As I told you in the previous lectures, the idea of artificial intelligence is at least 2000 years old. Ok, it wasn't called artificial intelligence in those days,
but it formulated the essence of artificial intelligence: the mechanization of thinking and reasoning. That is what Aristotle initiated with his syllogisms.
John Haugeland (1945 - 2010), a professor of philosophy, specializing in the philosophy of mind, and cognitive science at the University of Chicago from 1999 until his death, even calls Thomas Hobbes (1588 -1679) in his "Artificial Intelligence: the very Idea" even 'the grandfather of artificial intelligence'.
In particular because of Hobbes's idea that rational thinking is the same as making calculations. Just as arithmetic systematically adds numbers together or subtracts, so it goes with thinking, but with small particles in the brain.
Just like arithmetic, thinking benefits from following rules, thus thinking is the systematic addition and subtraction of particles in the brain.
The calculations on paper and the associated calculation rules move to the brain, where the symbols are of course not only have to be mathematical signs.
With Hobbes begins the mechanization and mathematization of thinking, an important step towards the development of artificial intelligence. Considering thinking as a mechanical process creates the possibility of artificial intelligence.
For example, Hobbes's contemporary René Descartes (1596 - 1650) can imagine machines that pronounce words. In some cases he expects that the machine can even respond to a physical action with specific words.
But Descartes also sees limitations. For example, he doesn't expect the machine to be able to respond in a meaningful way. In addition, according to Descartes, machines lack versatility.
In his "Discours de la méthode", he states that even if a machines can do certain things just as well or perhaps better than a human, there are inevitably other things in which they fall short.
The machines do not act out of insight, but only because of a mechanism. They lack universal human reason. General Artificial Intelligence is therefore very far away.
Here shows Descartes a foresight. Artificial intelligence me defeat human opponents in a chess or Go game, but these are always victories in a clearly defined realm.
The AI program that is so good in Go is limited to that game. Kasparov may be defeated at chess by AI but Kasparov can also have an everyday conversation and go shopping at the bakery.
The versatility and activities that he can undertake are not yet available to AI. General artificial intelligence still does not exist almost 400 years after Descartes.
A side note: we always talk about Artificial Intelligence, as if it were a general thing, but always keep in mind that what we call AI is a collection of all kinds of computer programs
that are only capable of intelligent responses in a specific area. It does not yet come close to the versatility that we show as humans.
Thank you for your attention again...
Main Sources:
MacMillan The Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2nd edition
TABLE OF CONTENT -----------------------------------------------------------------
1 - 100 Philosophers 9 May 2009 Start of
2 - 25+ Women Philosophers 10 May 2009 this blog
3 - 25 Adventures in Thinking 10 May 2009
4 - Modern Theories of Ethics 29 Oct 2009
5 - The Ideal State 24 Febr 2010 / 234
6 - The Mystery of the Brain 3 Sept 2010 / 266
7 - The Utopia of the Free Market 16 Febr 2012 / 383
8. - The Aftermath of Neo-liberalism 5 Sept 2012 / 413
9. - The Art Not to Be an Egoist 6 Nov 2012 / 426
10 - Non-Western Philosophy 29 May 2013 / 477
11 - Why Science is Right 2 Sept 2014 / 534
12 - A Philosopher looks at Atheism 1 Jan 2015 / 557
13 - EVIL, a philosophical investigation 17 Apr 2015 / 580
14 - Existentialism and Free Will 2 Sept 2015 / 586
15 - Spinoza 2 Sept 2016 / 615
16 - The Meaning of Life 13 Febr 2017 / 637
17 - In Search of my Self 6 Sept 2017 / 670
18 - The 20th Century Revisited 3 Apr 2018 / 706
19 - The Pessimist 11 Jan 2020 / 819
20 - The Optimist 9 Febr 2020 / 824
21 - Awakening from a Neoliberal Dream 8 Oct 2020 / 872
22 - A World Full of Patterns 1 Apr 2021 / 912
23 - The Concept of Freedom 8 Jan 2022 / 965
24 - Materialism 7 Sept 2022 / 1011
25 - Historical Materialism 5 Oct 2023 / 1088
26 - The Bonobo and the Atheist 9 Jan 2024 / 1102
27 - Artificial Intelligence 9 Feb 2024 / 1108
The Discussion
[13:17] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): thank you Herman
[13:18] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): Many versions if AI exist indeed but in the end its stil just a machine that can only do what we have programmed it to
[13:18] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): I think AI can learn fast
[13:18] herman Bergson: This last thing is an important point....
[13:18] herman Bergson: AI doesn't come close to what our brain is capable of...
[13:19] herman Bergson: it has no imagination nor intuition nor feelings
[13:19] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): wel an AI CAN program itself. That was as i get it the entire purpose with the LISP language, one of the oldest programming languages after COBOL
[13:19] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): created somewhere in the 50s i think
[13:19] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): many call it by its alternate name: Lots of Irritating Superfluous Parenthesis
[13:19] herman Bergson: I have programmed inLISP...horrible syntax....:-)
[13:19] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ㋡
[13:20] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): and indeed its quite hard to read
[13:20] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): and program in
[13:20] herman Bergson: There I prefer PROLOG
[13:20] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): never tried that one but heard a lot bout it
[13:20] Max Chatnoir: How is our thinking different from what an AI program can do?
[13:21] herman Bergson: Important question Max...
[13:21] herman Bergson: Let me give you an example...
[13:22] herman Bergson: When I say "I am a democrat" that is not just a comination of words
[13:22] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): then there are more specialied AI systems, ike the one that you have in for example Unreal Engine and other game engines, basically what they do is very simple in comparison, thet allow an enemy to spot and chase you when u get close enough and when u outrun it it goes back to its idle/roaming cycle
[13:22] herman Bergson: nor is it a pure rational statement
[13:22] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): thats it more or less
[13:22] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): for these
[13:22] Max Chatnoir: Is it our coming up with odd questions something that AI would have trouble with? I know that science is mostly inductive.
[13:23] herman Bergson: In a way it is a rational statement but it also has emotional connotations for me...
[13:23] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ah
[13:24] Max Chatnoir: But being a democrat may imply a set of beliefs, but not a fixed set.
[13:24] herman Bergson: These emotional connotations aren't present in AI statements...it jst adds words together in a meaningful order
[13:24] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): exactly, its a machine, it still cant feel anything
[13:25] herman Bergson: Right Max, but not for an AI program unless filled with such data
[13:25] Jon Mihai (jonmihai): if i make to Chatgpt a question where it has to reflect and reason, then it can't give me any answer.
[13:25] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): + a computer work in the digital realm while feelings are an analog phenomenon
[13:25] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): analog/chemical
[13:26] herman Bergson: So when you a A, the AI "knows"you impky X, Y ans Z too...but without understanding this
[13:26] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): all a computer ever sees are 10110101010101010111010101010010101010
[13:26] Jon Mihai (jonmihai): analog=analysis indeed.
[13:26] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): no matter what it does
[13:26] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): its just on and off
[13:26] herman Bergson: As I said...
[13:27] herman Bergson: keep in mind that AI is only effective in cloed realms
[13:27] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): yes
[13:27] Max Chatnoir: Maybe that is what will protect human creativity from incursion by AI.
[13:27] herman Bergson: It still doest come close to what our brains are capable of in general
[13:27] Jon Mihai (jonmihai): and even from other worse Max.
[13:28] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): indeed all for ex DALL-E and other similar things do is reusing already created stuff that is on the web that we have created
[13:28] herman Bergson: AI is effective in aclosed context
[13:29] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): can be impressive indeed but it just compose them together in some advanced way i guess
[13:29] Jon Mihai (jonmihai): it's like a very quick google's search.
[[13:29] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): yes
[13:29] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): still its impressive
[13:30] Max Chatnoir: Yes, has an AI ever come up with something that made you think "Oh, I never would have thought of that?"
[13:30] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): I have started using it a bit when i want to find "weird ideas"
[13:30] herman Bergson: This is why some AI systems are biased against certain people or issues
[13:30] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): there its an inspiration helper for sure
[13:30] herman Bergson: Yes Max, for instance in chemistry
[13:30] Max Chatnoir: Has it lead you to some weird ideas, Bejiita?
[13:31] Jon Mihai (jonmihai): me for example, i used it for an help when i had no ideas in the musical composition process, but of course creativity always belongs to my human brain.
[13:31] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): for ex most of my games features the 2 themes steampunk and surrealism in combination and here the weird ideas can really roam freely
[13:31] herman Bergson: some AI program came up with ideas of composing certain molecules in a way the scientist didn't have thought of
[13:32] Jon Mihai (jonmihai): but is still up to us re-order all of those, isn't it?
[13:32] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): aaa yes,
[13:32] herman Bergson: Yes Jon, it is YOU who makes the creative decisions about what is good and what not
[13:32] Jon Mihai (jonmihai): so it's definitely a great help if used properly.
[13:32] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): there is another well known example, a computer discovering an all new physical phenomenon by itself by combining all it had about physical laws and fluid dynamics
[13:32] Max Chatnoir: And we have to figure out how to test some new idea.
[13:33] Jon Mihai (jonmihai): exactly Max.
[13:33] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): the phenomenon was the so called trench effect responsible for the Kings Cross fire disaster
[13:33] herman Bergson: AI cant judge what is creatively good or bad...it just arranges info in a certain order
[13:33] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): and the software figured it out and when they did a real experiment it worked as the computer had predicted
[13:33] Jon Mihai (jonmihai): indeed usually isn't a great composer by itself.
[13:34] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): is humankind smart enough to use AI?
[13:34] herman Bergson: AI cant think out of the box....it is a box :-)
[13:34] Jon Mihai (jonmihai): Beetje my answer would be no :-D
[13:34] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): exactly, that software i mentioned already had all known fluid dynamics but it knew how they fit together in all ways
[13:34] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): so it's rather dangerous
[13:35] Max Chatnoir: That's a scary thought. We've invented something we can't be trusted to use?
[13:35] herman Bergson: Beertje
[13:35] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): so it put the coanda effect and flashover effect together and the trench effect was discovered
[13:35] Jon Mihai (jonmihai): everything is rather dangerous often in human hands, even a simple knife.
[13:35] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): this is not a simple knife Jon
[13:35] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): hmm true
[13:35] herman Bergson: the rpblem here is that people are inclined to trust the system....which is a mistake...
[13:35] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): simple
[13:35] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): aaa yes
[13:36] Jon Mihai (jonmihai): Herman centered the focus.
[13:36] Max Chatnoir: So we might not understand it well enough to use it intelligently?
[13:36] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): i think that's true Max
[13:36] Max Chatnoir: Yikes!
[13:36] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): might be so yes
[13:36] herman Bergson: that is why some AI programs are racist for instance...or use ethnic profiling...that is what was put into that system
[13:36] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): hmm
[13:37] Jon Mihai (jonmihai): that happens with human beings, so let's imahine of doesn't happen with machines!
[13:37] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): indeed Herman, some AI chatbots have gone out of control worse them Mr T before panicked operators shut them down
[13:37] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): bloating out hate, racism and all kinds of profanities
[13:37] herman Bergson smiles
[13:37] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): from all crap thats already on the web
[13:37] herman Bergson: Yes Bejiita :-)
[13:38] Max Chatnoir: So we have already contaminated AI.
[13:38] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): there is a say with computers: shit in = shitout
[13:38] herman Bergson: Às I said....
[13:39] herman Bergson: Artificial Intelligence isnt equal to the general intellingence we have as human beings
[13:39] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): no
[13:39] herman Bergson: It works is closed context based on what dat WE input in these context
[13:39] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): as said, shit in = shit out
[13:40] herman Bergson: and insome areas it works perfectly...in others it doesnt
[13:40] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): it can only use whats already there
[13:40] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): who is WE in this context?
[13:40] herman Bergson: But here today what is the most interesting observation is
[13:41] herman Bergson: that already in the 17th century philosophers understood that thinking an reasoning could be automated
[13:42] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): aaa thats quite cool
[13:42] herman Bergson: What do you mean Beertje?
[13:42] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): who are the presons that tell AI what to write?
[13:42] herman Bergson: THAT is the point....!
[13:43] Max Chatnoir: Yes, we make choices when we write the prompts.
[13:43] herman Bergson: for instance....
[13:43] herman Bergson: facial recognition....
[13:43] herman Bergson: it made lots of mistakes identifying black peole...
[13:44] herman Bergson: reason....the program was "trained"on identifying white people
[13:44] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): only?
[13:44] herman Bergson: yes
[13:44] Jon Mihai (jonmihai): maybe would the inverse if trained by black people.
[13:44] Max Chatnoir: So it didn't have any data from black pictures?
[13:45] herman Bergson: So it made mistakes regarding people of other skin colors
[13:45] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): well then it cant work obviously
[13:46] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): on the other hand why do u want it to do that? so it can alert the police to go shoot more black people
[13:46] herman Bergson: This is not so spectacular...
[13:46] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): horrible
[13:46] herman Bergson: take medicines..
[13:46] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): :(
[13:46] herman Bergson: most medicines and diagnoses are based on the male body...
[13:46] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): yes
[13:46] Max Chatnoir: Yes
[13:47] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): aa indeed
[13:47] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): seems so
[13:47] herman Bergson: onlythese days they beginto understand that male heart failure is realy different from female heart failure for instance
[13:47] Jon Mihai (jonmihai): even way of breathing.
[13:47] herman Bergson: so there also has to be male and female treatments...
[13:48] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): same discrimination applies here also, women and black people are ignored and discriminated
[13:48] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ignored
[13:48] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): have been like this for way too long
[13:48] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): with or without AI
[13:49] herman Bergson: Yes, we only now begin to accept these facts
[13:50] herman Bergson: So, let's conclude our discussion today with the observation that real AL already sarted in the 17th century :-)
[13:50] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ㋡
[13:50] herman Bergson: Thank you all for your participation :-)
[13:51] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): YAY! (yay!)
[13:51] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): Thank you Herman
[13:51] Jon Mihai (jonmihai): really a pleasure and an honor Herman.
[13:51] herman Bergson: Class dismissed...
[13:51] Max Chatnoir: Thank you, Herman. That was very illuminating!
[13:51] herman Bergson: Thank you Jon
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