Shaping the future of AI policy for youth well-being

We are honored to welcome you to Jesus College at the University of Cambridge for an invitation-only workshop, Shaping the Future of AI Policy for Youth Wellbeing.

Co-organized by the Noēsis Collaborative and the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence at the University of Cambridge, this gathering brings together leading voices from technology, policy, research, philanthropy, and civil society across the UK, US, and EU.

Throughout the day, participants will engage in collaborative workshops, thoughtful dialogue, and shared experiences. Together, we will examine the role of AI in the lives of young people and chart a path forward to safeguard mental health, strengthen human connection, and align on policy frameworks for what’s next.

This convening marks an important step: building a common agenda to close research gaps, advance shared priorities, and establish a transatlantic advisory group to inform the future of AI policy for youth.

Event Details

Program:
Tuesday, October 14, 2025

Main Workshop Runs:
9:00am-5:00pm

Public Salon: Designing AI for Youth Flourishing: From Research to Policy

5:30pm-6:30pm

Dinner & Reception:
6:45 PM

Please register here if attending

Location:
Jesus College, University of Cambridge

The Prioress Room, Elena Hall, Webb Library

Cambridge CB5 8BL,
United Kingdom (Google Maps)


Event Highlights:

The program will feature collaborative sessions and discussions, exploring how we can better design AI policy for youth wellbeing. We will start with breakfast and end with dinner. We understand it’s a large investment of your time and people will be coming from all over the globe. The quality and impact of the event will be worth it.

8:30 AM – 9:00 AM
Coffee, Tea & Light Breakfast + Check-In at the Prioress Room

9:00 AM – 9:30 AM
Purpose, Outcomes & Agenda at Elena Hall

9:30 AM – 10:30 AM
Youth & Public Perspectives on Gen AI 

10:30 AM – 11:30 AM
Mapping Benefits, Risks, & Harms

11:30 AM – 11:45 AM
Coffee & Tea Break 

11:45 AM – 12:15 AM
Deeper risks of Gen AI impact on Youth Development

12:15 AM – 1:30 PM
Design Paradigm for Youth Flourishing

1:30 PM – 2:00 PM
Lunch & Connecting

2:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Design Principles for Gen AI & Youth 

3:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Policy Framework for Gen AI & Youth 

4:00 PM – 4:15 PM
Coffee & Tea Break 

4:15 PM – 5:15 PM
Toward Action: Research, Policy & Standards 

5:30 PM – 6:30 PM:
Public Fireside Chat: Designing AI for Youth Flourishing: From Research to Policy.

6:45 PM – 7:15 PM:
Reception at the Marshall Green

7:15 PM – 9:00 PM:
Seated Dinner in the historic Upper Hall of Jesus College. Learn more and register

Please note, panels and group discussions throughout the day will be held under Chatham House Rules.


Attending Guests Will:


Help Shape the Future of Policy:

Play a direct role in setting the agenda for how AI is governed in the lives of young people. Contribute to frameworks, safeguards, and policy proposals that can guide decision-making across the US, UK, and EU.


Work Alongside Leading Voices:

Engage with policymakers, researchers, technologists, funders, and civil society leaders from both sides of the Atlantic. The diversity in the room, across sectors and countries, makes this a rare opportunity to align perspectives.


Advance Research and Close Gaps:

Be part of shaping a strategic research agenda on Social AI and youth development, helping to close critical data gaps and inform smarter, evidence-based policy.



Travel and Directions


By Rail

A regular train service runs to Cambridge from London’s Kings Cross Station, London Liverpool Street Station, and many other mainline UK stations. The College is located approximately 2miles (3.2 kilometres) from the railway station. Buses run about every 10 minutes and there is a taxi rank outside the station. Taxis cost around £10. For planning a train journey to Jesus College, see National Rail.


By Air

The nearest airport is Stansted (c 32 miles / 51km). Heathrow is approximately 71 miles / 114km away, and Gatwick 96 miles / 154km.

There are regular train services between Cambridge and Stansted. National Express operates bus services between Cambridge and all three airports mentioned above.


By Bus or Coach

The Drummer Street bus station is within walking distance of the College, approximately 500m away. For information about coach services to Cambridge please see the National Express or Stagecoach websites.




Hotels Close By:

Since Jesus College is located in the centre of Cambridge, there are several nearby hotels that are both comfortable and convenient:

Wilde Aparthotels Cambridge

Hilton Cambridge City Centre

University Arms

Additional Options

For more details about Cambridge itself please see the Visit Cambridge website.




Organizers & Sponsors

Co-hosts:
HumanConnections.AI, an initiative of Noēsis Collaborative and the University of Cambridge: Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence 


Featured Partners:
IEEE, Harvard Human Flourishing Program, London School of Economics, USC McNeely Center for Ethical Leadership, Young People’s Alliance


Title Sponsors:
Einhorn Collaborative, Omidyar Network and The Risman Foundation

Featured Speakers & Participants

  • A woman with shoulder-length brown hair, wearing a black blazer over a red top, leaning against a white wall in a professional setting.

    Maria Axente

    Founder & CEO, Responsible Intelligence

  • Portrait of a young man with glasses wearing a suit and tie, smiling slightly against a white background.

    Dean Ball

    Senior Fellow, The Foundation for American Innovation

  • Portrait of a smiling middle-aged man with gray hair, wearing a dark suit, light blue shirt, and patterned tie, outdoors with a blurred background.

    Andrew Briggs

    Emeritus Professor of Nanomaterials, University of Oxford and Executive Chair, QuantrolOx

  • A man with short brown hair and a beard, wearing a navy blue shirt, looking slightly surprised or curious, in an indoor setting with large windows and patterned walls.

    Andy Burrows

    CEO, Molly Rose Foundation

  • Smiling man with dark wavy hair in a gray suit and checkered shirt standing in front of a bookshelf filled with books.

    Ian Marcus Corbin

    Founding Director, The Public Culture Project, Harvard University

  • A young man with light brown hair, wearing a dark suit and tie, smiling against a gray background.

    John Ehrett

    Chief of Staff and Attorney Advisor, U.S. Federal Trade Commission

  • Close-up of a young woman smiling outdoors

    Amina Fazlullah

    Head of Tech Policy Advocacy, Common Sense Media

  • A smiling woman with long black hair standing outdoors on a sunny day, wearing a navy blue shirt.

    Thao Ha

    Associate Professor and Director of the @HEART Lab, Arizona State University

  • A middle-aged man with gray hair and glasses standing outdoors next to a green wooden wall.

    John Havens

    Executive Director, The IEEE Global Initiative for Ethical Considerations in Artificial Intelligence and Autonomous Systems

  • Sam Hiner

    Sam Hiner

    Executive Director & Co-Founder, Young People’s Alliance

  • Black and white portrait of a woman with dark hair, wearing a dark top, posed with her hand near her chin and smiling softly.

    Julianne Holt-Lunstad

    Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience and Director of the Social Connection & Health Lab, Brigham Young University

  • A young man with dark, neatly styled hair and a gentle smile, wearing a blue and white striped collared shirt, standing in a room with a framed picture and a potted plant in the background.

    David Hsu

    Senior Director of Programs, Omidyar Network

  • Black and white portrait of a smiling man with short, dark hair, wearing a collared shirt.

    Ron Ivey

    Founder and CEO, Noēsis Collaborative

  • A man with short dark hair and a slight smile, wearing a plaid shirt, is posed against a plain white background.

    Ravi Iyer

    Managing Director, Neely Center for Ethical Leadership and Decision Making
    Managing Director, Psychology of Technology Institute

  • Professional headshot of a young man with short brown hair, wearing glasses and a light blue button-up shirt, smiling with arms crossed against a dark gray background.

    Will Jones

    Futures Program Associate, Future of Life Institute

  • A bald man in a blue suit and tie smiling, standing in front of a wooden background.

    Konstantinos Karachalios

    Managing Director, IEEE Standards Association

  • A portrait of a middle-aged man with dark hair, wearing a dark suit jacket and light blue shirt, standing outdoors in front of buildings.

    Martijn Lampert

    Co-Founder and Research Director, Glocalities

  • Portrait of a man with brown hair and a beard, wearing a dark suit and tie, smiling against a white background.

    Brad Littlejohn

    Director of Programs and Education, American Compass

  • A smiling middle-aged woman with curly gray hair, wearing a colorful patterned top and a silver necklace, standing in front of a green leafy background.

    Sonia Livingston

    Professor, Department of Media and Communications, London School of Economics

  • A woman with long, light brown hair smiling, wearing a dark blue top, against a plain background.

    Kim Malfacini

    Product Policy Lead, OpenAI

  • A smiling woman with long blonde hair standing outdoors with a mountainous landscape and forested hills in the background.

    Amanda McCroskery

    Applied AI Ethics and Governance Researcher, Google DeepMind

  • A smiling woman with blonde hair and blue eyes in a professional setting.

    Katie McNerney

    Senior Advisor, Noēsis Collaborative

  • Portrait of a middle-aged man with gray hair, smiling, indoors with a plant and wooden background.

    Andrew McStay

    Director, The Emotional AI Lab and Professor of Technology and Society, Bangor University

  • A woman with light brown hair, wearing glasses and a navy blazer over a white turtleneck, looking at the camera against a plain white background.

    Amy Orben

    Programme Leader Track Scientist at the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge

  • A woman with long brown hair, wearing glasses, a blue coat, and a yellow scarf, standing outdoors in front of colorful buildings.

    Dorian Peters

    Assistant Professor, Institute for Technology and Humanity and Senior Research Associate,
    Intellectual Forum, Jesus College, University of Cambridge

  • Giada Pistilli

    Principle Ethicist, Hugging Face

  • A man with long dark hair and a beard smiling, wearing a collared shirt and sweater, standing indoors near a red vertical structure.

    Henry Shevlin

    Associate Director, Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence (CFI) and Programme Co-Director, Kinds of Intelligence

  • A woman with blonde hair, blue eyes, and a bright smile, wearing a white jacket over a teal shirt with partial text visible. She is standing indoors with a light, blurred background.

    Jennifer Tacheff

    Founder, Manifest and Senior Advisor, Noēsis Collaborative and HumanConnections.AI

  • Black and white portrait of a woman smiling, with long hair and wearing a sleeveless top.

    Felicity Tan

    Founding Executive Director, The Risman Foundation

  • A woman with long red hair smiling, wearing a dark blazer against a plain background.

    Terri Taylor

    Strategy Director for Innovation & Discovery, Lumina Foundation

  • A man in a blue suit and glasses holding a microphone, speaking at an event with a decorative patterned wall behind him.

    Austin Tiffany

    Senior Director, Good Faith Partnership, AI Faith & Civil Society Commission

  • A woman with red hair smiling at the camera, wearing a navy blue ribbed sweater with a ruffled collar, against a plain beige background.

    Angy Watson

    Chief People and Tranformation Officer, Paymentology

Recommended Reading

Designing AI to Help Children Flourish

Current AI governance frameworks often overlook the developmental needs and rights of children, failing to ensure that AI technologies foster human flourishing rather than cause harm. This brief for the G20 argues that AI companies have both an opportunity and a responsibility to prioritize child well-being by designing chatbots that enhance, rather than replace, human relationships. The principles and recommendations of this brief will form the foundation of the workshop design.

Social AI and Human Connections: Benefits, Risks and Social Impact

Drawing on a review of recent literature, expert interviews, a Salon with leading technologists and scholars, and webinars with Social AI researchers, the paper explores the question: How might we design AI systems for social connectedness and human flourishing?  This whitepaper provides a framework for how to think about the human choices in the design, governance, and use of AI systems and how those choices impact our social and emotional capabilities.

Ethics at the Frontier of Human-AI Relationships

The prospect of humans forming ongoing relationships with AI, across social, professional, and even romantic contexts, has long been imagined. Recent advances in machine learning and natural language processing, however, have brought this possibility into widespread practice. Platforms such as Replika, Xiaoice, and CharacterAI now engage millions of active users in emotionally complex exchanges. This paper traces these developments, offering historical and technical context, a framework for classifying human–AI relationships, and an analysis of their ethical stakes and social impacts. It concludes by noting instructive parallels between the rise of Social AI and the trajectory of social media.

The anthropomimetic turn in contemporary AI

This paper identifies an anthropomimetic turn in AI: the deliberate design of systems with humanlike features. Unlike anthropomorphism, which arises from human perception, anthropomimesis is embedded in the architecture of contemporary Large Language Models such as ChatGPT, which convincingly mirror human conversation and cognition. The paper highlights potential benefits, including accessibility, educational and healthcare applications, and companionship, while also addressing risks such as manipulation, impersonation, alignment challenges, and questions of authenticity. It concludes by calling for interdisciplinary research and regulatory frameworks to guide the development of anthropomimetic AI.

In Collaboration With