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[Ideas Festival] Conversation: The future of critical thinking despite AI

When
21/11/2026
2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
Location
Full Circle House, 89 Ch. de Vleurgat, 1050 Ixelles
Spaces left
60

Registration

a) Single Ticket - Full Circle members – €15.00
Single event ticket for Full Circle members.
b) Single Ticket - Non member – €20.00
Single event ticket for non-members.
c) Concessions - Students, interns, unemployed, under 18 – €10.00
This single entry ticket is for students, interns, unemployed, under 18. Please provide proof of status at the check-in.

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A conversation Series with Benedetta Brevini

Ideas Festival / Sat 21st Nov / 1.30 - 3 pm

The recent decision by the University of Chicago to ban AI, laptops and phones from its undergraduate Social Sciences Core is bold, but also somewhat expected. The way AI is changing our lives is the subject of much debate, fears and hopes, but when it comes to our brains and more in general our very ability to think and do so critically, we cannot but ask ourselves what the purpose of a university should be in the age of AI. Should universities teach students how to use their brains rather than simply how to use AI?

With the expert guidance of Critical AI maestro, Benedetta Brevini, we'll get to the thorny questions: what happens to writing, summarising, critical thinking, interpretation and independent research when machines can perform these tasks instantly? What about original thought? And most importantly, what would an education designed around these principles look like in practice? Join Benedetta as she connects the dots between tech, society and democracy. Make sense of it all and learn what you could do about it.

GET THE WEEKEND OR DAY PASS

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ABOUT THE HOST

Dr Benedetta Brevini is an expert in Critical AI, the relationship between data capitalism, AI and the climate crisis and environmental communication. She is currently Research professor in platforms and society at KU Leuven, and Associate Professor of political economy of communication at the University of Sydney. Before joining academia she worked as a journalist in Milan, New York and London for CNBC, RAI and the Guardian and held tenured positions at City University London and Brunel University London. She writes on The Guardian’s Comment is Free and contributes to a number of print and web publications including South China Morning Post, OpenDemocracy and the Conversation. She is currently working on a new book project on Communication, Data Capitalism and the Climate Emergency.

GOOD READS

Newscorp: Empire of Influence (2024); Is AI good for the Planet? (2021); Amazon, Understanding a Global Communication Giant (2020); Climate Change and the Media (2018); Carbon Capitalism and Communication: Confronting Climate Crisis (2017); Public Service Broadcasting Online (2013); Beyond Wikileaks (2013).