TED 2026: No humanity in a life without friction,: why we must protect disability and choice

In April 2026, Sinéad Burke stood on the TED stage once again, nine years after her ‘Why Design Should Include Everyone’ talk on the main stage in New York. This time at the TED annual conference in Vancouver, Sinéad was invited to respond to a talk by Noor Siddiqui. 

On the final day of TED 2026, those attending the conference are invited to apply to participate in a Town Hall, where each person has 90 seconds to respond to a talk that they loved, were curious about, or were challenged by. Technology, censorship, surveillance, and eugenics were discussed.

Siddiqui is the founder and CEO of Orchid, a company that is building whole-genome embryo screening tools to help families understand and reduce genetic risk before a child is born through IVF. A former Thiel Fellow and AI researcher at the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Noor and her team apply the latest in machine learning, embryology and genetics technology to give babies their strongest possible start.

The company promises a healthy baby, but at times, the language and proposition leans into the framing that to be Disabled, or to have a Disabled baby is something that can and should be solved for. Orchid’s website reads, “Screen your embryos for thousands of diseases” and “take the first step towards having healthy kids”, with screening data offered for birth defects that could arise from advanced paternal age, or that could include hearing loss, skeletal disorders, autism spectrum disorder (which is language the Autistic community no longer uses), epilepsy, and blood cancers.

In a powerful response to the support for accelerating the rise of genetic screening technologies, Sinéad Burke shared a critical perspective on what it means to truly have a choice in a world that often overlooks Disabled lives. Her brief address served as a vital reminder that while technology offers promises of “improving” humanity, we must look closer at the systems driving these innovations and the lack of investment in removing barriers, re-designing systems, and transforming mindsets.

The Illusion of Choice

Sinéad challenged the idea of “choice” when the options presented are fundamentally unequal. She asked the audience at TED to consider if a choice is truly free if one path is riddled with systemic barriers, such as:

• Inaccessible Healthcare and Education: Systems that are not built to accommodate or support Disabled individuals.
• Barriers in Employment and Finance: Economic structures that often exclude the Disabled community.
• Pervasive Ableism: A societal bias that devalues disabled lives.

When the alternative to these obstacles is presented as a “wondrous promise” of a life without pain or friction, perhaps what we are being offered is an illusion masked as an opportunity.

The Value of Friction

“There is no humanity in a life without friction”. Sinéad argued against the erasure of disability, noting that society currently lacks the urgency to invest in accessible infrastructure. Instead of removing the barriers that prevent Disabled people from thriving, the current preference is often to invest in their erasure through genetic selection.

Lived Experience as Intellectual Property

Reframing the narrative around disability, Sinéad emphasised that lived experience is intellectual property. 

• Innovation through Disability: Disabled people are sensational not in spite of their disabilities, but because of the unique perspectives and skills they develop navigating a world not designed for them.
• A Call for Accessibility: True progress lies in designing systems and infrastructure that are inclusive, rather than exploiting fear and shame to justify the removal of certain genetic compositions.

Sinéad’s response to the TED audience was a call to action to be wary of those who exploit fear and to instead champion a world where every individual has the opportunity to thrive.