MIT Leaders Urge Defending Scientific Method Amid AI Advances

Noubar Afeyan and Sally Kornbluth discuss the role of science, technology, and higher education in a changing world.

Published on Feb. 11, 2026

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In a discussion at the Imagination in Action event in Davos, MIT President Sally Kornbluth and Noubar Afeyan, founder of Flagship Pioneering, talked about the importance of upholding scientific principles in the era of powerful new technologies like AI. They discussed the need to think "future backwards" to drive innovation, the concept of "polyintelligence" involving humans, machines, and nature, and how AI can be leveraged to advance fields like life sciences and medicine. The leaders also addressed challenges facing higher education and the scientific method itself, which Afeyan warned is "under attack" despite its critical role in progress.

Why it matters

As transformative technologies like AI continue to advance, there are growing concerns that the scientific method and evidence-based decision making could be undermined by misinformation, ideology, and a shift away from rigorous research. MIT's leaders are advocating for proactive steps to defend the integrity of science and ensure it remains the foundation for innovation and problem-solving in the decades ahead.

The details

Afeyan opened the discussion by emphasizing the importance of "thinking from the future backwards" to drive progress, rather than relying solely on present-day expertise. He introduced the concept of "polyintelligence," which recognizes humans, machines, and nature as three coexisting forms of intelligence that can be leveraged together. Kornbluth discussed MIT's approach to integrating AI across disciplines to solve real-world problems, working closely with clinicians and other partners. The leaders also addressed challenges facing higher education, with Afeyan noting the questioning of the value of college degrees and the potential role of AI. Kornbluth outlined MIT's efforts to ensure students gain foundational AI skills while remaining grounded in their passions and fields of study.

  • The Imagination in Action event took place in Davos in January 2026.

The players

Noubar Afeyan

The founder of Flagship Pioneering and a former commencement speaker at MIT.

Sally Kornbluth

The president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

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What they’re saying

“You can live your life thinking from the present forward, or you can live your life thinking from the future backwards. The advantage of 'present forward' is that people think you're realistic, you're pragmatic, you're rational, you may even be an expert. There's no experts in the future. It turns out there's only experts of the present. But if you're willing to think first about the future, and then do things in the present that will achieve that future, you literally flip the time arrow.”

— Noubar Afeyan, Founder, Flagship Pioneering (Imagination in Action* event)

“I go around saying that I'm a paranoid optimist. I'd invite you to think about yourself as a paranoid optimist. You can be as optimistic as you want, provided you're equally paranoid.”

— Noubar Afeyan, Founder, Flagship Pioneering (Imagination in Action* event)

“By polyintelligence, we mean humans, machines, and nature coexisting as three forms of intelligence. The punchline is, if we could use machine intelligence to emulate nature's intelligence in ways that we've never done before, and in ways that our brains cannot properly capture and process, I would argue, we may well have a chance in our lifetimes to begin to talk about nature, the complexity of disease and preconditions and treatments, in ways we have not had available for the entirety of the biotech pharmaceutical industry.”

— Noubar Afeyan, Founder, Flagship Pioneering (Imagination in Action* event)

“We want all of our students to have sort of a foundational facility with AI, but as you say, most of our students are not going to have to know what's under the hood in any great detail. So what we want them to know, now, is how they can really be passionate about the content that they care about, whether it's materials design, whether it's aerospace, whether it's biochemical innovation, and understanding the many ways in which AI can help in that innovation.”

— Sally Kornbluth, President, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Imagination in Action* event)

“The point I make … is that for the first time in my history, 40 years of doing this kind of work, I feel like it's not scientific output that's being questioned. It's the scientific process that's being questioned. The scientific method that we've used basically over time since enlightenment of evidence-based gathering evidence, debating evidence, determining the then objective truth and then moving forward, only to revisit it based on the same organized skepticism that defines science, is under attack.”

— Noubar Afeyan, Founder, Flagship Pioneering (Imagination in Action* event)

The takeaway

As transformative technologies like AI continue to advance, MIT's leaders are advocating for proactive steps to defend the integrity of science and the scientific method, which they warn is increasingly under attack. By embracing a "future backwards" mindset, leveraging "polyintelligence" involving humans, machines, and nature, and ensuring students gain foundational AI skills while remaining grounded in their fields of study, MIT is positioning itself as a champion for evidence-based innovation and problem-solving in the decades ahead.