I appreciate the shout-out, Paul, but perhaps surprisingly, I’m ok with a Philosophy + AI major, at least in principle and as long as it’s appropriately skeptical. But I can also appreciate why folks might be against this plan, and I’ll explain both in a moment.
(I’m not anti-AI per se but believe that LLMs are seriously overestimated by users and industry. We don’t need to rehash why here, but here’s the basic idea.)
First, if I may reply to reviewer #3 on your behalf: “AI can’t even think so why should we listen to what it says” is only a very rough paraphrase of my view, which rev #3 is taking too literally:
Unlike other scientific tools, say a microscope, LLMs aren’t merely illuminating new domains that we can’t see with our naked eyes, but they’re giving us propositions, claims, arguments, ideas, etc. wholesale—presenting them as the truth, as if they understand what they’re talking about. No other tech does this. But given their design, there are good reasons to not trust LLMs to the extent that most people seem to. (See the last Daily Nous thread on AI.)
So, some people might react against this Philosophy + AI major because they think AI (or LLMs, more specifically) is mostly snake-oil, and why should we bless or legitimize snake-oil by creating an academic major around it?
Perhaps they would have a similar reaction to a major that pairs philosophy with, say, blockchain, or metaverse (VR/AR), or some other overhyped tech du jour. Beyond tech, imagine a major on Philosophy + MAGA: what is even the point of that? Maybe that’s appropriate for a Rhetoric program, but not philosophy insofar as it would try to make sense of the senseless and legitimize it along the way.
Another kind of possible objection is this. What might be ok for a specific philosophy course doesn’t mean it should be expanded into an entire major program. E.g., there are/were classes on Philosophy + Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which I have no doubt engages with substantive philosophy, but (1) can it be expanded into a major program and (2) should it be?
I don’t know about (1); maybe it can be expanded to connect to every key area of philosophy. But (2) is probably a no; the show just doesn’t have that kind of longevity to deem it worthy of a major program and the investments needed. (Sorry, Buffy fans.)
Philosophy + AI is already being taught in many different kinds of philosophy courses: ethics/aesthetics, metaphysics, epistemology, and maybe even logic. So, I think the answer to (1) is yes here. On (2), it’s very reasonable to place a bet on AI’s longevity, even if LLMs are ultimately a dead-end, but it’s also understandable why some folks might not see it this way.
I’d think there’s room for 1,000 flowers to bloom here. The new major plan isn’t obviously dumb, but we’re in the middle of an intense cultural moment re: AI, so naturally there would be strong reactions both ways.
So, if you want to fight someone, maybe don’t pick on the philosophy departments that are just trying to be creative and more relevant to the modern world, and/or just trying to survive…
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