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AI, anthropocentrism, and the evolution of ‘intelligence’

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Abstract

Intuitive conceptions guide practice, but practice reciprocally reshapes intuition. The intuitive conception of intelligence in AI was originally highly anthropocentric. However, the internal dynamics of AI research have resulted in a divergence from anthropocentric concerns. In particular, the increasing emphasis on commonsense knowledge and peripheral intelligence (perception and movement) in effect constitutes an incipient reorientation of intuitions about the nature of intelligence in a non-anthropocentric direction. I argue that this conceptual shift undermines Joseph Weizenbaum's claim that the project of artificial intelligence is inherently dehumanizing.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Philosophy, University of Georgia, 107 Peabody Hall, 30602, Athens, GA, USA

    Beth Preston

  2. Artificial Intelligence Programs, University of Georgia, 107 Peabody Hall, 30602, Athens, GA, USA

    Beth Preston

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  1. Beth Preston
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Preston, B. AI, anthropocentrism, and the evolution of ‘intelligence’. Minds and Machines 1, 259–277 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00351181

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00351181

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