The Office of the President hosted Charlie Lewis to present “Humanity in the Age of AI & Cybersecurity: An Interdisciplinary Exploration” as a part of President Cindy Jebb’s Presidential Speaker Series. The event took place in Trustees Pavilion on Monday, welcoming the Ramapo community to listen in and ask questions.
Lewis is a partner and lead for McKinsey & Company’s North American cyber and tech risk service. According to the president’s website, Lewis is a political scientist, educator and systems engineer.
Jebb led the fireside chat by asking Lewis questions about how he views cybersecurity in business and government. Jebb also asked questions about how he views AI in his professional and personal life and how he sees it in higher education.
“I spend my time helping organizations think about reducing the risk of something bad happening,” Lewis said.
Lewis notes that the first step in this process is to identify what the greatest cybersecurity risk to the organization is, what would be the most impactful and then putting in the work to lower the risk of that happening.
“In my own personal life, I use [generative] AI a decent amount because I find I love to learn,” Lewis said. “It’s a … great way to learn how to ask questions and better questions.”
Lewis went on to explain that he also takes precautions in his personal life to protect himself and his family from the risks of AI. He notes that his family has identity protection, stays vigilant against threats and fraud tactics and makes use of redundancy — the practice of having multiple critical systems in case something fails.
Lewis emphasized that generative AI can be a great benefit, but it needs to be used correctly. He also touched on a potentially harmful aspect of AI, the way it can not replicate certain human relationships, like connecting on social media, through talking to generative AI.
“We have seen a continued, sort of rapid reduction in the bonds of the togetherness,” Lewis said. He added that he hopes there will be enough regulations to control the way AI is used and acknowledges that AI can not accurately recreate a human connection.
Lewis also spoke about the use of AI in higher education, saying that the generations currently in these institutions are better equipped to handle the integration of AI because they are more aware of privacy and security.
“I think that … because they are growing up with it. It will be more concerning for [older generations] than I think it will be for them because they will figure out how to use it, and they will see the good,” Lewis said.
The talk ended with Jebb asking Lewis to give leadership advice to the students in attendance. He notes that being observant is key.
“I think that just taking the time to get to know people and understand what’s driving them,” Lewis said.
jhammer@ramapo.edu
Featured photo by Jessica Hammer
