We are the last generation to remember a world before generative AI. Our children won't know what it was like to write an essay without wondering if a machine could do it better, or to make a decision without algorithmic guidance whispering in their ear. This makes us accountable for something unprecedented: designing the mental infrastructure in which future minds will develop.

AI is reshaping society. The question is whether we'll shape AI with intention — or let it shape us by default.

Think of technology as a tool. A hammer can build a house or break a window. What matters is the hand that holds it, and more importantly, the vision that guides that hand. We need human leadership for humane technology — systems designed not for efficiency alone, but for human flourishing.

This is where ProSocial AI enters the conversation. These are AI systems deliberately tailored, trained, tested, and targeted to bring out the best in people and planet. Not AI that maximizes engagement at the cost of mental health. Not AI that optimizes profit while externalizing environmental damage. But AI that asks: What kind of future do we actually want to build?

Making that happen requires something we're rapidly losing: agency amid AI. Agency means the ability and will to act autonomously, to feel that your choices are genuinely yours. When algorithms curate every song, suggest every purchase, and filter every piece of information you encounter, agency doesn't disappear overnight. It erodes, grain by grain, until you can't quite remember what it felt like to decide for yourself.

The solution isn't to reject AI. It's to pursue hybrid

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