Machines Cannot Feel or Think, but Humans Can, and Ought To
My new piece in Tech Policy Press is up, and it’s about the recent re-emergence of very silly chatter about whether AI “experiences the world” and therefore ought to have something akin to human rights. In the piece, I argue that they don’t need them. Here’s how it starts:
Few things in the realm of policy are riskier than posing a question to philosophers. Philosophy is grounded in the practice of challenging definitions and finding edge cases in accepted terminologies, whereas policy is tasked with creating commitments and shared understanding. The tension between these two is sometimes fruitful, as when it comes to the question of, for example, which category of person is legitimate. Philosophy has shaped public understanding on these issues, and policy has raced to catch up.
However, as with any other human activity, philosophy can also be harnessed to support capitalist enterprises and goals that ultimately create harmful and even downright bizarre incentives.
Noisy Human Tour Stops Upcoming!
London!
- Tuesday, May 6, 2025
- 6:30 PM 8:00 PM
- The Photographer's Gallery16-18 Ramillies Street London UK (map)
Artist Talk: Eryk Salvaggio, The Hypothetical Image: Reading the Artifacts of Generative AI
06:30pm - 08:00pm, Tue 06 May 2025, The Photographer’s Gallery, London.
How might we "read" the media produced by generative artificial intelligence? Eryk Salvaggio suggests we engage them as infographics: data visualizations of archives and datasets that strives for plausibility rather than expression or documentation.
In a presentation blending artistic research into images, video, and sound, Salvaggio will examine the ways artists can hijack the spectacle of AI to engage more critically with its politics and dangers of AI ordering the world on our behalf.
