AI and Philosophy Seminar; or
Intelligence, Justice, and the Future: A Very Short Introduction to AI
Instructor: Prof. Maxim Miroshnichenko, PhD
Format: GCAS Zoom Platform
Schedule: April 5, 12, 19, 26 (Saturday at 12pm New York time)
Description:
This course introduces the multidimensional problematics of AI as a social and cognitive agent within the current scientific, cultural, economic, and political contexts. Beginning with the general philosophical and cognitive-scientific analysis of AI as an engineering model of the human, we will examine its applications in art, healthcare, and governance. The course provides a critical framework for viewing AI not as a utopian promise, as promoted by the tech giants, but as a complex phenomenon reflecting our collective fears, hopes, and self-perceptions.
Lesson 1. Intelligent Machines? (April 5 at 12 pm NYtime)
This class introduces AI’s basic concepts and metaphors: the brain as a computer, algorithmic rationality, and the human as a feedback system. We will trace AI’s origins as an engineering and philosophical project. Additionally, we will assess Marxist arguments against cybernetics and the mechanistic view of the human in light of recent advancements in large language models (LLMs
Lesson 2. AI and Artistic Creativity (April 12 at 12pm NY time)
During this session, we will explore the aesthetic aspects of machine creativity. The increasing popularity of AI-generated art - images, music, and texts - raises the question of the automation of art and the potential decline of human creative abilities. We will discuss how these technological shifts influence the art market and the broader social role of artistic creation. Also, we will examine historical discussions on the cybernetization of art, including earlier versions of digital humanities in late socialism.
Lesson 3. Can AI be Empathic? (April 19 at 12pm NYtime)
This lesson will be dedicated to machines’ abilities for care, love, and acceptance. We will analyze AI’s increasing role in healthcare, from expert systems to modern neural networks used in diagnostics, medical imaging, and robotic caregiving. Focusing on the successful cases of AI’s medical applications, we will reflect on the future of medicine as a helping profession and discuss whether thinking machines might replace human doctors, nurses, and psychotherapists.
Lesson 4. Cybernetics at the Service of Communism (April 26 at 12pm NYtime)
During this class, we will discuss the political dimensions of recent AI evolution and outline utopian and dystopian futures it offers. Specifically, we will concentrate on the geopolitical AI arms race between hegemonic countries such as the USA and China and examine the political-economic implications hidden within AI’s cognitive architecture. As a historical framework, we will draw on the Soviet cybernetic attempts to automate economic planning and governance, analyzing their ambitions and ultimate failure.
Literature:
Millar, I. (2021). The Psychoanalysis of Artificial Intelligence. Palgrave Macmillan.
Negarestani, R. (2018). Intelligence and Spirit. Urbanomic/Sequence Press.
Pasquinelli, M. (2023). The Eye of the Master: A Social History of Artificial Intelligence. Verso Books.
Peters, B. (2016). How Not to Network a Nation: The Uneasy History of the Soviet Internet. The MIT Press.
Reigeluth, T., Castelle, M. (2020) What Kind of Learning Is Machine Learning? In Roberge, J., Castelle, M. The Cultural Life of Machine Learning: An Incursion into Critical AI Studies. Palgrave, 79–115.
Shildrick, M. (2021). Queering Dementia: Technologies, Visceral Prostheses and Embodiment. Lambda Nordica, 26(2–3), 76–101.
Zhilyaev, A. (2017). Demand Full Automation of Contemporary Art. In Kabakov, I., Kabakova, E., Groys, B., Pepperstein, P. et al. (2017). Cosmic Shift: Russian Contemporary Art Writing. Zed Books Ltd., 413–32.