The Library: a pro-human learning exchange

The question is not simply whether technology is “good” or “bad”.  And the argument of inevitability or the slippery slope fallacy that assumes a specific outcome is bound to happen when it actually is not certain or fixed shuts down debate by treating a mere possibility or a past coincidence as absolute destiny.

AI can act as an equalizer, removing the traditional prerequisite of having to know complex code or software to build, design, create, and allowing for a single  person to do an array of work without having to hire a team of people, a luxury only afforded to those with the budget to succeed. 

For those of an age to be influenced by the 80s, personal computers were marketed heavily as toys and tools for boys and a systemic bias towards men being viewed as more likely to enjoy and excel in tech has left generations of women with a technological training gap not seen in their male peers. AI can help to close this gap.

However, there are also many potential harms. As tasks are being handed to AI, humans are clearly being tempted to outsource their thinking and the potential to become merely a button pusher grows.

Cory Doctorow refers to this in his book  The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI: How to Think About Artificial Intelligence Before It’s Too Late. A centaur, in automation theory, is a person assisted by a machine. A reverse centaur is a person forced to assist the machine such as a human safety “driver”of an automated vehicle. The human loses the dignity, skill, autonomy, and wages they once had.⁠

We all have a stake in this game. If we want to play though we need to understand the rules, the players, and the objectives. When it comes to AI ethics and technological influences, we can begin by understanding the definitions of humanism, post-humanism, and anti-humanism.

Humanism, in its modern form, is essentially when Religion and Science collide, resulting in a belief that humanity can progress in our moral and social behaviours. It emerged during the Renaissance as a reaction against the superstition and religious authoritarianism of Medieval Europe. 

It places human destiny in the hands of humans rather than fate or the whims of gods. It’s still the dominant outlook and mechanism of many of our political and social institutions, positioning humans at the centre of the moral world with an endless ability to progress.

But, as a species we are no more elevated than or free from our biological urges than any other species on Earth.

John Gray notably argues that this concept of progress is a myth and humans do not morally evolve; we remain biologically constrained animals rather than enlightened beings.

Next comes post-humanism, which is a set of ideas that have been emerging since around the 1990s, challenging the idea of humanism. It argues that in our technologically mediated future, understanding the world as a moral hierarchy and placing humans at the top of it will no longer make sense.

Posthumanism decenters the human, rejecting human exceptionalism and questioning traditional boundaries between humans, animals, and machines. Unlike transhumanism, which focuses on cyborg-like technological human enhancement, posthumanism is a philosophical critique of traditional humanism. 

Rosi Braidotti defines posthumanism as a dual convergence of anti-humanism (critiquing the traditional, privileged ideal of "Man") and post-anthropocentrism (critiquing human superiority over other species and nature). Her framework, explored in The Posthuman, views this shift not as the end of humanity, but as an opportunity for new ethical bonds and sustainable communities.