Digital society
The role of humans in an age of intelligent machines

Discussion | 05.03.2021, 7pm.
Live at the Goethe-Institut, Hanoi and at the Deutsches Haus, Ho Chi Minh City
Registration at 6:30 p.m.
Start at 7 p.m.

Online via Zoom
Start at 6:45 p.m.
ZOOM-LINK TO THE DISCUSSION

MATERIALS TO PREPARE FOR PARTICIPATING IN THE LECTURE "The role of humans in an age of intelligent machines"(PDF, 456 KB)

Artificial intelligence (AI) and the information age are bringing us more information about ourselves and each other than any society has ever known. Yet at the same time it brings machines seemingly more capable of every human endeavour than any human can be. What are the limits of AI? Of intelligence and humanity more broadly? What are our ethical obligations to machines? Do these alter our obligations to each other? What is the basis of our social obligations?

In her lecture Joanna Bryson will argue that there are really only two problems humanity has to solve: sustainability and inequality, or put another way: security and power. Or put a third way: how big of a pie can we make, and how do we slice up that pie? Life is not a zero-sum game. We use the security of sociality to construct public goods where everyone benefits. But still, every individual needs enough pie to thrive, and this is the challenge of inequality. Joanna Bryson will argue that understanding these processes answers the questions above. She will then look at how AI is presently affecting both these problems.