PHIL 143.002 – AI and the Future of Humanity: Philosophical Issues about Technology and Human Survival

IDEAs in Action: Which curricular requirements does this course satisfy?

Instructor: Shanna Slank. This course meets TR 11:00 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. in DA 301.

As Artificial Intelligence (AI) develops at an extremely rapid pace, predictions about how AI will affect humanity tend to occupy two extremes: There are the optimists, who believe that AI advancement will bring about a global techno-utopia, and the pessimists, who believe AI advancement will eventually bring about our extinction. In this course, we’ll spend some time considering these perspectives and the ethical issues that they press, but we will also explore two more local issues that make the philosophical study of AI so exciting. We’ll consider the ways in which AI will change the nature of work. You’ll be asked to investigate how AI will change work specifically in the field that you are hoping to enter. We’ll also consider how AI is changing the nature of relationships, including friendship and love. Our central aim will be not just to learn about AI, but also to learn about what philosophical reflection on AI can teach us about ourselves and what it means to be human.