12/02/2026
What happens when human experience becomes the new frontier of extraction and attention the ultimate commodity?
In his New Yorker essay, “Will the Humanities Survive Artificial Intelligence?“, D. Graham Burnett describes AI not simply as a tool, but as “a new kind of creature” entering the classroom. Rather than banning it, he chose to invite it in - asking students to spar with AI and reflect on what the encounter revealed about their own thinking. The result became one of the most profound moments of his teaching career.
Burnett argues that the defining struggle of our time is over attention itself. He calls for “attention activism”, a practices that help us reclaim agency in a world where focus is measured, monetised, and manipulated.
On Friday 6 March 2026, 8:00–9:30am AEDT, Graham joins Berry Liberman for a live conversation on what it means to stay discerning, creative, and human in the age of AI.
Register for this free webinar via link in bio