September 25th, 2026 Steve Strassmann AI PATHOLOGIES

In this session, Steve Strassmann addresses the following question: “What will AI mean to us?” The simpler predictions for its impact sound like pulp fiction, with AI either the hero or the villain of the story, depending on who's telling it. Science fiction author Frederik Pohl said… "A good science fiction story should be able to predict not the automobile but the traffic jam."

Steve will present a view of AI's present frailties and near future, informed by systems thinking, biology, and behavioral economics. The real world is a complex system of self-organizing and reactive participants. All behavior must face responses and repercussions. Evolution and market forces can produce stunning innovation and advances, but organisms and businesses do not achieve perfection or immortality. Something unexpected always shows up, like a traffic jam or a disease, whose origin is obvious in hindsight.

AIs malfunction. They're not immune (and they never will be) to same kinds of forces that cause diseases in organisms. I'll describe how AIs are susceptible to very real forms of malnutrition, parasites, degenerative and congenital diseases, mental disorders, and even cancer. I'll describe one disease in detail, related to how organizations exercise judgement and make commitments. I'll show how this affects business today, and what can be done about it.

Steve Strassmann is a software engineer and pioneer in the field of AI pathology: cataloging, diagnosing, and treating digital diseases that cause AI malfunctions. He is CEO and founder of Longreach, which helps improve the judgement of organizations that use AI. He has held senior engineering roles at Apple, Benchling, Kyruus, Orange, VMware, and others. He served as CTO of Massachusetts, and has been entrepreneur-in-residence and a visiting scholar at Harvard Medical School and the Wyss Institute. He is a 3x founder and mentors entrepreneurs at the Harvard iLab. Steve is an inventor on seven patents, and has received three degrees from MIT, including a PhD in AI.