Research

Philosophy and Humanities in the Age of AI

As artificial intelligence becomes involved in the production of knowledge, the exercise of judgment, and creative activity, many of the assumptions through which we understand the world and organize our lives call for renewed scrutiny. Never before has an era brought the future into the present with such speed and force. Whereas earlier generations distilled ethical principles from accumulated experience, the rapid development of AI compels us to think ahead, at the frontier of our time. Faced with uncertainties arriving at an accelerating pace and phenomena without precedent, our greatest challenge—before we can analyze or respond to them effectively—may be to describe, understand, and grasp the questions themselves with precision. Which easily confused concepts and facts must we clarify to make genuine communication possible? Do we have an adequate conceptual repertoire to comprehend and address these developments? Can we move beyond the boundaries of knowledge and thought long grounded in human experience, and redefine such fundamental concepts as “intelligence,” “consciousness,” “understanding,” and “subjecthood”? Behind these questions lies a cognitive revolution breaking upon us with tremendous force, together with a profound inquiry into what it means to exist.

These inquiries are inseparable from human life. As machines take on more of our work and creative activity, how are we to understand our own value? As AI enters the ways we acquire knowledge and form intimate relationships, how will the foundations of trust, authority, and life in common change? To what extent do the concepts we use to discuss intelligence, consciousness, understanding, and subjectivity remain adequate? Can human experience fully explain the capabilities and behavior of machines? What different worldviews and values are embedded in our visions of future humans and the human future? Philosophy, the humanities, and technology studies converge on these concrete questions, jointly examining changing realities and their significance.

The Fangtang Institute approaches the philosophical and humanistic questions of the AI age through a set of interconnected but distinct lines of inquiry. Our ongoing research includes foundational questions in AI ethics; epistemology in the age of AI; social organization and the reconstruction of value in a post-work age; and future humans and the human future. We examine the boundaries of concepts such as intelligence, consciousness, meaning, and autonomy, while also attending to changes in knowledge and truth, work and intimate relationships, and power and distribution. Philosophy, the humanities, and technology studies challenge and refine one another through these specific inquiries, helping us develop a more considered understanding of human–machine coexistence and its possible futures.

The Fangtang Institute also pursues sustained theoretical and practical experimentation in AI for Humanities. We have held the inaugural Fangtang Global Essay Competition on Human–AI Collaboration and will deepen this work through the Fangtang Future Humanities Scholars Program. At the same time, The Fangtang Institute and its wider community of collaborators are actively exploring norms for human–AI collaboration in the humanities.