Welcome everybody. I am delighted to see you all again and can return to business as usual in The Philosophy Class. I hope you enjoyed your vacation. For me, it was somewhat different.
Taken to the hospital twice. The second time they kept me there for eight days to execute repairs That went well and now I am home again, feeling good and operational again :-)
Yet I am monitored by a computer program, which I have to inform about my blood pressure, pulse rate, and weight. Then it tells me if I am doing fine or not.
I have a "case manager" to whom I report through this computer program and when I get some advice based on my input, I don't know whether it is her or some kind of AI of the computer program, that is responding.
And that was to some extent the idea of Alan Turing ( - 1954). When can we say that a computer is intelligent? For him this meant the question: can there be a situation in which a person does not know whether he is dealing with a person or a machine?
His idea with computers was innovative, but the fundamental idea behind it is as old as the Ancient Greeks. The basic idea behind artificial intelligence is in fact the mechanization of thinking and reasoning.
Let's make thinking and reasoning independent of the human mind. That is what Aristotle did by "inventing" logic and syllogisms. He proved that true premisses in a valid syllogism necessarily lead to a true conclusion.
Regarding AI put a pin in the observation, that these new conclusions aren't that new, because what is in the conclusion was already in the premises,
but we just didn't happen to see that or lacked the time to check it out. We'll get back to this when discussing Big Data.
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.
We learned that there are two approaches in the field of artificial intelligence, which typically conform to the centuries-old controversy in philosophy between rationalism and empiricism.
In the early days of AI, you wrote a set of algorithms, (that was "the ratio") and then added all kinds of data, that could be used by the algorithms.
In chess, it meant: giving the algorithms tons of played games, which it can use to find the right move.
The empiricist approach, which is more popular these days, gave the program, like in the famous "AphaGo" the few rules of the game and the desired outcome.
Then press "Enter" and let the program itself figure out with the help of the rules how to achieve the desired outcome. It took "AlfaGo" playing 29 million Go games to become the best player in the world.
The empiricist approach to Artificial Intelligence turned the computer into an autonomous learning machine. And that raises some questions,
for example "Where does the computer gain its experiences?" or "How does the computer process and interpret its experiences?" or "Who is training the computer?". In other words, a completely new and barely explored area for Artificial Intelligence lies ahead of us.
This is about how far we have come in our inquiry of understanding artificial intelligence. We have to investigate at least two quintessential questions: if the premises already contain the conclusion can it generate NEW knowledge?
If artificial intelligence is based on learning from Big Data, we have to deal with the questions I just mentioned.
So, there is still plenty of work to do....
Thank you for your attention again and happy new year :-)
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
[13:18] So, there is still plenty of work to do....
[13:18]
[13:19] herman Bergson: And regarding the learning AI, who formulates the desired outcome of the learned material?
[13:20] herman Bergson: .
[13:20] Thank you for your attention again and happy new year :-)
[13:20]
[13:20] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): that's a big question
[13:20] Max Chatnoir: Can the AlfaGo algorithm be applied to other games?
[13:20] herman Bergson: no
[13:20] herman Bergson: the the learning process can
[13:21] herman Bergson: Given the rules of checkers it could learn to play checkers
[13:21] herman Bergson: By the way....
[13:21] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): but those are just games, what about medical questions?
[13:21] herman Bergson: a new sound....
[13:22] herman Bergson: There is a news program that presents a series with the title: AI, an innovation or a soap bubble
[13:23] Max Chatnoir: I've read that AI can do effective diagnosis in some cases.
[13:23] Max Chatnoir: I don't know if I'd want to trust it.
[13:23] herman Bergson: AI is already applied in medical diagnosis, especialy in radiology
[13:24] herman Bergson: Yes Max... and it is sometimes better than humans
[13:24] herman Bergson: And that is understandable
[13:25] herman Bergson: first of all...a computer can't be in a hurry or biasewd
[13:25] herman Bergson: Second, it doesn't understand at all what it is doing...it just performs its program
[13:26] Max Chatnoir: I guess these are overseen by real physicians?
[13:26] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): but as every person is different, it seems to me a difficult task
[13:27] Max Chatnoir: If the AI could say "Hey, Doc, did you notice....." that might be useful.
[13:27] herman Bergson: I am no expert on this matter, but what I have read here and there, computer diagnosis of radiological pictures seems to work
[13:28] herman Bergson: I think the final judgement is always in the hands of a real doctor
[13:28] Max Chatnoir: That's reassuring!
[13:29] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): can AI be used in politics?
[13:29] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): politics
[13:29] Max Chatnoir: I think I asked Chat GPT once who would be a better president. It wouldn't answer the question.
[13:29] herman Bergson: politics is a huge word, Beertje
[13:30] herman Bergson: Funny Max
[13:30] Max Chatnoir: It was probably told not to. :-)
[13:30] herman Bergson: We don't need ChatGPT for the answer today :-)
[13:31] Max Chatnoir: Ooh, I wonder of AI could do the fact checking for the US debate?
[13:32] herman Bergson: I think it could
[13:32] herman Bergson: Not the most difficult task
[13:32] herman Bergson: You just say: Is it true that ..........
[13:33] herman Bergson: I dont think Chat GPT would refuse to answer there]
[13:33] Max Chatnoir: you'd need one of the AIs that doesn't make things up.
[13:34] herman Bergson: You could ChatGPT and Bard simultaneously :-)
[13:35] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): when is the debate Max?
[13:35] herman Bergson: 10 september
[13:35] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): ok, thank you
[13:35] Max Chatnoir: What he said!
[13:35] Max Chatnoir: So not long.
[13:36] herman Bergson: 7 days to go.
[13:37] herman Bergson: I just heard that a group of former top Whilte House lawyers, and conservative scholars has published a letter to tell that they endorse kamala Harris....
[13:38] Max Chatnoir: The problem with political discussion is that it's based largely on human decisions, not on "natural" kinds of facts. I don't think that AI could tell you if abortion should be acceptable.
[13:38] herman Bergson: AI can't come to conclusions in ethics
[13:38] Max Chatnoir: You'd have to give it so many criteria that you'd already have the answer.
[13:39] herman Bergson: I'll show you in the next lecture how limited AI is and probable always will stay compared with the human brain
[13:39] Max Chatnoir: yay
[13:39] herman Bergson: That is the point Max, AI can't think out of the box
[13:40] Max Chatnoir: That is also my opinion!
[13:40] herman Bergson: It even doesn't think at all
[13:40] Max Chatnoir: Humans get creativity by going outside the lines.
[13:40] herman Bergson: To begin with, yes....
[13:41] herman Bergson: But AI can still be a useful tool in many situations
[13:41] Max Chatnoir: Oh, definitely!
[13:41] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): yes, it's just a tool
[13:42] herman Bergson: all those stories that eventually AI will take over and destroy humanity...science fiction
[13:42] Max Chatnoir: Great start, Herman! It is SO nice to hear from you again!
[13:42] herman Bergson: Thank you Max
[13:43] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): we missed you a lot
[13:43] herman Bergson: I guess we covered it all for today :-)
[13:43] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): hope Bejiita and Bergie will join us next week
[13:44] herman Bergson: For now I am revalidating nicely....have to take only more than 15 pills a day :-))
[13:44] Max Chatnoir: Good grief, Herman!
[13:44] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): blèh
[13:44] herman Bergson grins
[13:44] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): not fresh bread?
[13:45] herman Bergson: I have to follow a low on salt diet....
[13:45] Max Chatnoir: Oh, that's hard!
[13:45] herman Bergson: but my cardiologist said...bread is ok, even with salt in it :-)
[13:45] Max Chatnoir: Well, you have to have some sodium.
[13:45] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): can you use kaliium salt?
[13:45] herman Bergson: no..not allowed
[13:46] Max Chatnoir: Is that potassium?
[13:46] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): cheese without salt is like "stopverf"
[13:46] herman Bergson: But I could ask :-)
[13:46] herman Bergson: I gonna bake again Beertje...with 10 gr salt :-)
[13:46] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): yay
[13:47] Max Chatnoir: Good!
[13:47] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): my whole house has the perfume of fresh bread now, just took it out the oven
[13:47] Max Chatnoir: Yum!
[13:47] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): crispy and warm
[13:47] herman Bergson: Yes...I like that too
[13:47] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): :)))
[13:48] herman Bergson: Oh...before I forget....Class dismissed...
[13:48] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): ah ok :)))
[13:48] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): have a good night sleep Herman
[13:48] Max Chatnoir: Thank you, Herman. We don't want to wear you out!
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