Society + Technology at UW is pleased to cross-promote the next event in the Signals & Society series, Are We Still in Control?, a conversation with Chirag Shah (Information, UW), author of Agent Nation: How Autonomous AI Is Rewriting the Rules of Society—and What We Can Do About It, and Society + Technology at UW’s Ryan Calo (Law and Information, UW).

Have people handed control to AI? Signals & Society suggests this has “not happened in one dramatic moment, but incrementally. One “accept,” one skipped terms-of-service agreement, and one “let the app decide” at a time.”

In the conversation, Shah and Calo will discuss what’s happening when AI systems are given decision-making authority and what can be done next.

Free and open to the public (21+).

Monday, August 24, 2026, at 6:00 p.m.
Lonely Siren
1501 Pike Place, Level 2, #200, Seattle

Topics include:

How autonomous AI is reshaping work, governance, and daily life
Who is accountable when AI agents act on our behalf
How people can reclaim agency in an increasingly automated society
About Chirag Shah

Chirag Shah is a professor in the UW Information School and the founding co-director of the Center for Responsibility in AI Systems & Experiences (RAISE). His research focuses on building, auditing, and correcting intelligent information systems. His latest book, Agent Nation, examines how autonomous AI is reshaping society and offers practical approaches to democratic governance and human-centered design.

About Ryan Calo

Ryan Calo is the Virginia and Prentice Bloedel Professor at the University of Washington, with appointments in Law, the Information School, and the Allen School. He is a co-founder of Society + Technology at UW, the Tech Policy Lab, and the Center for an Informed Public. His scholarship focuses on law and emerging technology, privacy, artificial intelligence, and robotics.