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Baratunde Thurston says our imperfection is what makes us human — and AI can't touch that
Baratunde Thurston speaks onstage during The Future of Us session at AfroTech Conference 2025.
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Rick Kern
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Getty Images North America
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Topline:
Emmy-nominated host and writer Baratunde Thurston explores what it means to be human in the age of AI in his upcoming show at the Carpenter Center in Long Beach this weekend.
About Baratunde Thurston: He hosts the podcast Life with Machines. He was also the producer at The Daily Show with Trevor Noah and director of digital at The Onion.
What he told us about AI and humanity: “I think if we can remember this beautiful dance between our individuality and our community membership … our imperfection and our finiteness, that we can see those as gifts and as beautiful differentiators that make us more human,” he said. “The machines may be here to help us remember that part of ourselves.”
Want to go? Doors open for "An Evening with Baratunde Thurston” at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the the Richard and Karen Carpenter Performing Arts Center at 6200 E. Atherton St. in Long Beach. Tickets start from $43.73 through the Carpenter Center website.
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What does it mean to be human in the age of AI? Thurston Baratunde talks with LAist's Austin Cross about the game-changing moment we are in.
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