About the Accord
Human Alignment Before AI Alignment.
Equality doesn't begin when Wichita meets Silicon Valley.
It begins when Wichita meets itself.
Artificial intelligence is advancing at a pace that threatens to exceed humanity’s ability to understand, govern, and adapt to its consequences. Yet the people whose lives will be most affected are largely absent from the conversations shaping its development.
The Wichita Accord is an effort to change that.
Beginning in the Air Capital of the World, we’re bringing together the people developing frontier artificial intelligence and the communities whose futures they are shaping—not for another listening exercise, but to establish meaningful understanding, mutual responsibility, and a shared path forward.
The Accord is convened by the Newman Institute for AI & the Common Good at Newman University and practiced by Serviti Corps.
Who should help?
Before we can meaningfully engage the people developing the world’s most advanced artificial intelligence, we must first understand one another.
The Wichita Accord brings together workers, employers, educators, students, parents, faith communities, people with disabilities, caregivers, veterans, formerly incarcerated individuals, seniors, and others whose experiences reveal different opportunities and challenges created by technological change.
These aren’t simply demographic groups. They represent different relationships with a future being shaped by technologies most people have had little opportunity to understand.
Our first responsibility is to ensure these voices can participate meaningfully—not simply be heard.
Why Wichita?
For generations, Wichita has helped humanity take flight.
The Air Capital of the World understands that extraordinary technological achievements require more than brilliant engineering. They require skilled workers, trusted institutions, rigorous preparation, and an understanding of the people who depend upon the technology.
Imagine developing an aircraft capable of traveling at Mach 10 while the rest of the world is still learning to maintain conventional passenger jets.
The engineers building that aircraft possess extraordinary expertise. But the pilots, mechanics, passengers, and communities affected by its operation have experiences and needs that cannot simply be ignored.
Artificial intelligence presents a similar challenge.
Wichita understands that the future of aviation was never just about the aircraft. It was also about the people aboard.
The Wichita Accord begins by bringing the engineers and the passengers into the same conversation.