麻豆传媒

麻豆传媒 (CUE) is in a unique position to not only be leaders in Artificial Intelligence (AI)聽 technology, but also be open to discussing its ethical implications through a philosophical lens.

Technology is of human making and growing at a rapid rate. 鈥淭oday, every young person is practically born with a cellphone in their hands鈥� says Bill Anderson, Professor of Pop Culture, Philosophy and Religion at CUE . 鈥淲e are framing our lives around our devices and we鈥檙e at the beck and call of anyone who can reach us by text or email. This has both positive and negative implications to consider鈥�.

Bill鈥檚 fifth book (third edited volume), Technology and Theology, questions humanity’s ability to control this exponential rate of growth in technology, and discusses troubling ethical issues.聽

The first science fiction novel, Mary Shelley鈥檚 Frankenstein, was born out of the fear that science and its influence would get out of control. 鈥淲e become aware that the monster, really isn鈥檛 the monster. The monster is Victor Frankenstein, who created the monster,鈥� says Bill.

Science fiction writers have had some sway on public perception, but marketers have a unique power to leverage how the public think about technology, says Bill.

鈥淭he most brilliant marketing strategy is the tagline, 鈥樷�楾he Future is Friendly鈥� by TELUS,鈥� he says. 鈥淭heir campaign cleverly addresses people鈥檚 huge anxieties about technology.鈥�

Bill explains that the sixties modernist vision of the future was largely utopic, as seen in Star Trek of that era. Postmodern views, however, such as Blade Runner in year 2049 are dystopic.聽

Transhumanism and the idea of uploading the human mind into machines, is something that, if driven by corporate greed and profit, might spell disaster for humanity.

Bill says that he is fascinated by the philosophy of Ridley Scott. 鈥淚n Blade Runner the question of who or what counts as human, especially in terms of advanced technology, is explored. The theological question arises in Blade Runner when the human replicas are 鈥渞etired鈥� or killed off. If they are conscious and sentient, would that be akin to murder? Or because they are replicas is it not considered murder?鈥�

鈥淪cience cannot often quantify discussion of whether it鈥檚 the body that animates the mind, or if it鈥檚 the mind and soul that animate the body. For example, science has not been able to prove love or color,鈥� Bill says.聽

The theory of transhumanism theorizes that humanity may have the capacity to transcend the limitations of biology with the aid of AI technology.聽

Mike Wade, Director of the Centre for Applied Artificial Intelligence at CUE, says that 鈥淎I is no longer a Sci-Fi prop or literature tool, but a real and developing societal and philosophical issue.鈥�

Bill鈥檚 book dives deep into questions around AI and transhumanism and raises questions around what it means to be human. What is con-sciousness? What is soul?聽 The book discusses聽 whether computers will ever be able to achieve consciousness and sentience.聽聽

In recent years, pop-culture has had a fascination with zombies, as is evident by the popularity of The Walking Dead. Before the mainstream were talking about it, philosophers have for many years been discussing zombies, especially in relation to what it means to be human beyond the physical. Is consciousness a physical phenomenon reducible to just physics? And, when it comes to machines, does consciousness require biology? Dr Jonathan Strand, Professor of Philosophy at CUE, addresses this issue in his chapter 鈥淲ill Androids Need Salvation: A Dialogue with Chalmers鈥� Philosophy of Mind鈥�.

With the advancement of computers, their sophistication and abilities are quickly becoming comparable to the human brain. Chief futurist at Google, Ray Kurzweil, predicted that by 2045 computing will be around one billion times as powerful as all the human brains.

For readers of this book, it is worth pondering some of the realities that are to come with technology, and what effect that will have on our society. The writers of each chapter allow us time for reflection on the instantaneous digitized life we now live, and, as Mike says, it brings us on a 鈥渜uest to understand who we are as human beings and perhaps where we can go.鈥�