Is AI Mindless? AI, Emotion, and Ethics

December 12, 2020

2:30am Virtual

Streaming platform: Bilibili
Time: 2:30 a.m. PST | 18:30 China
Language: Chinese only

AI has encountered Moravec’s paradox: teaching computers high-level reasoning is easy and teaching them simple sensorimotor skills is difficult. AI ethics calls for building “responsible intelligent machines” that are empathetic in that they understand the social meaning of human behavior, which requires understanding the meaning of Self-Other-World. But in what sense can AI “evolve” emotions and morality when machines today lack autonomy, self-awareness, and practical reasoning? Can we re-examine the dilemma between machine and human from the perspective of the framework and conflict of ancient Greek drama, especially Oedipus the King?

Key Discussions:
• How do we resolve Moravec’s paradox?
• Why do we say AI today is mindless?
• In what sense can we talk about the emotions and moral responsibilities of machines?
• Is it reasonable to talk about AI emotions and ethics from the perspective of human cognition?

LIU Xiaoli, Professor, School of Philosophy, Renmin University of China
Liu Xiaoli is Distinguished Professor and the Chief of the Interdisciplinary Center for Philosophy and Cognitive Science at Renmin University of China. She currently chairs the Committee of Philosophy of Science, China Society of Dialectics of Nature and has published many influential articles including The Dilemma and Trend of the Research Program of Cognitive Science, Analysis of the Thesis of the Extended Mind, and Questions on the Computational Theory of Mind in journals such as Social Sciences in China, Philosophical Research and Journal of Dialectics of Nature. She has also published a book titled The Life of Reason—A Study of Gödel’s Thoughts. Recently, her work The Challenge of Cognitive Science to Contemporary Philosophy was published by Science Press.

ZHU Rui, Professor, School of Philosophy, Renmin University of China
Zhu Rui is Distinguished Professor at the School of Philosophy, Renmin University of China and is a visiting Professor at Texas State University. His research interests include neurophilosophy and philosophy of mind, neuroaesthetics, Plato, and comparative philosophy. He returned to China in 2018 after nearly three decades of academic research in the United States, and he is committed to promoting the development of interdisciplinary science including neuroaesthetics.

ZHAN Yiwen, Researcher, Berggruen Research Center, Peking University
Zhan Yiwen holds a PhD in philosophy and is Researcher at the Berggruen Center, Peking University. His research interests include philosophy of science, metaphysics, and epistemology.