Plenary Session

Nicholas A. Christakis, MD, PhD, is a social scientist and physician at Yale University who conducts research in the fields of network science, biosocial science and computational social science. His current work focuses on how human biology and health affect, and are affected by, social interactions and social networks. He directs the Human Nature Lab and is the director of the Yale Institute for Network Science. He is the Sterling Professor of Social and Natural Science at Yale University, holding appointments in several departments and the School of Management.

Dr. Christakis was elected to the National Academy of Medicine, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was named among Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world in 2009. He authored the books, Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives and Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society, a New York Times bestseller. 

“Humans are naturally embedded in face-to-face social networks that obey particular mathematical and social principles,” Dr. Christakis said. “Increasingly, we are also embedding artificial agents, in the form of AI agents and physical robots, among us, giving rise to hybrid systems of humans and machines. These forms of AI act in humanlike ways and open up a new world of social artificial intelligence.”

In his plenary lecture, Dr. Christakis will discuss his work exploring how humans and AI working together can effectively solve problems, improve cooperation and enhance creativity. He will also consider the potential dangers of adding AI to groups and how the dynamic changes the ties between individuals and society.

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