It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Monday, May 11, 2026
New book ‘AI TO EYE’ brings together 40+ voices from science, art, and media to ask: how do we really want to live with AI?
Credit: publisher/author/designer of AI TO EYE: Between Code and Conscience
As artificial intelligence reshapes education, healthcare, work, and creativity, public debate too often swings between hype and fear. A new book from SmartBot editorial board member Prof. Robert Riener cuts through the noise — not with technical jargon or a single expert opinion, but with a chorus of human voices.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the world at a breathtaking pace. Few technologies have penetrated our lives so deeply in such a short time, affecting education, work, health, art, and communication. This rapid transformation both fascinates and unsettles. Public discourse swings between visions of unbounded optimism and apocalyptic warnings. Media and films amplify fears of losing control or employment, while inflated promises can strain trust in the technology itself. Amid all the hype and alarm, what we truly need is in danger of being overlooked: a thoughtful, grounded conversation about how we want to coexist with this new form of intelligence.
AI TO EYE seeks to open that space. Rather than offering a technical manual or a single interpretive voice, the book captures the AI moment as it is currently unfolding, through a carefully curated chorus of perspectives. It brings together contributions from science, business, art, journalism, and media. More than 40 individuals from California’s Silicon Valley and Silicon Beach, the symbolic epicenters of the digital world, share their views. Its contributors include international leaders and visionaries as well as renowned scientists, journalists, artists, composers, film producers, actors, an astronaut, and a Disney executive. Others come from the German-speaking world but maintain close personal or professional ties to California. This mosaic took shape during my research stay in the summer of 2025, when I was a Thomas Mann Fellow in California.
"I aim to examine the relationship between humans and machines not only from a technical standpoint but also from a cultural and societal one. AI TO EYE is neither a textbook nor a collection of scientific reports; it brings together essays and concise statements in a deliberately polyphonic exploration of artificial intelligence’s role in a society in flux. These voices do not advance a single argument. Instead, they challenge and complement one another, revealing tensions and contradictions, and allowing society itself to speak back to the technology that is increasingly shaping it. Together, they paint a vivid, often surprising, picture of how AI is reshaping our self-understanding and what it discloses about us."
———Robert Riener
The cultural engagement with artificial intelligence is by no means new. As early as 1968, in 2001: A Space Odyssey, Stanley Kubrick presented one of the most precise and simultaneously poetic visions of machine intelligence. The onboard computer H.A.L. 9000 initially appears as the ideal rational system, devoted to its purpose: “I am putting myself to the fullest possible use, which is all, I think, that any conscious entity can ever hope to do.” Yet this apparent perfection begins to shift. H.A.L. no longer merely serves the human crew but starts to assert control over them, captured in one of the most iconic lines of technological defiance: “I am sorry, Dave. I’m afraid I can’t do that.” In the end, the system itself seems to unravel, losing not only its function but gaining something eerily human in the process: “Dave, my mind is going. I can feel it. I can feel it. My mind is going …” Since then, this theme has echoed through film history, from Colossus: The Forbin Project to Blade Runner and The Terminator, to Her and Ex Machina. The central question remains the same: Where does the machine end, and where does the human begin?
Today, as AI is becoming an inseparable part of daily life, this question gains renewed urgency. AI TO EYE gathers voices that do not seek to instruct but to explore, that do not judge but observe, and that speak not merely about technology, but about the society that produces, deploys, and negotiates it.
The book invites readers to see AI as a mirror of our times, as an expression of our creativity, our fears, and our desire for understanding and control. It addresses anyone curious about what AI reveals about us and willing to meet it, unflinchingly, eye to eye.
About the content:
The book contains 14 essays, followed by about 15-20 quotes in respective themes. The quotes are from influential, partly famous protagonists, which I interviewed during my stay as a Thomas Mann Fellow in California. Here is the list of essays:
Essay 1 From Myths to Machines: How AI Learned to Think. By Robert Riener (Zurich, L.A.)
Essay 2 Chances of AI for Healthcare and Beyond. By Julia Vogt (Zurich)
Essay 3 AI: A Tool for Inclusion? By Robert Riener (Zurich, L.A.)
Essay 4 AI and Education: A Student Perspective. By Luke Reinkensmeyer (Irvine)
Essay 5 Is AI Disrupting the Path from Campus to Career? By Ursula Renold (Zurich)
Essay 6 AI and the Arts: Risks, Possibilities and Human Responsibility. By Kelli Sharp (Irvine)
Essay 7 Aura Farming: Can AI Generate Rizz? Renée Reizman (L.A.)
Essay 8 The Infinite Rehearsal: Music and AI. By Steven Walter (Bonn)
Essay 9 Reflections on AI Privacy and Security. By Verena Zimmermann (Zurich)
Essay 10 Outgrowing the Paperclip Obsession: There Is Hope That AI Will Become Ethical. By Haewon Jeong (Santa Barbara)
Essay 11 AI and Intellectual Property: Evolution, Disruption, or Both? Markus Hauschild (Pasadena)
Essay 12 When Algorithms Meet Accountability: AI and the Future of Journalism. By Lukas Görög (Zurich)
Essay 13 Could One Steer Humans and Societies with Generative AI? By Dirk Helbing (Zurich)
Essay 14 After Intelligence: On What Remains Human. By Robert Riener (Zurich, L.A.)
AI-generated images of depression depict more stereotypes and arouse greater stigmatization
So determines a study by UPF that analyzed the opinions of associations of people suffering from depression, young people and professionals of science and health communication
Images generated using artificial intelligence (AI) depict more stereotypes and stigmas around depression than images used by the media to illustrate the disease. This is the main conclusion of a study on the perception held by different groups –including associations of patients, young people and communication professionals– of the images used by the media when talking about depression. “The images generated by AI depict more concepts related to stigma such as marginalization or social exclusion”, warns Núria Saladié, first author of the study and a member of the Science, Communication and Society Studies Centre (CCS) at Pompeu Fabra University (UPF). According to the authors, in order to convey news about mental health responsibly, avoiding reproducing stereotypes, there is a need to understand that technology is not neutral and to take into account the recommendations issued by patient associations.
AI-generated images tend to depict people alone, in the shadows or against a backlight, with their faces hidden and without taking part in any activity. This accentuates stereotypes and stigma and has a negative effect on people suffering from depression. So determines a study published in the journal JMIR Human Factors, which has examined the perception of different groups of the population –including patient associations, young people and communication professionals– of the images used by the media to depict the disease.
“Many AI-generated images do not reflect the diversity of experiences associated with the disease”, explains Carolina Llorente, also an author of the study and a researcher at the CCS-UPF. Llorente highlights that “being able to take into account the vision of people who have experienced the disease up close has been one of the most valuable aspects to avoid perpetuating stereotypes”.
The study also reveals that when people know that the image has been generated by AI they are more critical than when they do not, which suggests that transparency around the use of AI can influence the way these representations are interpreted. “AI is already being used –and will be increasingly used– in mental health communication”, Saladié explains. And she adds, “If we want this communication to be responsible, we require a more careful and critical approach to the use of AI”.
To be able to communicate news about mental health responsibly, avoiding stereotypes, it must be understood that “AI tools do not generate images neutrally: they respond to the instructions they receive. Therefore, it is important to think carefully about the prompts and review the results critically”, points out Gema Revuelta, director of the CCS-UPF and leader of the study, which concludes that “improving the quality of visual representations related to depression depends on teamwork when pooling the vision and knowledge of patient organizations, mental health experts, science journalists, AI developers and researchers”.
Comparing Images of Depression in Mass Media and AI-Generated Pictures: Mixed Methods Study
Physician-reported safety outcomes of AI-generated hospital course summaries
JAMA Network Open
About The Study:
In this study, a large language model-based agentic workflow produced hospital course summaries that were frequently used with minimal risk of harm identified. The intervention was associated with a reduction in physician burnout, supporting the viability of AI summarization to mitigate documentation burden.
Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Francois Grolleau, MD, PhD, email grolleau@stanford.edu.
Editor’s Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, conflict of interest and financial disclosures, and funding and support.
# # #
Media advisory: This study is being presented at the 2026 Society of General Internal Medicine Annual Meeting.
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About JAMA Network Open:JAMA Network Open is an online-only open access general medical journal from the JAMA Network. On weekdays, the journal publishes peer-reviewed clinical research and commentary in more than 40 medical and health subject areas. Every article is free online from the day of publication.
Frontiers in Science Deep Dive webinar series: AI-embodied surgical robots can revolutionize surgery—if regulatory questions addressed
Embodying surgical robots with next-gen AI can safely augment practice if ethical and regulatory questions are addressed.
This is according to a new Frontiers in Science lead article in which researchers Prof Prokar Dasgupta, Dr Alejandro Granados, and Dr Nicholas Raison, explore how sensor-rich operating rooms and AI surgical co-pilots could enable more precise, data-driven, personalized surgery. Their article outlines how advances in multimodal data integration, machine learning, and robotic systems could enhance situational awareness, intraoperative decision-making, and team performance.
It highlights how these technologies may enable anticipatory behaviors, adaptive learning, and improved coordination across surgical teams.
Join the authors at our Frontiers in Science Deep Dive webinar on 11 June 2026, 16:00–17:30 CEST, as they explore how surgical roles may evolve, and how predictive AI and robotics could improve patient outcomes while maintaining safe and effective clinical practice.
Evolving surgical teams in the age of artificial intelligence and robotics | 11 June 2026 | Register
Frontiers in Science Deep Dive sessions bring researchers, policy experts, and innovators together from around the world to discuss a specific area of transformational science published in Frontiers' flagship, multidisciplinary journal, Frontiers in Science, and explore next steps for the field.
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