Where does our memory end and technological assistance begin? Maria Falikman explores how search, smartphones and language models change the ways we think and learn.
September 26, 2026 · Calgary, Canada · Talk in Russian
On September 26, 2026, Digital October organised Maria Falikman’s talk, From Memory Knots to Smartphones: The Mind and Its Digital Tools, at the Platform Innovation Centre in Calgary.
Falikman, a professor and researcher at The University of the South with a doctorate in psychology, examined digital technologies as tools of cognition. Drawing on information search, navigation and language models, she discussed changes in memory, attention and our understanding of the boundaries of the mind. The talk was delivered in Russian.
Key questions
- When does a digital tool become part of cognition?
- How are information search and navigation connected to memory and attention?
- What can research tell us about working with language models?
Key takeaways
- The lecture connected contemporary digital tools with ideas about the mind’s use of instruments and extended cognition.
- Research on search, navigation and smartphones shows that tools change how cognitive work is distributed.
- Experiments involving language models were discussed as a reason to study the conditions of their use, rather than as a final verdict on the benefits or harms of AI.
Venue
The Platform Innovation Centre – East Annex, 407 9 Ave SE, Calgary, AB T2G 2K7, Canada
Event time: 17:30–20:00 · MT (UTC−6).
Event photos
