The AI revolution will lots of AI and ML researchers, software engineers, and compute hardware experts, but it also might need people from an unexpected field — philosophers.
Demis Hassabis, CEO and co-founder of Google DeepMind, has pondered the need for profound philosophical thought to guide humanity through the uncharted waters of advanced AI. His observation highlights a fascinating and potentially critical aspect of the ongoing AI revolution.
“I think there is a need for some great philosophers,” Hassabis said. “Where are the great next philosophers? The equivalent of Kant or Wittgenstein, or even Aristotle.”
He went on to explain why he believed such philosophical minds were crucial: “I think we’re going to need that to help navigate society to that next step because I think AGI and artificial superintelligence is going to change humanity and the human condition.”
Hassabis’s concern echoes a growing unease about the potential societal impact of increasingly sophisticated AI. Recent advancements in large language models like ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini have brought the potential and the perils of AI into sharper public focus. While these technologies exhibit impressive capabilities, they also raise concerns about job displacement, the spread of misinformation, and the potential for misuse. The increasing speed of development, moving towards Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) – AI with human-level cognitive abilities – and beyond to superintelligence, amplifies these anxieties.
Hassabis’s call for “great philosophers” suggests a need that goes beyond technical expertise. He envisions a future where the very nature of humanity and the human condition is transformed by AI. Navigating this transformation, he believes, requires not just technical prowess but also deep ethical and philosophical reflection. Questions of consciousness, sentience, morality, and the very definition of what it means to be human will become increasingly relevant. We need philosophical frameworks to grapple with the ethical dilemmas posed by powerful AI, to ensure its responsible development and deployment, and to shape a future where AI benefits all of humanity. His words serve as a timely reminder that the AI revolution is not just a technological one, but a profound societal and philosophical one as well.