Don’t let AI make us forget what it means to be human: Interview with Dr. Adam Kingsmith

This article was initially published on the Hasso Plattner Institute website on September 21, 2026.

By Kevin Siedler

Anyone who relies on a navigation app to get around a city no longer needs to remember the route. Those who use software to translate texts have been shown to lose proficiency in foreign languages. So do we also risk losing social skills when we ask AI to write our wedding congratulations, offer emotional support to friends, or handle everyday conversations for us? 

These are the kinds of questions Adam Kingsmith explores in his research. Since this summer, he has been a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Digital Technology, Governance and Policy research group at the Hasso Plattner Institute (HPI), where he works on the Path to Power project. 

Algorithms do not emerge in a vacuum 

Adam studies the conditions under which digital systems are created: Which economic interests shape their development? What role do political decisions play? And what assumptions about what is measurable or relevant are already embedded in their design? 

When it comes to algorithms in particular, Adam considers the idea of neutral processes a misconception. Their outputs depend on the data they are fed, which groups are represented in that data, and how people are translated into categories and data points. 

"We ask too often whether we can do something, and not often enough whether we should," he says. Adam also brings this perspective into the classroom. In his class as a part of the course "Social Implications of Technology," he encourages students to assess technologies not only in terms of what is technically feasible. 

At the same time, his exchanges with students have changed Adam’s own perspective. "New generations of students are growing up with algorithms as a completely normal part of everyday life," he says. "Many of them take a very critical view and question these technologies. But they also bring a great deal of optimism." That optimism rubs off on Adam too – an important counterbalance in a research environment largely defined by critical questions. 

Rethinking how we use technology 

For Adam, the importance of taking a closer look at technology becomes particularly apparent with social media, search algorithms, and AI. They are changing public debate as well as our behavior, while the design of digital platforms can amplify these developments. 

Online, for example, people can move within communities whose members hold very similar beliefs. This can create a sense of connection, but at the same time it can weaken the common ground shared by different groups. 

There is another factor at play: platforms are businesses, and their business models are often built around capturing attention. Outrage, provocation, and strong emotional reactions can therefore be especially valuable economically. Adam examines how these incentives interact with platform design and political debate. But he is equally interested in the reverse question: How can we use designs optimized for attention differently – and break the cycle of outrage? 

"There are now many examples of platforms being used for good in ways that go beyond their original design logic – for greater democratic participation, community building, and more constructive forms of digital public discourse."

Which skills are we handing over to AI? 

For Adam, generative AI raises a similar question – only on an even more immediate level. While social media platforms influence the information and opinions we encounter, AI tools are increasingly taking over small tasks in our everyday lives: writing, translating, organizing, advising, and formulating. 

These systems are far from neutral, too. They reflect biases in their training data as well as the decisions made during their development. At the same time, they intervene even more directly in the way we behave and think. 

This brings another research question to the forefront: Which human abilities do we want to outsource to AI – and which should remain distinctly human? 

For Adam, navigation provides a useful starting point. Anyone who constantly relies on Google Maps has less need to exercise their own sense of direction. He is interested in whether something similar could happen to abilities more closely connected to critical thinking, emotional intelligence, or communication. 

This is also one of the reasons Adam chose HPI. In his previous work, he often encountered a gap: political science conferences frequently lacked technical expertise, while technology conferences tended to lack a political perspective. "HPI is a space where many disciplines come together – from the ethics of data collection and the quantification of people to questions about how digital systems are changing space, time, and social relationships."

For Adam’s research, this interplay is crucial. Because for him, the central question is not simply what technology enables us to do. It is also what kinds of technologies we want, under what social conditions we want to use them – and which abilities we want to retain for ourselves.