What exactly is AI and how concerned should we be about it?

In this episode, host Dr. Laurance Splitter notes the distinction between empirical and more conceptual questions regarding AI, with questions about future employment and dangers relating to who controls it, and what would prevent it from dominating the world, including us. He suggests that at least some of our reservations about AI and their potential psychological status – e.g. consciousness, moral agency, free will – stem from the common stereotypes of AI as either non physical software or physical entities that are nothing like we humans. If and when AI takes on more human features, the perceived emotional gap between “us” and “them” will diminish. Laurance is prepared to countenance the possibility of non-human aliens which/who are persons because they regard themselves as one among others. Why couldn’t we come to see AI along similar lines?

Turning to some of the concerns which AI has raised, Laurance notes the challenge of teaching and assessing for genuine expertise in various fields, given that many students now use AI as a “short cut”. He then moves to asking about a future in which AI not only makes much of the work currently done by humans redundant (but how much?), but engages in such higher-level tasks as discussing philosophy, and creating musical and artistic masterpieces. He revisits the question of who, if anyone, will control AI, and considers a “worst case” scenario, in which Homo sapiens is, eventually, replaced by a new species (Homo machinis?), just as the former replaced its ancestral species. He asks why the prospect of going extinct seems so frightening.

Laurance turns, finally, to a recent article whose author claims that professional philosophers are increasingly being lured away from universities by AI-related companies keen to explore such questions as: “How can we ensure that AI remains well disposed to humanity’s concerns?”, and “How might humans live worthwhile lives when much of their current work is taken over by AI, leaving them with more time for contemplation and reflection.” He ends with a reminder that the contemplation of just such questions has been undertaken by philosophers for thousands of years.”

Connect with Dr. Laurance Splitter: LinkedIn