MIT President Sally Kornbluth used a Washington Post Live discussion to make a direct case for the systems behind American innovation: basic research, broad access to technical education and a more human-centered approach to artificial intelligence.
Speaking during "The Next Generation," a panel moderated by Washington Post reporter Zachary Goldfarb at The Washington Post’s "Building America Summit," Kornbluth joined Arizona State University (ASU) President Michael Crow to discuss how universities can prepare scientists and technologists for a changing national landscape.
Curiosity-driven research is the starting point
Kornbluth’s central argument was that breakthroughs usually do not begin with a finished product in mind. They often start with researchers trying to understand how the world works, without an immediate commercial return.
That kind of work, she warned, depends heavily on federal support. Without it, the research and talent pipeline that has contributed to the country’s prosperity and safety could weaken.
“Many of the things we have in our everyday lives, whether they be medical advances, technological advances, a lot of these things came from 30, 40, 50 years of scientists just trying to figure out how things work,” emphasized Kornbluth.
The point matters because the benefits of basic research can arrive long after the original question was asked. In Kornbluth’s framing, the country’s capacity to produce future discoveries depends on maintaining support for work that may not look immediately practical.
AI changes education, but does not replace the basics
Kornbluth rejected the idea that artificial intelligence makes traditional academic subjects obsolete. Instead, she argued that students need strong foundations in fields such as math, physics, biology and chemistry so they can use AI effectively and responsibly.
Her view is not that universities should simply add AI tools to every course. It is that students must understand enough of the underlying disciplines to know what to ask, how to evaluate answers and how to apply new technologies to scientific research.
“I do not think that any of our traditional subjects are now outmoded [by AI]. It’s how you approach them,” said Kornbluth.
She also described a broader educational mission. MIT’s curriculum, she said, is leaning into basic STEM fields while giving renewed emphasis to moral, civic and ethical goals. The aim is to prepare leading-edge technologists who can make decisions with a wider sense of responsibility.
That focus extends to writing and communication. Kornbluth noted that using AI well requires strong prompts, and that students need to learn how to write clearly enough to guide these systems toward useful work.
Students need to be able “to take that knowledge and think about how they can use AI to the greatest good and also learn to write the right prompts,” said Kornbluth.
Human-centered AI still means building and collaborating
Kornbluth linked MIT’s approach to its motto, “mens et manus” (mind and hand). For her, a human-centric approach to AI includes physical AI, practical building and the use of AI as an augmentation tool.
That distinction is important. The goal is not to make AI a substitute for hands-on work, nor to let it replace peer learning. Kornbluth said MIT is placing strong emphasis on teamwork so students can use tools together while still moving toward shared goals.
“We’re putting a big emphasis on things like teamwork. So, [students] need to be able to use these tools and come together towards goals, because you could imagine a situation that AI becomes your buddy instead of your study group. We don’t really want that to happen,” said Kornbluth.
She also pointed to the MIT Sloan School of Management as having a distinct role in AI exploration. Because students there arrive with business experience, and because demand for strong AI knowledge is high in the field, the school sits at an important intersection of technology and practical application.
Frozen funds could slow medical progress
Kornbluth also addressed federal funding problems. She said money has been appropriated for universities but has not been released to them by and large, leaving institutions trying to understand what future funding streams will look like.
“We’re really trying to figure out what the funding stream is going to be going forward,” said Kornbluth.
When asked about the consequences of frozen funds, she pointed to the long development arc behind life-saving treatments. Diabetes was one example. Kornbluth described a path from insulin injections to automated pumps and CGMs [Continuous Glucose Monitors], and then toward a possible functional cure involving stem cell implantation and masking cells so they are not rejected by the immune system.
Her broader point was that major treatment advances require many stages of basic work. She connected the same logic to cancer therapy and immunotherapy, noting that immunotherapy is still in its infancy and does not work in every possible kind of cancer at this point.
“That [diabetes] is just one area. You can extrapolate that to cancer therapy,” said Kornbluth.
Basic research, pharmaceutical companies and biotech all appear in that pathway. In Kornbluth’s account, the work happening now can make treatments more broadly applicable over time.
Access and scale shape the next generation
The discussion also turned to education’s national impact. Kornbluth said Twenty percent of MIT’s class of 2029 were first-generation students, and described education as “the best pathway to economic mobility.”
She highlighted MIT’s free tuition program for students with parental incomes under $200,000 and MIT for America, an initiative expanding access to calculus in under-resourced high schools nationwide. Calculus, she noted, is a required course for institutions such as MIT.
Kornbluth also framed MIT’s broader economic role in large terms. She said MIT has spun out north of 30,000 companies, and that MIT’s economic impact on the country is equivalent to the 14th largest GDP in the world.
Crow closed the discussion by describing what ASU learns from MIT: the edge of technology and how master technologists and scientists work in small groups. For ASU, with a student population of over 150,000, the lesson is then adapted to a different scale and operating model.
Kornbluth ended with a view of MIT’s role beyond campus. As she put it, the institution is trying to increase its impact beyond MIT walls while continuing to serve society through scientific discovery.