22 Oct 2026
|
Mike Boland
AWE Talks: Is AI a Killer App or Just a Killer?
AWE USA 2026
Welcome back to AWE Talks, our series that revisits the best AWE conference sessions. With AWE USA recently concluded, there's a fresh batch of stage footage to keep us occupied for weeks.
We continue the action and insights this week with a Socratic debate on AI's role in society. Reprising their hearty discussion last year, a panel of heavy hitters is back for round 2 on the AWE USA stage.
See the summarized takeaways below, along with the full session video. Stay tuned for more video highlights each week and check out the full library of conference sessions on AWE's YouTube Channel.
Speakers
Alvin Graylin, Author | Chairman, Our Next Reality | Virtual World Society
Louis Rosenberg, CEO and Chief Scientist, Unanimous AI
Leslie Shannon, Vice Chair, Virtual World Society
Kent Bye, Producer, Voices of VR Podcast
Key Takeaways & Analysis
- Most of the world is split on AI – whether it’s a killer app or just a killer.
- There are strong arguments on both sides, including AI’s integration with XR.
- For example, AI can elevate human capability when delivered line of sight.
- It can also advance healthcare, drug discovery, education, and human superpowers.
- However, its sensory immersion also opens the door for manipulating people.
- That can be nefarious manipulation at worst and commercial manipulation at best.
- On another level, reliance on AI could deteriorate higher-level thinking through atrophy.
- For that reason, we should be careful on personal levels not to rely on it heavily.
- Beyond its direct contact, AI has broader impact in concentrating wealth and power.
- Open source models provide one counterbalance, but is it enough?
- AI’s intense data processing also supports the growth of a surveillance economy.
- At the same time, marginalized communities are underrepresented in training data.
- And in this country, the lack of oversight and protections enables bad actors.
- Among detractors, there’s subdivision on how AI should be engaged today.
- Should detractors avoid it or embrace it in order to impact it positively?
- But all sides agree that ethical oversight and humanistic standards are critical.
- Among other things, this involves advancing the technology with humans at the center.
- Equally important is maintaining “cognitive fitness,” to exercise the brain.
- That’s especially true of students, to whom critical thinking should be emphasized.
- Bottom line: Don’t embrace or reject AI: actively shape how it is developed and used.
Want more XR insights and multimedia? ARtillery Intelligence offers an indexed and searchable library of XR intelligence known as ARtillery Pro. Learn more here.
