CFP: Special Issue 2024: Human intelligence and artificial intelligence, where are the limits? - Colombian Journal of Philosophy of Science

Special Issue: Human intelligence and artificial intelligence, where are the limits?

The Colombian Jounal of Philosophy of Science (Revista Colombiana de Filosofía de la Ciencia) will dedicate the 2024 special issue to the philosophy of technology and science to discuss, in particular, "artificial intelligence". We are sure that many researchers wish to express their thoughts about it and we invite them to do so. 

The advances in the so-called "artificial intelligence", i.e., devices programmed to perform a wide range of tasks automatically, are known to all those interested in technology. At the same time, they are ignored by a huge proportion of the population, although their effects and consequences affect everyone. In industrial societies, we are all subject to the influence of machines and systems, linked mainly to industrial, commercial, political and military interests, which condition our behavior, our thinking and even our feelings and desires. The basis of the operation of these machines and systems lies in information processing, which already includes their augmentation: machines have learned to learn and to make decisions.

As devices that mimic intelligent human behavior (especially in terms of deduction, calculation, planning and control), they are considered as forms of unnatural intelligence, created by humans to achieve results that escape the human brain, wonderful machinery that does not, however, achieve all the projects that human need or ambition can conceive. Thus, artificial intelligence (already popularized by the acronym AI) helps the brain to make its mark on the world.

It is a commonly known fact that AI mimics the performance of the human brain, either by investigating how the latter works, or by considering it as an artifact that can be reproduced and perfected. In any case, "intelligent machines" are already present in the most diverse activities, from medicine to administration, from sports to education and from communication to art: there are machines that paint, write new texts, or compose music. Some machines have famously beaten chess and Go champions, while others are already translating texts more and more correctly

AI can be seen as the elevation of homo sapiens, of the "rational animal", as AI systems operate by reproducing logical circuits. In this light, intelligence is confused with the ability to deduce, calculate and predict. But it is good to remember that "intelligence" is an ambiguous word, and not only when it is understood as a mental capacity, in which some would like to include even intuition. Researchers of human behavior describe an emotional intelligence and a bodily intelligence, which should not be separated from the intellectual intelligence, although they operate with a certain autonomy. On the other hand, human intelligence does not seem to constitute an entity purely internal to the human organism. Some argue that intelligence is externalized in the artifacts we use to think and explore (from a ruler to a telescope); others claim the existence of a collective intelligence, as effective as the individual one.

If the above considerations make the term artificial intelligence problematic, it is not possible, however, to deny its existence and its kinship or resemblance to human intelligence. Above all, its capacity to create a sui generis world cannot be underestimated, just as natural intelligence has been producing it since human beings became strongly distinguished from other animals, although it is not fair to deny to all of them less developed forms of intelligence. We live, more and more, in a world shaped by technology and, in particular, by AI. This world is such that many human difficulties and miseries have been alleviated: our information and communication resources, for example, are infinitely greater and better compared to all of human history prior to the 20th century. Systems governed by AIs help us to avoid or cure diseases; they make possible the traffic of an immense number of vehicles, on a daily basis, on the planet; they make it possible to manage gigantic companies and drive space exploration. The world of AI is certainly rich and promising.

Nevertheless, we cannot overlook its worrisome consequences: psychological, moral and political, to mention the most obvious ones. Psychologically, man co-opted by the AIgoverned world tends to turn all his problems into technical issues. Human problems are admittedly very varied, and conflating a social or existential problem, for example, to the solution of a puzzle would be a mistake. But the AI world induces us to translate every difficulty into something that can be solved accurately and quickly, provided we have enough data. From a moral point of view, the ability of AI systems to penetrate the consciousness and intentions of individuals, as well as their relationships with their fellow human beings, makes AI a source of moral problems. Or is it morally indifferent if personal privacy and responsibility are violated and manipulated? And in politics we find great concern: the programmed dissemination of fake news, the ignored interference in electoral processes, the massive promotion of hate speech in exchange for increased traffic and advertising revenue on various platforms, and the monstrous increase in the power of those who own technological systems are growing threats to the quality of human life, both individual and collective.

One last clarification: the question included in the call for papers refers both to the limits between natural and artificial intelligence, and to the indefinite development of the latter, as the supporters of "Transhumanism" believe.  

Guest editors: Alberto Cupani (Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Brazil). E. Joaquín Suárez-Ruíz (Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Argentina) Rodrigo López-Orellana (Universidad de Valparaíso, Chile)

Associate Editor: José Álvarez Sánchez (Universidad el Bosque).

Deadline: May the 20th, 2024

Estimated publication date: September 2024

Languages: English, Spanish and portuguese

Peer review: all articles submitted will be subject to double blind peer review.

Publication standards: https://revistas.unbosque.edu.co/index.php/rcfc/about/submissions