MIT Reads Recasts 10-Year Program for AI Era, Picks 2019's "Exhalation" for Fall 2026
Updated
Updated · MIT News · Sep 18
MIT Reads Recasts 10-Year Program for AI Era, Picks 2019's "Exhalation" for Fall 2026
1 articles · Updated · MIT News · Sep 18
Summary
MIT Reads is overhauling its 10-year-old format to emphasize fiction and memoir, with President Sally Kornbluth choosing Ted Chiang’s “Exhalation” as the fall 2026 campus read.
The shift is meant to counter AI-era strains on education and campus life by using shared reading to build social connection, reflection and a sense of common humanity.
A recent MIT committee report on AI in teaching and research training backed that approach, urging stronger community norms and citing MIT Reads as a way to widen campus conversation.
“Exhalation,” a 2019 bestselling story collection on robots, time travel and free will, was framed by Kornbluth as unusually relevant to current debates over humans, machines and technology’s effects.
Launched in 2016, the program pairs each book with author talks and discussions; its public events are streamed online, and MIT says videos of those talks have drawn more than 5,000 views.