technology
TagPolicing Is Not Pedagogy: On the Supposed Threat of ChatGPT (guest post)
“ChatGPT has just woken many of us up to the fact that we need to be better teachers, not better cops.” (more…)
Dennett on AI: We Must Protect Ourselves Against “Counterfeit People”
“Creating counterfeit digital people risks destroying our civilization.”
Legislation Makes Ethical and Societal Issues Part of NSF Award Process
Philosophers may find new opportunities for working with scientists owing to legislation passed last year that makes how projects address their ethical and societal effects a more important factor in how the National Science Foundation (NSF) awards grants. (more…)
Minds, Models, MRIs, and Meaning
“AI Is Getting Better at Mind-Reading” is how The New York Times puts it. (more…)
A Petition to Pause Training of AI Systems
“We call on all AI labs to immediately pause for at least 6 months the training of AI systems more powerful than GPT-4. This pause should be public and verifiable, and include all key actors. If such a pause cannot be enacted quickly, governments should step in and institute a moratorium.” (more…)
Thinking about Life with AI
“What kind of civilization is it that turns away from the challenge of dealing with more… intelligence?” (more…)
Microsoft Jettisons AI Ethics Team
“Microsoft laid off its entire ethics and society team within the artificial intelligence organization,” according to a report from Platformer (via Gizmodo). (more…)
Dyslexia, Dysgraphia, and Academic Philosophy (guest post)
An undergraduate student in philosophy has been wondering whether their dyslexia gives them a strong reason to avoid pursuing graduate study and a career in academic philosophy. (more…)
Funding for Work on Technologies to Improve Reasoning in Government Intelligence
Steven Rieber, a former philosopher who is now a program manager at Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA), a part of the United States government’s Office of the Director of National Intelligence, is heading up a new research program that might be of interest to philosophers. (more…)
Philosophy, AI, and Society Listserv
Philosophy, AI, and Society (PAIS) is a listserv that aims to “connect philosophers working on AI and related digital technologies, with a particular focus on their societal dimensions.” (more…)
Technology and the Near Future
Apropos last week’s “We’re Not Ready for the AI on the Horizon, But People Are Trying,” here is economist and policy analyst Samuel Hammond on what the near future holds: (more…)
We’re Not Ready for the AI on the Horizon, But People Are Trying
Ongoing developments in artifical intelligence, particularly in AI linguistic communication, will affect various aspects of our lives in various ways. We can’t foresee all of the uses to which technologies such as large language models (LLMs) will be put, nor all of the consequences of their employment. But we can reasonably say the effects will be significant, and ..
Two Cultures of Philosophy: AI Edition
Up for discussion: the following two claims (along with their presuppositions, ambiguities, etc). (more…)
If You Can’t Beat Them, Join Them: GPT-3 Edition
“How to deal with GPT-3-written essays? Instead of scolding students not to use it, we ask them to generate a ten, choose the best one, and explain why. Unless they have a paid account, the word-count limit would make it impossible to use GPT-3 to also generate the explanation…” (more…)
Philosophers on the Internet
In today’s irony report, Daily Nous editor Justin Weinberg, who mere days ago announced he would be taking a break from the website, has returned to it to post about, of all things, philosophers on the internet. (more…)
Vallor Wins Covey Award
Shannon Vallor, professor of philosophy at the University of Edinburgh, holder of the Baillie Gifford Chair in the Ethics of Data and Artificial Intelligence at the university’s Edinburgh Futures Institute, and director of its Centre for Technomoral Futures, has been named the winner of the 2022 Covey Award. (more…)
Tech Advice for a New Philosophy Grad Student
A student who will be entering a philosophy PhD program in the fall is seeking advice about hardware and software for his studies. (more…)
Multi-Million Euro Award for Philosopher of Artificial Intelligence
Vincent C. Müller, currently professor of philosophy and ethics of technology at the Technical University of Eindhoven, was awarded an Alexander von Humboldt Professorship to support his work on the philosophy of artificial intelligence. (more…)
New Plug-In Improves the SEP Experience
Because the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (SEP) is such a valuable philosophical resource, some have been inspired to make it possible for others to work with it in new ways. (more…)
The Philosopher’s Archive in the Digital Age: David Lewis and His Correspondence (guest post)
“There are both intellectual and practical questions here. On the intellectual side, a major question is how the medium of email affects the communication and discussion of philosophical ideas… On the practical side… how do we approach the job of preserving a philosopher’s emails after her death, assuming there is sufficient scholarly interest in her corresponde..
Will the Next Philosophy Book You Acquire Be an E-Book? (with poll)
In a recent article at The Atlantic, Ian Bogost (author, game designer, and professor of computer science & engineering at Washington University in St. Louis) explains why he doesn’t like electronic books, or e-books (or ebooks). (more…)
Philosophy and Extended Reality Technologies
What can extended reality (XR) technologies, such as virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) bring to the study of philosophy? (more…)
Shaping the AI Revolution In Philosophy (guest post)
“Despite the great promise of AI, we maintain that unless philosophers theorize about and help develop philosophy-specific AI, it is likely that AI will not be as philosophically useful.” (more…)
A Philosophical Look at the Tech Companies You Use
A philosopher who specializes in questions about technology and a Silicon Valley executive with a Ph.D. in philosophy have a conversation.
Building A Better “Which Philosopher Are You Most Similar To?” Quiz
There are various silly little quizzes across the internet claiming to be able to tell you which famous philosopher you most agree with, but as far as I know, philosophy does not have something like Chris Said’s “Which Famous Economist Are You Most Similar To?” (more…)
“Hey Sophi”, or How Much Philosophy Will Computers Do?
While we have seen increased use of computing in philosophy over the past two decades, the continued development of computational sophistication and power, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and associated technologies, suggest that philosophers in the near future could do more philosophy through computers, or outsource various philosophical tasks to compute..
The High Production Quality/Low Cost Future of Philosophy Education?
Here are three trends in higher education: (more…)
New: Virtual Publisher Showcases at the APA (guest post)
One of the pleasures of the divisional meetings of the American Philosophical Association (APA) is browsing the book displays. With the pandemic forcing the Eastern Division meeting online, it seemed like that wouldn’t be possible. Yet constraints can inspire innovation, and that is what has happened here. (more…)