The New York-based Garrison Institute will host a two-day online conference titled “Artificial Intelligence and Our Spiritual Imagination” on 17–18 October, aiming to examine the spiritual and human implications of AI. The forum will bring together participants from fields including technology, philosophy, education, the arts, and contemplative practice to consider how rapidly developing AI technologies may reshape human life and society.
“This two-day virtual conference offers participants a chance to slow down amid the rapid rise of artificial intelligence and explore what this technological moment is asking of us as human beings,” the Garrison Institute said in an annoucmemnt shared with BDG. “Through keynotes, dialogues, contemplative practices, panels, workshops, and community conversations, participants will examine how AI is reshaping consciousness, creativity, identity, belonging, leadership, and our understanding of what it means to be human.”
Featured speakers include Dr. Angel Acosta, Dr. Bayo Akomolafe, Minna Salami, Thomas Hübl, Dr. Sará King, Delphine Diallo, Tim Leberecht, among other special guests.
“For the first time in human history, we are living alongside technologies that can generate language, images, music, code, and ideas with startling speed and sophistication,” the Garrison Institute said. “Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping education, business, healthcare, governance, creativity, and nearly every domain of human life.
“Much of the public conversation has focused on questions of productivity, economic disruption, existential risk, environmental impact, commercial competition, and geopolitical power. These conversations are necessary, yet they are not sufficient.” (Garrison Institute)
The online gathering will seek to explore question like:
• What is this moment asking of us as human beings?
• How is artificial intelligence changing the way we think, create, learn, relate, and imagine?
• What happens to our sense of meaning, purpose, identity, and spirituality when intelligence is no longer understood as uniquely human?
• How do we preserve our humanity while remaining open to transformation?
• What new forms of wisdom are needed in an age of artificial intelligence?
“The Garrison Institute invites scholars, technologists, contemplatives, artists, educators, spiritual leaders, researchers, activists, and curious citizens to gather for a two-day exploration of one of the defining questions of our time: the relationship between artificial intelligence and our spiritual imagination.” (Garrison Institute)
The two-day event will be divided into seven sessions:
• The Inner Life of the Future: Leadership, Consciousness, and Human Flourishing in the Age of AI.
• Sensuous Knowledge and the Future of Intelligence.
• Technology in Service of Collective Healing and Liberation.
• The Age of Supraintelligence: An Interactive Journey Exploring Human Connection and Collective Wisdom.
• When Intelligence Cracks: Exploring the Edges of Technology, Consciousness, and Our Spiritual Imagination(s).
• The Oracle and the Machine: Ancestral Wisdom, Art, & Re-Imagining AI.
• The Future We Choose: A Community Dialogue on Responsibility and Collective Action.
Click here for full details and registration information
“This conference emerged from an ongoing dialogue between Dr. Angel Acosta and philosopher Dr. Bayo Akomolafe,” the Garrison Institute added. “Their conversation invited participants to move beyond familiar debates about efficiency and control and toward deeper inquiry into consciousness, intelligence, mystery, relationality, and what it means to be alive during a period of profound technological transformation.” (Garrison Institute)
Founded in Garrison, New York, in 2003, the Garrison Institute was created to “to apply the wisdom that arises from contemplation and insights derived from science to today’s pressing social and environmental issues to create a more compassionate, resilient future,” in the belief that “action in the world is more compassionate and more effective when infused with the wisdom and skill cultivated in contemplative practices.” (Garrison Institute) The institute aims to bring the transformative potential of contemplation and the sciences of the mind to bear on the social and environmental crisis facing the world. The objective is to work toward a more compassionate, resilient future through collaboration with scientists, teachers, practitioners, and leaders in diverse fields.
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Garrison Institute
Virtual Conference Hosted by the Garrison Institute October 17–18, 2026 (Garrison Institute)
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