What AI can't replace?

Today we are going to see Northeastern just launched CRAIG, a research center focused entirely on responsible AI. It’s the first NSF-funded initiative of its kind, and it’s asking the right questions. Also Ad Age reports on Gen Z’s growing discomfort with artificial intelligence. Digital natives are craving something AI can’t provide: emotional realism.

In today’s post:

• The AI Center That’s Asking the Right Questions

• Eli Lilly + NVIDIA: The $1B Bet on AI Drug Discovery

• Why Gen Z Is Craving What AI Can’t Replace

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What’s Trending Today

EDUCATION

Can AI be powerful and responsible?

Northeastern just launched CRAIG, a new AI research center with a bold focus.

Here’s everything you need to know:

• CRAIG stands for Center for Responsible AI and Governance, a first-of-its-kind NSF-funded initiative.

• It’s the only Industry-University Cooperative Research Center focused solely on responsible AI.

• That means AI that’s safe, accountable, unbiased, and designed with real-world consequences in mind.

• The center brings together 35+ researchers from four universities across ethics, computer science, and public policy.

• The goal: build not just smarter systems, but systems people can actually trust and govern.

• CRAIG’s interdisciplinary team includes philosophers, engineers, and data scientists, a rare blend.

• By grounding tech in human values, CRAIG aims to lead U.S. AI innovation that’s not just fast, but fair.

Here’s what I think: most AI centers chase breakthroughs. CRAIG is chasing balance between capability and conscience. That’s where the real breakthroughs will come from.

PARTNERSHIP

AI is coming for the lab bench and the supply chain

Pharma giant Eli Lilly and tech powerhouse NVIDIA just launched an ambitious joint AI lab.

Here’s everything you need to know:

• The two companies are co-investing up to $1 billion over five years.

• Their goal: use AI to accelerate drug discovery not just with models, but with real-world infrastructure.

• The lab will be based in the San Francisco Bay Area, blending computing power with biomedical R&D.

• NVIDIA brings its AI platforms and accelerated computing tools; Lilly brings clinical and manufacturing expertise.

• The partnership goes beyond research they’re eyeing AI applications in clinical trials, manufacturing, and supply chain.

• This isn’t about replacing scientists, but scaling their work with smarter, faster tools.

• It signals a broader shift: AI isn’t just a tool in pharma anymore, it’s becoming core infrastructure.

Most pharma AI stories stop at “discovery.” This one goes deeper. If Lilly and NVIDIA can merge speed with scale, it could reshape how the entire industry works not just how drugs are found.

RESEARCH

Gen Z wants connection not just clever tech

The latest Ad Age piece digs into Gen Z’s reaction to AI.

Here’s everything you need to know:

• Generation Z is the first cohort to grow up with AI woven into daily life, yet they’re pushing back against its coldness.

• Despite the allure of new tools, Gen Z values authenticity and real‑world experience over polished algorithms.

• Their desire for “what’s real” shows up in the spaces they invest in, people, analog moments, and imperfect creativity.

• This isn’t anti‑technology, it’s pro‑human: they want tech that enhances rather than replaces human nuance.

• Creators and brands that lean into genuine storytelling resonate more with this audience than those chasing synthetic polish.

• The tension between digital fluency and emotional authenticity is shaping culture, not just consumer behavior.

• For marketers, the takeaway isn’t to avoid AI, it’s to ask when and how it serves human connection.

The future of meaningful engagement will be built not by the smartest models, but by the most human ones. This generation isn’t rejecting innovation they’re inviting tech to serve what truly matters.

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