World renowned AI researcher, Agüera y Arcas, invites us to rethink what it means to be intelligent—and even what it means to be human. As the boundaries between people, machines, and ecosystems blur, he explores a deeper understanding of intelligence as something fluid, nested, and shared. This talk challenges our assumptions about cognition, identity, and progress, encouraging us to see artificial and natural minds not as separate, but as deeply intertwined. With clarity and care, Agüera y Arcas paints a future where collaboration—not control—defines our relationship with emerging intelligences. It's a bold vision for what comes next, grounded in wonder and humility. Blaise Agüera y Arcas is a VP and Fellow at Google, and Google’s CTO of Technology & Society. He leads an organization working on basic research in AI, especially the foundations of neural computing, active inference, evolution, and sociality. In his tenure at Google he has led the design of augmentative, privacy-first, and collectively beneficial applications, including on-device ML for Android phones, wearables, and the Internet of Things; and he is the inventor of Federated Learning, an approach to training neural networks in a distributed setting that avoids sharing user data. Blaise also founded the Artists and Machine Intelligence program, and has been an active participant in cross-disciplinary dialogs about AI and ethics, fairness and bias, policy, and risk. Until 2014 he was a Distinguished Engineer at Microsoft. Outside the tech world, Blaise has worked on computational humanities projects including the digital reconstruction of Sergei Prokudin-Gorskii’s color photography at the Library of Congress, and the use of computer vision techniques to shed new light on Gutenberg’s printing technology. Blaise has given TED talks on Sead­ragon and Pho­to­synth (2007, 2012), Bing Maps (2010), and machine creativity (2016), and gave a keynote at NeurIPS on social intelligence (2019). In 2008, he was awarded MIT’s TR35 prize. In 2018 and 2019 he taught the course “Intelligent Machinery, Identity, and Ethics” at the University of Washington, placing computing and AI in a broader historical and philosophical context. He has authored numerous papers, essays, op eds, and book chapters, as well two books: a novella, Ubi Sunt, and an interdisciplinary nonfiction work, Who Are We Now? (review by the Financial Times here). His upcoming book, What Is Intelligence?, will be published by MIT Press in 2025. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

"Digital Pulse" is a contemporary solo exploring the conflict between human and machine. The piece reflects a sense of urgency, blending emotion with mechanical precision. Dynamic shifts within the movement symbolize the human struggle to keep pace with technology. Emma Frye was born and raised in Hickory, North Carolina, where she began her dance training at age four. Training in a competitive setting as well as with a pre-professional ballet company set her up to expand her versatility as a dancer. Emma is currently a student at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts working toward a BFA in Contemporary Dance as well as a minor in Arts Entrepreneurship. While studying at UNCSA, Emma has been exposed to a variety of dance techniques, including Cunningham, Limón, Horton, West African, partnering, ballet, and composition. Her performance experience includes works by José Limón, Pascal Rioult, Endalyn T. Outlaw, Ming Yang, Wesley Williams Jr., and Fernando Carrillo. In her time at school, she has worked towards strengthening her technique as well as finding her artistic voice. She has spent her summers training at intensives with Bruce Wood Dallas Dance Company, Koresh Dance Company, UNCSA, Nashville Ballet, and Pas de Vie Ballet. After getting her BFA, Emma plans to pursue a Master's degree in dance and aspires to join a contemporary dance company. She is eager to share her passion with others through performing and teaching. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx