Connected Life 2026: New Intelligence, Old Questions

Thursday, 25 June 2026, 4pm to 6pm

The Connected Life Summit is a one-day, student-led conference focused on what it means to live in an increasingly connected world. It is supported by the Oxford Internet Institute and will be hosted at the Oxford Union on Thursday, 25 June 2026.

The Summit will bring together researchers, business leaders, and policymakers to explore how technology shapes society, and how society shapes technology. Around 100 invited participants will take part in smaller, closed sessions during the day. From 4pm, the event opens to a wider audience in the Oxford Union Debate Chamber, where up to 200 attendees will join a public debate on the future of global AI governance. For over nine centuries, Oxford has been a place where intellectual and technological transformations have been studied and debated. The Connected Life Summit builds on that tradition by examining how new forms of intelligence build on longstanding questions of governance, ethics, and social organisation. Themes include:

Data & Insights – How new forms of intelligence reshape our understanding of society
Tech & Culture – How digital systems transform everyday life and social norms
Governance & Power – Who shapes emerging technologies, and who they serve
Ethics & Inequality – How innovation can be pursued responsibly and fairly
Register your interest in joining the invite only daytime session here by the 27th May. Limited slots are available and allocations will be made on May 28.

Public Session Agenda
Join us 4-6pm for a debate on the topic of “This House Believes that AI is the Great Equalizer”

Tickets cost £20.

16:15 – 16:30 Debate Chamber
Host: Howard Leong

Welcome to Public Session

Howard Leong, Chair, Connected Life Summit
Deloitte
16:30 – 18:00 Debate Chamber
Host: Howard Leong

Motion: This House Believes that AI is the Great Equalizer

Proposition:
Vilas Dhar, President and Trustee, Patrick J. McGovern Foundation
Dr. Fazl Barez, Senior Research Fellow, Oxford Martin School
Opposition:
Dex Hunter-Torricke, Former Head of Communications, Google DeepMind / Elon Musk / Mark Zuckerberg
Dr. Rachel Adams, Executive Director, Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence and Global Centre on AI Governance
Rachel Coldicutt OBE, Executive Director, Careful Industries
Note: Portable ramps allow wheelchairs to access the Debating Chamber, Goodman Library, and Members’ Bar. There is a RADAR key accessible disabled toilet on the ground floor. The other rooms are reached by stairs. The Oxford Union does not have a lift.

Please note tickets are non-refundable and are valid only for the public session 4-6pm, 25th June.

For more information visit https://connectedlife.oii.ox.ac.uk/

If you have questions, please email connectedlife@oii.ox.ac.uk.

Speaker(s): Vilas Dhar (Patrick J. McGovern Foundation), Dr. Fazl Barez (Oxford Martin School), Dex Hunter-Torricke (Former Head of Communications, Google DeepMind), Dr. Rachel Adams (Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence and Global Centre on AI Governance), Rachel Coldicutt OBE (Careful Industries)

Series: Connected Life

Department: Oxford Internet Institute (Department)

Organiser: Howard Leong, Daniella Smith, Anna McConkie, Michi Wong, Amelia Mercado, Audrey Yip, Robert Bowker, Grahm Gaydos, Chandler Wilson

Host: Howard Leong, Daniella Smith, Anna McConkie, Michi Wong, Amelia Mercado, Audrey Yip, Robert Bowker, Grahm Gaydos, Chandler Wilson

Register here: https://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/news-events/events/connected-life-2026-new-intelligence-old-questions/