard" date: 2023-11-08 original: https://www.futureofbeinghuman.com/p/human-ai-symbiosis mirror: https://text.futureofbeinghuman.com/substack/human-ai-symbiosis.html --- # Is deep and meaningful human-AI cooperation possible? *A conversation between Athena Aktipis, Paul Rainey, and Andrew Maynard, on the potential, pros, and pitfalls of human-AI symbiosis.* By Andrew Maynard · November 8, 2023 · [Original post](https://www.futureofbeinghuman.com/p/human-ai-symbiosis) --- *[Image: Image: ChatGPT/Dall-E — [view image](https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/0b88b8d7-d45e-45fb-b520-adeead5fe3a5_1792x1024.png)]* (This event is over, but the video of it can be watched below) The next *Future of Being Human … Unplugged* event will be live-streamed on [Nov 20 at 1:10 PM Eastern Time](https://www.tickettailor.com/events/futureofbeinghumaninitiative/1048744), and it should be a doozy! I’ll be joined by ground-breaking cooperation scientist professor Athena Aktipis (ASU) and leading evolutionary biologist professor Paul Rainey (Max Planck Institute) for a cutting edge conversation around the future of human-AI cooperation, and whether the possibility of symbiotic relationships is something that should excite us or have us deeply worried. *[YouTube video: ]* As ever with these events, the conversation will be lively, serendipitous, unscripted, and will push at the edges of current thinking around emerging tech and the future of being human. Both Athena and Paul bring unique perspectives to the table on the future of AI, and ones that go well beyond mainstream thinking. What’s really interesting me though is how bringing together expertise on cooperation between biological organisms with deep understanding of evolutionary biology and behavior will reveal new insights into our relationships with increasingly powerful artificial intelligence. **Date:** November 20, 2023\ **Time:** 1:10 PM – 2:00 PM Eastern Time [Watch the recording](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jg4SVuKiBrg) ***Athena Aktipis** is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at Arizona State University and co-Director of [The C](https://urldefense.com/v3/__http:/www.humangenerosity.org/__;!!IKRxdwAv5BmarQ!bmam-YriOjF1bYvyCi_j8JAgBthkF3jpdOVo2olHJ3Y9QSmoSd3odrynbwiMJ4DWObSDFGLQcX6KdgBj$)[ooperation Science Network](https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.cooperationscience.org/__;!!IKRxdwAv5BmarQ!bmam-YriOjF1bYvyCi_j8JAgBthkF3jpdOVo2olHJ3Y9QSmoSd3odrynbwiMJ4DWObSDFGLQcdfRPipC$) and [The Human Generosity Project](https://urldefense.com/v3/__http:/www.humangenerosity.org/__;!!IKRxdwAv5BmarQ!bmam-YriOjF1bYvyCi_j8JAgBthkF3jpdOVo2olHJ3Y9QSmoSd3odrynbwiMJ4DWObSDFGLQcX6KdgBj$). Athena studies cooperation across systems from human sharing to cancer. She is also the chair of the [Zombie Apocalypse Medicine Meeting](https://urldefense.com/v3/__http:/www.zombiemed.org/__;!!IKRxdwAv5BmarQ!bmam-YriOjF1bYvyCi_j8JAgBthkF3jpdOVo2olHJ3Y9QSmoSd3odrynbwiMJ4DWObSDFGLQcecqGooS$); host of the podcast, [Zombified](https://urldefense.com/v3/__http:/www.zombified.org/__;!!IKRxdwAv5BmarQ!bmam-YriOjF1bYvyCi_j8JAgBthkF3jpdOVo2olHJ3Y9QSmoSd3odrynbwiMJ4DWObSDFGLQcWfHSe8z$), author of the book [The Cheating Cell: How evolution helps us understand and treat cancer](https://urldefense.com/v3/__http:/www.cheatingcell.com/__;!!IKRxdwAv5BmarQ!bmam-YriOjF1bYvyCi_j8JAgBthkF3jpdOVo2olHJ3Y9QSmoSd3odrynbwiMJ4DWObSDFGLQcedugHBl$) as well as author of the upcoming book [A Field Guide to the Apocalypse: A Mostly Serious Guide to Surviving Our Wild Times](https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/athena-aktipis/a-field-guide-to-the-apocalypse/9781668636251/).* ***Paul Rainey** is a leading expert in experimental evolutionary biology. He is Director is of the [Department of Microbial Population Biology](https://micropop.evolbio.mpg.de/) at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology in Plön, Germany, a Professor at ESPCI in Paris, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand. Paul’s work focuses on evolutionary processes, particularly evolution through natural selection. This extends to artificial intelligence and [evolutionary transitions in individuality between humans and AI](https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rstb.2021.0408).* --- *This Markdown file is a text-only version of “Is deep and meaningful human-AI cooperation possible?” by Andrew Maynard, from The Future of Being Human (). The original post at is the canonical version. Images, video, audio and interactive elements are indicated inline and available in the original. © Andrew Maynard.*