Center for the Future of AI, Mind & Society

The Center for the Future of AI, Mind & Society (AIMS) is a multi-disciplinary hub where thought leaders in philosophy, complex systems, artificial intelligence, neuroscience, political science, and other fields come together to analyze vital scientific, societal, and ethical issues.

The Center explores questions like the following:
•  How does machine intelligence compare to human intelligence? And how can these distinct intelligences best work together?
•  What is the nature of the self, mind and consciousness?
•  What are the epistemic strengths and weaknesses of today’s large language models (LLMs)?
•  What will it mean to be human when we all carry the equivalent of a polymath in our pockets?

Our annual conference, MindFest, features thought leaders from academe, business and policy, treating topics central to the future of AI. See the MindFest 2025 Playlist created by our partner, Closer to Truth.

The Center is directed by Susan Schneider, the William F. Dietrich Distinguished Professor at Florida Atlantic University, former NASA Chair, and Distinguished Scholar at the Library of Congress. Its Associate Director is Elan Barenholtz, an associate professor at the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science and Co-Director of the Machine Perception and Cognitive Robotics (MPCR) Lab. The Center is a collaboration between the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters and the Stiles-Nicholson Brain Institute.