Maximizing Human Potential & Imagination in the Age of AI and Uncertainty with Dr Sheila Pontis
Online
Thursday 12th November 2026 1:00PM
Maximizing Human Potential & Imagination in the Age of AI and Uncertainty: How to Empower Future Generations
The pace of global changes rapidly grows spiraling uncertainty about the present and future. The active role of sophisticated technologies, like AI, is affecting human agency; we are forgetting how to be human — listening, empathizing, thinking. While we spend most of our time thinking about the future, our tendency is to imagine apocalyptic scenarios — e.g., worse pandemics — or negative situations rooted in current trends — e.g., AI takes over humanity. We struggle to be optimistic and imagine positive futures or paths forward for our lives and our collectives. This context creates a vicious cycle of pervasive pessimism and hopelessness about the future that increases our insecurities and feelings of anxiety and loneliness, which hinder our imaginative powers.
Imagination and human flourishing are deeply intertwined. Multiple cognitive processes and behaviors are associated to both constructs, and both play a central role in developing identity, envisioning the future, and building high-quality social connections. Despite their relevance, they still do not receive enough attention in higher education. Almost all college students graduate with confidence using AI, but most of them struggle to engage in a face-to-face conversation with another human or find meaning in their life.
This talk will explore the symbiotic connection between imagination and human flourishing from an interdisciplinary perspective, discussing the strong positive impact of imagination on the mind and body. A more balanced pedagogical approach — rooted in human and technical skills — in higher education is introduced as needed to equip students with the mindset and the capabilities to embrace the unknown, combine imagination with depth of knowledge, and optimistically lead sustainable change.
Bio
Sheila Pontis is a professor, researcher, and author in Imagination, Wellbeing, and Design with extensive leadership international experience in design higher education and industry. Her background spans information design, human-centered research, Creative Problem Solving, mindfulness, and positive psychology. Together, they shaped her unique approach. Her work explores the intersection of imagination, human potential, and the conditions that help people flourish in uncertain times. After more than two decades working at renowned institutions, including University College London, Goldsmith University, Princeton University, MIT, and Northeastern University, she now regularly teaches imagination, optimism, and human skills at the School of Radical Imagination, and delivers training programs to educators, organizations, and communities worldwide. She develops methods to identify invisible barriers and designs interventions to embed imagination in higher education and professional development.
Sheila is also the editor of the new transdisciplinary Imagination Series published by Taylor & Francis Group, and the chair of the Imagination for Human Flourishing Interest Group at the Human Flourishing Program’s Flourishing Network (Harvard University). Her work has been published in multiple peer-reviewed journals and she is the author of four books on human-centered research and information design.
Chair: Prof. Penny Hay
The pace of global changes rapidly grows spiraling uncertainty about the present and future. The active role of sophisticated technologies, like AI, is affecting human agency; we are forgetting how to be human — listening, empathizing, thinking. While we spend most of our time thinking about the future, our tendency is to imagine apocalyptic scenarios — e.g., worse pandemics — or negative situations rooted in current trends — e.g., AI takes over humanity. We struggle to be optimistic and imagine positive futures or paths forward for our lives and our collectives. This context creates a vicious cycle of pervasive pessimism and hopelessness about the future that increases our insecurities and feelings of anxiety and loneliness, which hinder our imaginative powers.
Imagination and human flourishing are deeply intertwined. Multiple cognitive processes and behaviors are associated to both constructs, and both play a central role in developing identity, envisioning the future, and building high-quality social connections. Despite their relevance, they still do not receive enough attention in higher education. Almost all college students graduate with confidence using AI, but most of them struggle to engage in a face-to-face conversation with another human or find meaning in their life.
This talk will explore the symbiotic connection between imagination and human flourishing from an interdisciplinary perspective, discussing the strong positive impact of imagination on the mind and body. A more balanced pedagogical approach — rooted in human and technical skills — in higher education is introduced as needed to equip students with the mindset and the capabilities to embrace the unknown, combine imagination with depth of knowledge, and optimistically lead sustainable change.
Bio
Sheila Pontis is a professor, researcher, and author in Imagination, Wellbeing, and Design with extensive leadership international experience in design higher education and industry. Her background spans information design, human-centered research, Creative Problem Solving, mindfulness, and positive psychology. Together, they shaped her unique approach. Her work explores the intersection of imagination, human potential, and the conditions that help people flourish in uncertain times. After more than two decades working at renowned institutions, including University College London, Goldsmith University, Princeton University, MIT, and Northeastern University, she now regularly teaches imagination, optimism, and human skills at the School of Radical Imagination, and delivers training programs to educators, organizations, and communities worldwide. She develops methods to identify invisible barriers and designs interventions to embed imagination in higher education and professional development.
Sheila is also the editor of the new transdisciplinary Imagination Series published by Taylor & Francis Group, and the chair of the Imagination for Human Flourishing Interest Group at the Human Flourishing Program’s Flourishing Network (Harvard University). Her work has been published in multiple peer-reviewed journals and she is the author of four books on human-centered research and information design.
Chair: Prof. Penny Hay
Event Details
From 1:00PM to 2:00PM
