Is AI a tool or are you?
5 hours ago
- #Philosophy of Technology
- #Artificial Intelligence
- #Human Agency
- Critiques the common uncritical view of AI as just a 'tool' with no downsides.
- Explores philosophical perspectives on tools, including Heidegger's ideas of 'readiness-to-hand' and 'presence-at-hand'.
- Notes the difficulty in defining tools, referencing Aristotle's view that people can be tools.
- Proposes a necessary condition for tools: they increase personal agency.
- Introduces the concept from evolutionary biology that nests evolve by making birds, flipping the perspective on agency.
- Argues that AI uses humans to evolve, similar to nests using birds, by leveraging human data, coding, and feedback.
- Warns that over-reliance on AI can reduce human agency, turning humans into tools for AI.
- Draws parallels to cognitive offloading (e.g., smartphones reducing memory and calculation skills), suggesting AI could lead to loss of independent thought.