Sage Assembly 2026
Trust in the Machine
Verification, Agency, and the Future of Scientific Work
Verification, Agency, and the Future of Scientific Work
Reconvening after a six-year pause to ask the question that matters most for science right now.
AI has landed unevenly across the sciences. Some fields embrace it as an accelerant; others resist it as a threat to craft, credibility, or meaning. These differences often come down to who holds agency, what counts as verification, and how feedback is produced.
Sage Assembly 2026 brings together approximately 250–300 researchers, technologists, artists, writers, regulators, and critical voices to examine the boundary between assistance and abdication, and to design norms that let AI expand capability without eroding responsibility or meaning.
How do we as scientists find the times and places where AI helps real humans do valid science? When should we choose not to automate? What does calibrated trust look like? Not a binary yes or no, but trust for which tasks, under what guardrails.
Benchmarks are under scrutiny. When AI claims to do a month of a scientist's work in a day, how do we test that? Especially in biology, where there is no compiler, no proof checker, and ground truth is expensive.
AI is simultaneously astonishing and absurd, "genius and clueless." How do scientists internalize the jagged shape of machine intelligence without cynicism or hype, and preserve meaningful human agency?
Organizations like Sage sit between disciplines, between sectors. What role do boundary-spanning institutions play in building the trust infrastructure that lets AI and humans work together?
Voices from technology, medicine, philosophy, and the arts converging on the question of trust.
Wikimedia Foundation
Keynote / Confirmed
Conversational Health Researcher
Keynote / Confirmed12–15 total speakers across keynotes and panels
Coming SoonA dialectic structure: from the promise of the machine, through the irreplaceable role of the human, to a shared vision forward.
On the Seattle waterfront, the same iconic venue where Sage Assembly has convened before.
A one-day symposium followed by an evening reception overlooking Elliott Bay.
Help bring this vital conversation to life. We offer flexible partnership options.
In-kind support covering event venue and meeting space, AV/production, daytime food & beverage, and evening reception hospitality.
Support the program speakers, including keynote honoraria, speaker travel, and hospitality for 12–15 presenters.
Serve as the anchor partner with a suggested range of $100K–$150K total value (cash + in-kind), flexible to your internal structuring.
Contact us to discuss a partnership tailored to your organization.
Sage Assembly has been convening cross-sector conversations since 2013.
Sage Bionetworks hosted its 10th-anniversary symposium at Bell Harbor Conference Center on July 25, 2019. The day featured keynotes, panels, and participatory sessions exploring next-generation open science, followed by an evening celebration at the Center for Wooden Boats on Lake Union.
| Time | Session |
|---|---|
| 9:00 AM | Welcome: Lara Mangravite, Sage Bionetworks |
| 9:20 AM | Assembly Address: Christine Borgman, UCLA |
| 9:50 AM | Panel: Open Science Matters Moderator: Kara Woo • Deborah Estrin, Cliff Lynch, Carly Strasser, Dario Taraborelli |
| 11:00 AM | Assembly Address: Eric Schadt, Mount Sinai / Sema4 |
| 11:30 AM | Panel: Idealized Scientific Futures Moderator: Brian Bot • Andy Coravos, Peter Goodhand, Gustavo Stolovitzky, Katie Baca-Motes |
| 1:00 PM | Lunch Address: Yoko Sen & Avery Sen, Sen Sound |
| 1:45 PM | Assembly Address: Carolina Botero, Karisma Foundation |
| 2:15 PM | Panel: Exploring Vulnerabilities of Open Approaches Moderator: John Wilbanks • Heather Joseph, Jasmine McNealy, Jennifer Wagner, Ken Mandl |
| 3:15 PM | Assembly Address: Kathy Hudson, Consultant |
| 4:00 PM | Assembly Address: Cory Doctorow, Writer & Activist |
| 4:30 PM | Panel: Imagining Possible Knowledge Futures Moderator: Larsson Omberg • Eva Barbarossa, Katindi Sivi-Njonjo, Avery Sen |
| 5:30 PM | Closing Remarks: Lara Mangravite & John Wilbanks |
| 6:30 PM | Sage 10th Anniversary Celebration: Center for Wooden Boats, South Lake Union |
When COVID-19 paused in-person events, Sage Assembly pivoted to a virtual webinar series exploring timely questions at the intersection of technology, ethics, and public health.
Speakers: Dr. Jasmine McNealy (University of Florida), Dr. Elaine Nsoesie (Boston University), Sean McDonald (Digital Public). Moderated by John Wilbanks.
Speakers: Jennifer K. Wagner, JD, PhD (Geisinger), Professor Kayte Spector-Bagdady, JD, MBe (University of Michigan). Facilitated by Meg Doerr, Sage Bionetworks.
Sage Assembly has been a cornerstone of Sage Bionetworks' community engagement since its inception, held annually from 2013 through 2019. Previous themes explored open science, data commons, participant-centered research, and the evolving relationship between technology and the scientific enterprise. The Assembly format combines rapid presentations, keynote addresses, networking, and participatory sessions, all designed to forge unexpected connections among participants from diverse sectors including science, education, social impact, and the arts.
