Dr. Cori Lathan is a technology entrepreneur who has developed robots for kids with disabilities, virtual reality technology for the space station, and wearable sensors for training surgeons and soldiers. She is a global thought-leader in the relationship between technology and human performance and believes in a future of benevolent cyborgs. Cori’s new book, Inventing the Future: Stories from a Techno-Optimist, explores the possibilities of making the world a better place through the 20 year journey of her career focused on technology and human performance.

Founder and former CEO of AnthroTronix (est. 1999), Cori has led projects from agencies such as DARPA, NASA, NIH, and NSF and recently developed one of the first FDA-cleared digital health platforms winning a prestigious Gold Edison Award. For this work, she was named a Woman to Watch by Disruptive Women in Health Care. She also joined the WomenAgainstAlzheimer's Women's Leadership Council to address the most dangerous threat facing women today. Dr. Lathan has also been featured in Forbes, Time, and the New Yorker, and her work has led to such distinctions as MIT Technology Review Magazine’s “Top 100 World Innovators,” and one of Fast Company's “Most Creative People in Business.”

Dr. Lathan was named a Technology Pioneer and a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. She has also chaired the Forum’s Global Future Council on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Robotics, served as founding co-Chair of the Human Enhancement Council, and is a member of their steering committee to select the annual list of Top 10 Emerging Technologies. She is part of the IF/THEN® Initiative, a national effort sponsored by Lyda Hill Philanthropies® to inspire young girls to pursue STEM careers while creating a culture shift in how the world perceives women in STEM. She is one of 125 female STEM innovators selected by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and Lyda Hill Philanthropies® to be AAAS IF/THEN® Ambassadors, all serving as high-profile role models for girls.

Dr. Lathan is a social advocate and actively involved in STEM educational outreach programs that empower women and minorities in science and technology. She founded Keys to Empowering Youth (est. 1992) for junior high school girls, coached for the FIRST and VEX robotics program, and advised the Smithsonian Institute’s Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation. Dr. Lathan is on the Boards of the KID Museum Makerspace and Engineering World Health, which provides opportunities to college students to support the emergence of healthcare technology in the developing world.

 

Topics:

  • Explore the possibilities of tomorrow through the twenty-year journey of invention with Dr. Cori Lathan. This riveting odyssey takes you from CosmoBot, the educational robot for kids with disabilities; to 3D-Space, the virtual reality experiment in space; to String, the device that stimulates your brain. In this optimistic view of the future, Dr. Lathan unveils her belief that technology should amplify our strengths, bridge our capabilities, and forge an equitable tomorrow. Audiences will learn how to embark on their own adventure to invent the future in this inspiring talk.

  • Artificial Intelligence isn’t just something that is happening around us. It’s happening TO us WITH us. So how do we preserve and elevate vitality of the mind? AI and other emerging technologies will augment us as humans and as a society. Will this result in a Borg collective or a world of benevolent cyborgs? How will this better connect us or further divide us? Through her lens as a neuroscientist, inventor, engineer, and entrepreneur, Cori Lathan explores the impact of AI and other technologies on us as humans and how we can shape human-technology interaction to have a positive impact.

  • Dr. Cori Lathan’s belief that technology and human capability is better together than alone will come alive in this keynote for any audience. Using examples from her own journey as an inventor, Cori illustrates the three principles of her manifesto: 

    1. Technology should make us stronger, healthier, and happier. 

    2. Technology should enable us to do things we couldn't do without technology. 

    3. Technology should create an equitable future. 

    Through this talk, audiences will learn the key conclusion of this manifesto: we all have agency in creating the future. So what will the future look like? You get to decide.

  • We are all makers, innovators, and potential entrepreneurs. What is the process of taking an idea or vision and bringing it to fruition—especially if you are breaking new ground? Using cutting edge science and technology from the fields of brain science, robotics, and artificial intelligence, Cori Lathan has brought multiple products to market. In this talk, she shares with audiences  the process of starting a company and bringing their own ideas to life. With her expert insights, she explains the role of technology in designing solutions for problems that really matter.

Twitter: @clathan

Instagram: @drcoril