Session 1: 2 pm - 4 pm
The nexus between AI and energy
Artificial Intelligence encompasses a wide range of applications and is stimulating multiple technological developments as a knock-on effect of innovation and experimentation.
Creative expression can be seen as the combination of the human brain (imagination, planning, historical memory, technical skills) and a medium (or more than one); thus, if AI is used as a medium or a very versatile tool, creativity can benefit from the new combination.
In an elementary sense, the link between AI and energy is worrisome, given the energy-hungry nature of the AI sector – at least in its current form. Data collection and analysis require vast amounts of electricity, to the point that power supply has become a major concern for the leading AI companies. On the positive side, this creates a common interest in ensuring not just access to energy but also cost-effective and reliable access. Given that sustainability is partly an evolving concept – due to both technological innovation and changing regulatory frameworks – a fruitful dialogue can take place between the energy sector and the main AI actors, as well as legislators and civil society at large.
Speakers:
Welcoming remarks: Giulio Tremonti (Chairman - Aspen Institute Italia), Carlo Ratti (Director - La Biennale Architettura 2025 and Director - Senseable City Laboratory, MIT- Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Introductory Session: Claudio Descalzi (CEO - Eni) interviewed by Malcom Moore (Financial Times/Allison Arieff (US Editorial Director, MIT Technology Review)
Panel: Jarrod Agen (Deputy Assistant to the President and Executive Director, National Energy Dominance Council, The White House), Laura Cozzi (Director of Sustainability, Technology and Outlooks, International Energy Agency), Ferruccio Resta (Professor - Politecnico di Milano)
Session 2: 4 pm - 6 pm
Making AI Human
In parallel, we can think of AI as a powerful enabler of human faculties. After all, culture itself – from spoken language to writing, and from the most advanced scientific knowledge to the arts – is an open ended set of tools that only work in connection with the human brain. Therefore, rather than a scenario of humans versus machines it is probably more productive to envisage forms of co-evolution of humans and machines. Since one of the distinctive features of AI is data-driven learning and the gradual accumulation of skills, interactions tend to become more sophisticated over time rather than being fixed. In this context, a fundamental role for the human side is to constantly frame the role of AI in the most useful manner, turning it into a multiplier – a close ally rather than a parallel form of intelligence. The most uniquely human capability is probably that of asking questions, selecting problems, identifying bottlenecks in scientific advancement that may benefit from the analytical power of AI. Ultimately, the much dreaded “singularity” is really confined to tasks that require vast computational skills; a radical turning point would only be reached if and when an AI should start posing interesting and fundamental questions – to humans or to itself.
Speakers:
Chair: Mike Muse (co-founder, Muse Recordings)
Introductory Session: Paolo Benanti (Professor of Moral Theology, Bioethics and Neuroethics, Pontificia Università Gregoriana) in conversation with Walter Isaacson (Professor of History, Tulane University)
Panel: Sam Altman (CEO, OpenAI), Alex Braga (Musician), Brad Carson, (Co-Founder and President, Americans for Responsible Innovation), Nello Cristianini (Professor, Department of Computer Science Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, University of Bath), Ludovico Einaudi (Musician), Divyansh Kaushik (Vice President, Beacon Global Strategies), Wayne McGregor (Choreographer), Viviane Schiller (VP and Executive Director of Aspen Digital), Sylwana Zybura (Founder, Crosslucid)
