Professor Mitchell Stevens, Stanford University: Linking the Conversations About AI, Learning and Longevity

About this episode

Professor Mitchell Stevens discusses the need for optimism in the face of AI disruption and an aging population.

We start the new year by bringing you a fresh perspective on key sources of concern for American society at large and the workforce development sector in particular: AI disruption in the workplace and education, and the many challenges presented by our rapidly aging population. For Professor Mitchell Stevens of the Graduate School of Education at Stanford University, a shift from anxiety to optimism about these changes is urgently needed. “I’m not trying to say that the future will be all good, but that the future can only be good if everyday people, politicians and corporate leaders sort of ambitiously anticipate a positive future and then imagine ways to build it,” says Stevens, who helps lead Stanford’s Center for Longevity and its Learning Society Initiative. Thinking about aging as longevity instead, and working to extend the functional part of our lives through better health and educational opportunities is a prime example of this mindset. Other recommendations he offers include: • Recognize that schooling and learning are not the same and reward learning wherever it occurs; • Link conversations about AI, aging and the future of work; • Draw on lessons learned from previous…

People in this episode

Host: Van Ton-Quinlivan

Guest: Mitchell Stevens

Topics covered

• AI disruption
• workplace education
• aging population
• longevity
• optimism about the future

Keywords

• AI
• education
• longevity
• workforce development
• health

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Stanford University, Stanford’s Center for Longevity, Learning Society Initiative

More episodes of WorkforceRx

• Caitlyn Brazill, President Of Per Scholas: Turning Structural Gaps Into Tech Career Opportunity · June 10, 2026 · 37 min
• Reigniting Education Journeys with a Personalized Approach: Terah Crews, Chief Executive Officer at ReUp Education · May 28, 2026 · 24 min
• Dr. Zakiya Ellis, Principal Consultant at  EducationCounsel: Why Higher Ed Needs Firefighters and Architects in the Age of AI · May 13, 2026 · 26 min
• Dr. Joshua Travis Brown, Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins School of Education: How Higher Education Went From Mission-Driven to Margin-Obsessed · April 8, 2026 · 38 min
• Dr. Andrea Austin, Emergency Medicine Residency Program Director at Ascension Sacred Heart Hospital: How to Create Changemakers in Healthcare · March 25, 2026 · 29 min
• Dr. Pam Eddinger, President of Bunker Hill Community College: Blurring Traditional Education Boundaries · March 11, 2026 · 32 min