A new chapter for MIT Reads

In its 10th year, MIT Reads is undergoing a transformation to better reflect the importance of social connection and understanding in the age of artificial intelligence. The MIT Libraries' popular program will now focus on fiction and memoir, recognizing the unique power of stories to help individuals comprehend themselves and their place in the world.

MIT Libraries Director Chris Bourg emphasizes that reading fiction encourages us to consider how our creations might affect us, while shared reading provides a rare chance for both personal reflection and collective connection.

MIT Reads' evolution is closely tied to MIT's exploration of AI's impact on education and the Institute's social environment. The value of collective reading and discussion has become even more crucial in light of recent MIT Ad Hoc Committee on AI Use in Teaching, Learning, and Research Training report, which advocates for strengthening social connection and personal well-being.

The report cites MIT Reads as a means to engage a larger portion of the campus community in conversations about shared norms and community significance.

Launched in 2016, MIT Reads aimed to foster empathy, understanding, and belonging on campus. Each chosen book comes with programming like author talks, panel discussions, and small-group conversations led by library staff. The program has expanded its reach to the public, with author events streamed online, and its talks attracting over 5,000 views online.

To inaugurate this new chapter, President Sally Kornbluth has chosen "Exhalation," a bestselling collection of short stories by Ted Chiang. The stories explore thought-provoking science fiction scenarios involving robots, time travel, alternate universes, and timely issues of identity, free will, language, and technology's consequences.

Kornbluth highlights Chiang's ability to offer deep insights into the future of humans and machines, prompting discussions on the shared experience of technology in our lives.

Bourg further underscores the relevance of these questions, noting that they are not isolated to MIT alone. The program invites readers worldwide to join the conversation. MIT students enrolled in the first-year advising seminar 21.A01 (Reading Great Books with Compass) will also be reading "Exhalation" this fall as part of the Compass initiative, designed by faculty from various School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences departments and supported by the MIT Human Insight Collaborative.