HI Ethics Forum: Ethical reflections on AI and ourselves

The arrival of AI personal assistants in our daily routines is poised to reshape how we conceive of ourselves and who we are. These assistants occupy a curious position: they are experienced as a part of the self and as distinct Others. How do AI assistants shape who we are?

Warmly welcome join us online November 18th at 14.00-15.30 for HI Ethics Forum: Ethical reflections on AI and ourselves. The event is organized by Hybrid Intelligence research programme, University of Oulu.

Zoom: https://oulu.zoom.us/j/66206983449

Invited speaker Julian Hauser is a philosopher of cognitive science and mind and a digital rights activist. Dr. Hauser has a PhD from the University of Edinburgh and is a postdoc researcher at the LOGOS research group of the University of Barcelona.

Programme:

Opening words
by Susanne Uusitalo, Senior researcher in ethics of AI, Hybrid Intelligence research programme, University of Oulu

Talk by Julian Hauser: AI am I: how AI assistants shape who we are

The arrival of AI personal assistants in our daily routines is poised to reshape how we conceive of ourselves and who we are. These assistants occupy a curious position: they are experienced as a part of the self and as distinct Others. Consider a near-future scenario in which an AI assistant subtly alters the user’s visual experience via augmented reality glasses. The user may here employ the assistant phenomenally transparently – she isn’t aware of the changes to her visual experience but rather attends to the world out there. The assistant is then a part of the pre-reflective sense of self and may be assimilated into a self-narrative that involves an extended self. Moreover, the literature surrounding the extended self provides compelling reasons to treat AI assistants as genuine constituents of the self. Yet, even today, users encounter AI systems as Others: we attribute to them intentions, beliefs, and other mental states. And indeed, these assistants do seem possess, for instance, some agency and autonomy. This duality presents a paradox: AI assistants seem to be both self and Other, a contradiction given the traditional opposition between these categories. To resolve this, I introduce the notion of self-as-other. Rather than being both self and Other, AI assistants are neither wholly self nor entirely Other. They inherit many of the self’s properties, adopting goals and intentions almost automatically, yet retain considerable autonomous agency that sets them apart. This novel form of selfhood invites us to reconsider autonomy and identity, with implications that reach well beyond the immediate context of human-AI interaction.

Commentary

Commentary by Hasse Karlsson, MA, MD, PhD, Professor of Integrative Neuroscience and Psychiatry (emeritus), University of Turku. Chief Physician, Hospital District of Southwest Finland, Department of Psychiatry. Professor Karlsson also holds a Master’s degree in theoretical philosophy.

General Discussion

After the talk and commentary, there will be time for general discussion on the topic.