Guest author: Maaike E. Harmsen
Two kinds of humans
In this conference we can see two different appreciations of human acting, thinking and being: one perception in the Climate and environmental sessions, and the other perception in the AI and digital technology sessions. In the Climate and biodiversity crisis sessions and lectures, the human dependence on nature and the notion that we too are in fact, nature, grown out of a developing natural environment, are common arguments for a new approach on the climate and biodiversity crisis. Living and lifeless materials that reside on earth, are seen as partners, having rights (not so much duties), are seen as quasi-subject, etc. We are part of the same material, we are born into the same developmental process. Our common ancestry is emphasized.
But in the AI and digital technology sessions, we can notice a different anthropology: The arguments for keeping a control on technology and or using technology for the good of humanity and the planet, rely on notions of, for instance, a unique role of humans, and the accountability of humans based on their unique role in this human driven technology- we are making the developments, and should make the technology, not AI itself. And we note that humans have a unique role and responsibility between nature and technology.
Technology as historical development
The perception that humans and their flourishing are part of nature, is in itself a humble thought, that thought can be taken away from its present mandate to take care of this living planet, and taken as a thought to proclaim that after this era, where we see ourselves as the natural animal that we humans are, the next step in nature's history, is the evolution of AI-and thus letting the AI singularity come to being, without AI even being any smarter than it is. Humans just thought ourselves less worthy than AI because we are just natural bodies with limited computational capabilities. Nature will take its course and develop the next best thing?...
In this conference we could try to bridge this gap by asking ourselves what our unique role and value is, in balance with nature, and if necessary, in battle with technology.
Author bio: Maaike E. Harmsen is a PhD candidate at VU Amsterdam