Turing's Vision

The book argues that Turing's "vision" is reshaping the world. This vision rests on the idea that intelligence is not an intrinsic property of human beings but an attribute we are naturally inclined to ascribe to certain entities when their behavior elicits this deeply rooted attitude which is tied to the interpretative practice of language.

Chat-GPT, humanoid robotics, and self-driving cars are just a few of the things that are changing our everyday lives. The rapid advancement of AI is eroding one by one all the cornerstones considered unique of human nature: language, consciousness, creativity, and moral responsibility. The book argues that the revolution we are facing is driven by Alan Turing's "vision". This vision rests on the idea that intelligence is not an intrinsic property of human beings, but is a way in which matter is functionally organized and an attribute we are naturally inclined to ascribe to certain entities. For decades we have pretended that this idea does not have the corrosive power that it actually does, perhaps more so than the Copernican and Darwinian revolutions. But now, given the achievements of new forms of computing based on deep learning and predictive coding, the most common intuitions can no longer avoid the dangerous Turing idea.

The book is intended for scholars, researchers, and readers intrigued by the intersections across disciplines interested in understanding the philosophical, ethical, and social implications of Artificial Intelligence and its impact on human nature.

Autorentext

Pietro Perconti is Professor of Philosophy of Mind at the University of Messina. He co-founded the ICCS, International Center for Consciousness Studies (hardproblem.it). His previous books include Kantian Linguistics (Nodus, 1999) and The Future of the Artificial Mind (with Alessio Plebe, CRC, 2022). His research interests include social cognition, consciousness, and the social role of cognitive science.

Alessio Plebe received a degree in Electronic Engineering in 1981 from the University of Rome and a PhD in Philosophy of Language from the University of Palermo in 2004. He is Professor of Philosophy of Science at the University of Messina. He co-founded the ICCS, International Center for Consciousness Studies. His main research areas are neural computation, its epistemology, and its explanatory power for several cognitive functions. Currently, he is investigating the rise of deep learning, its causes and its impact on philosophy and cognitive science. An updated picture of what artificial intelligence is becoming nowadays is in his recent book, authored with Pietro Perconti, The Future of the Artificial Mind.

Klappentext

The book argues that Turing's "vision" is reshaping the world. This vision rests on the idea that intelligence is not an intrinsic property of human beings but an attribute we are naturally inclined to ascribe to certain entities when their behavior elicits this deeply rooted attitude which is tied to the interpretative practice of language.

Inhalt

Preface. The Idea Itself. New Landscape: Deep Learning and Other Breakthroughs. Playing with the Essence of Thought: Language Models. Do Machines Really Understand? Accountability in an Artificial World. Artificial Consciousness. Beyond Humanity: The Case for Robo-Ethics. References. Index.