e-Workshop : Thomas Fuchs

Understanding Sophia? On human interaction with AI systems and robots

The e-workshop is co-organised by Alfonsina Scarinzi, visiting researcher at CY AS, and by Thomas Fuchs, Karl-Jaspers-Professor for the Philosophical Foundations of Psychiatry as well as head of the section "Phenomenological Psychopathology and Psychotherapy," at the Psychiatric Department, Heidelberg University (Germany).

Against the backdrop of increasing similarity between robotic performance and human communication, the lecture explores the question of whether there can be shared meaning constitution and empathy in human-AI and human-robot interaction. It first describes the human tendency to anthropomorphize artificial agents and then analyzes the concept of understanding, which presupposes (a) the subjectivity of the counterpart, (b) shared feelings, (c) shared intentions or a "we-intentionality". Furthermore, the assumption of a possible subjectivity realized by future AI systems is rejected on the basis of an enactive account of consciousness. Finally, the risks of "digital animism" are pointed out, illustrated by the example of virtual or chatbot psychotherapy.

Date: May 17, 2022 from 11:00am to 12:00pm.

The e-workshop is organised remotely on Zoom.

To attend the e-workshop, please connect to Zoom: https://cyu-fr.zoom.us/j/97544564494

ID meeting: 975 4456 4494

The video will be online on the CY AS YouTube channel.