THE FUTURE OF AI: SOCIAL AND CULTURAL ASPECTS

Online lecture series

Armin Grunwald (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology)

Artificial Intelligence (AI) meets Philosophical Anthropology

Several sub-disciplines of philosophy are active in improving the understanding of AI and providing orientation for assessments, evaluations and judgments, in particular philosophical ethics and epistemology. In my presentation, however, I will address philosophical questions behind AI, which have been discussed only seldom so far. The emergence of AI raises questions for the self-image of humans, which is a core issue in philosophical anthropology. In particular, I will put emphasis on the role of language used, e.g. while talking about AI algorithms or robots which partially gives them the role of subjects analogous to human persons.

Armin Grunwald is a Full professor of Philosophy and Ethics of Technology at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany. He is director of the Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis at KIT (ITAS) and Director of the Office of Technology Assessment at the German Bundestag. His professional backgrounds include technology assessment, ethics of philosophy, theory of sustainable development, and the epistemology of inter- and transdisciplinary research. Armin Grunwald is member of several advisory commissions and committees in various fields of the technological advance, e.g. of the German Ethics Council.

This lecture is a part of The Future of AI: Social and Cultural Aspects online lecture series that brings international experts to discuss the philosophy of AI, AI and post-digital aesthetics, cultural impacts of AI, AI (in) art, non-human agency, AI-driven social transformations, and, more generally, our coexistence with AI and digital technologies in all aspects of daily life. The series is organized by the Digital Society Lab [DigLab] of the Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory.