Building AI for Human Flourishing - Brianne Shaw on Ethics, Responsibility, and the Future of Technology

As artificial intelligence rapidly integrates into every aspect of daily life, from Starbucks orders to workplace interactions, Brianne Shaw and the team at Glue are asking critical questions that other tech companies seem to ignore: Does this AI promote human flourishing or diminish it? While major players like OpenAI, Google, and Meta race to replace humans in the loop of research and development, Glue takes a radically different approach by building AI specifically designed to keep people at the center and support their ability to thrive. Brianne introduces the Flourishing AI Benchmark (FAI), a groundbreaking measurement system that evaluates seven dimensions of human flourishing—finance, character, relationships, meaning, faith, health, and happiness—across all leading AI models. The results are concerning: nearly every major large language model scores between 60 and 70 percent, essentially earning a C or D grade in promoting human wellbeing. The implications are significant as AI becomes ubiquitous in society, with future generations interacting with these systems from childhood. Brianne emphasizes the importance of practicing discernment when using AI tools, knowing what data they're trained on, understanding their sources, and considering the outcomes they produce for our lives. She warns that free versions of AI models differ dramatically from paid versions in quality and accuracy, yet many people treat AI outputs as gospel without questioning the prompts used or the models consulted. Glue's ethics-wrapped models demonstrate that responsible AI achieving higher flourishing scores is both possible and necessary. As technology like Optimus robots enters homes in 2026 and beyond, the conversation about AI ethics becomes increasingly urgent. Brianne offers hope that with the right people, engineers, and companies leaning into responsible development, society can create a path forward where AI genuinely supports human flourishing, productivity, and the goodness we all seek in our daily lives.