Is AI still artificial?

February 2, 2023

Is AI still artificial?

Martine Dirkzwager Wu
February 2, 2023

Is AI still artificial?

Definitions are becoming obsolete as tech and science blur the boundaries between the natural and the artificial
Martine Dirkzwager Wu
February 2, 2023
Design by wacomka. © Shutterstock

Is AI still artificial?

February 2, 2023

In a recent article, Italian philosopher Francesco Bianchini argues that the standard definition of “artificial” regarding AI has become obsolete. AI’s new technologies, methodologies and frameworks—such as neural networks and evolutionary algorithms—have brought the discipline closer to the field of biology, thereby diffusing the traditional demarcation between the “natural” and the “artificial”.

The “artificial” is generally thought of as that which is not occurring in the natural world, but is made by humans instead. AI is thus termed “artificial” because a) it is developed and controlled by humans, and b) its purpose is either to imitate intelligent human performance or achieve an ideal intelligent performance that corresponds to a human notion of “perfect” rationality.

However, AI saw exciting technological developments last year, becoming more creative, more self-supervised, and increasingly autonomous. And, moreover, newer approaches to AI took inspiration from biological structures beyond the human domain. In other words, AI seems to have escaped the clear-cut definition of “artificial”. Does this imply that AI is becoming “natural”, should we expand the definition of artificial or are we perhaps in need of a new label? Or, alternatively, should we simply stop thinking in terms of these categories and treat all of this as a continuum?

Burning questions:
  • The difference between the natural and the artificial is important to philosophers. Yet, is it also relevant for scientists, engineers or society in general?
  • We tend to have moral opinions about human actions (and hence the artificial), while we accept the natural world as it is. Would perceiving AI as “not-so-artificial” mean that we ask fewer ethical questions and be less critical of the use of AI?

About the author(s)
With a background in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, Martine is researching the rise of Asia and what new world order it might bring. Concerned by societal, economic and environmental issues worldwide, she is interested in learning how Asian nations search for proactive solutions through technology. In trying to understand a fundamentally uncertain world, her thought process aims to be critical and creative. She celebrates an era of post-truth in which her task is to trace knowledge all along its distribution network, including but not limited to nature, academia and culture.
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