Rethinking AI: Moving Beyond Hype and Fear

Public conversations about artificial intelligence (AI) often swing between two extremes—optimistic visions of groundbreaking innovation and alarm over potential societal disruption. At a Centre for the Study of Social Inequality (CSSI) seminar held in April 2026, speakers encouraged audiences to move beyond such polarised narratives towards a more critical and nuanced engagement with AI’s societal implications.

Addressing a diverse audience of academics, educators and members of the public, CSSI Director Professor Teo underscored the importance of interrogating the relationship between AI and inequality. Assistant Professor Skyler Wang (McGill University) provided an overview of key developments in frontier AI, situating these advances within the broader trade-offs, uncertainties and social consequences of technological change.

The seminar examined how AI may shape inequality, education and work, emphasising the need to complicate prevailing assumptions about AI’s effects and to consider how emerging technologies can both widen and narrow social gaps depending on their design and governance.

A lively Q&A session reflected strong audience engagement, particularly around concerns about AI’s implications for education systems and the future of work. Rather than framing AI as either purely transformative or inherently risky, the session underscored the importance of sustained, informed dialogue.

The seminar highlighted the importance of continued critical engagement with the social implications of AI as emerging technologies increasingly influence education, work and inequality.

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