Conversation with Dr. Mark Finlayson, Associate Professor of Computer Science and Associate Director of Research & Academic Affairs, Florida International University.
It all began with Star Trek: The Next Generation. Yes, the computers and futuristic gadgets were cool. But what really sparked something was the idea of a crew living in a world where humanity had already overcome its biggest challenges — disease, hunger, inequality. From there, they weren’t fixing problems. They were asking better questions.
“I came to AI through an interest in how people and societies work,” says Dr. Mark Finlayson. “Could technology help us understand a problem better?”
Dr. Finlayson’s work focuses on something many of us take for granted: language. In a world full of voice assistants and text generators, it’s easy to forget that every word carries emotion, history, and identity. Teaching machines to understand language isn’t just a technical challenge—it’s a cultural one.
This idea is echoed in AI: More Than Human, our special exhibition exploring how intelligence is built, shared, and sometimes misunderstood. In the section titled Mind Machines, guests encounter technologies that can teach themselves—often with surprising results. But AI runs on words, and words are culture. They’re diverse, poetic, and easily misinterpreted. They carry the weight of identity and community.
This is why Dr. Finlayson calls his work humanistic. Because it’s not just about programming machines, it’s about asking the kinds of questions that machines can’t answer. Not yet. Questions like: What does it mean for something to be a story?
Although he works in and on artificial intelligence, he doesn’t heavily rely on AI-enabled tools. His approach is intentional. Smart devices are kept to a minimum. Data is handled with care. “Would you like this information public?” he explains, “is not just a courtesy — it’s a philosophy.”
As AI begins to interpret more of the world—photos, texts, emotions—the questions become even deeper. The exhibition’s third section, Data Worlds, invites guests to consider how these systems interpret our information and what might be missing. Finlayson raises questions about how much they really know, and whether true understanding requires something more than code. His work also invites us to reflect on what it would truly take for a machine to think, decide, or feel, and how will AI affect privacy, diversity, freedom and truth?
“Even the most fantastic machines you can imagine will still have limits,” he reflects. “To truly make decisions like a human, a machine might need something that functions like emotions or looks like emotion.”
These aren’t just technical challenges. They’re personal ones. When AI learns from our words, it learns from our lives. That’s why Dr. Finlayson calls his work humanistic. Because in the end, intelligence isn’t just about thinking. It’s about meaning.
AI is the tool.
Humanity is the mission.
Together, they become more than human.
To continue the conversation beyond the walls of the museum, our Science Stories: AI Corner on the Frost Science website is spotlighting how scientists are using AI in their research and daily work. From tracking wildlife migration patterns to modeling climate change, these digital features will explore the real-world applications of artificial intelligence and the people behind the progress—offering a deeper dive into the questions and innovations shaping our future.
At Frost Science, AI: More Than Human is more than an exhibition. It is an invitation. To explore. To question. To play. And to reflect on the evolving relationship between human beings and the intelligence we are building.
We invite you to visit, interact, and imagine what comes next.
Science Story Contributor: Diego Arango
The exhibition was curated and organized by the City of London’s Barbican Centre and co-produced by Groningen Forum, Netherlands. The City of London Corporation is the owner, founder and principal funder of the Barbican Centre.
AI: More Than Human is sponsored locally by Amazon.