Human Authenticity and Flourishing in an AI-Driven World: Edmund's Journey and the Call for Mindfulness

Humans have always dreamed of possessing superpowers, and the rapid development of AI-based features promises to bring these dreams (closer) to reality. However, these advancements come with significant risks. This paper advocates for challenging existing methods and approaches in design and evaluation for more responsible AI. We stimulate reflection through a futuristic user journey illustrating the AI-driven life of Edmund in 2035. Subsequently, we discuss four AI-based superpowers: extended perception, cognitive offloading, externalized memory, and enhanced presence. We then discuss implications for HCI and AI, emphasizing the need for preserving intrinsic human superpowers, identifying meaningful use cases for AI, and evaluating AI’s impact on human abilities. This paper advocates for responsible and reflective AI integration and proposes a pathway towards the idea of a Human Flourishing Benchmark.