THE FUTURE OF AI: SOCIAL AND CULTURAL ASPECTS
Online lecture series

Andreas Kaminski (Technical University Darmstadt)
Making our concepts outdated: Human-Machine Interaction in the Context of AI

At his upcoming lecture, Andreas Kaminski will discuss the current attention given to particular performances of AI systems, such as appearing to have elaborate linguistic skills or behaving intelligent. He will also explore the significant changes that are taking place on another level, that concern our practical and theoretical relationship to technology. He will explain how our interaction with and understanding of technology is largely shaped by distinctions such as “works” vs. “fails.” For this, we need expectations about what effects techniques should produce given our inputs and circumstances. In this way we understand technology and learn how to deal with it. However, these notions seem to lose grip in the context of learning machines. In this lecture he will attempt to demonstrate how and why these terms are more difficult to apply in the context of our interaction with learning machines.

Andreas Kaminski is a professor at the Technical University Darmstadt since 2022, previously he was a visiting professor at RWTH Aachen and head of the Department philosophy of computational science at the federal high-performance center HLRS. His main research interests are the philosophy of science and technology, with a focus on the role of technology in the sciences, especially in computational methods (simulation and machine learning). Additionally, he is also interested in the philosophy of trust and testimony, dealing with topics such as deception and disinformation.

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.