How the Enlightenment Ends

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in a growing number of human endeavors won’t only transform society and politics but will also challenge modern Western concepts of what it means to be human. Since the 18th-century Enlightenment, humans have placed individual insights over dogma, favored knowledge acquisition through the scientific method, and placed great faith in the human capacity to reason and reflect. 

“Users of the Internet emphasize retrieving and manipulating information over contextualizing or conceptualizing its meaning. They rarely interrogate history or philosophy; as a rule, they demand information relevant to their immediate practical needs.”

The advent of the Internet has altered the way people acquire knowledge. Online search algorithms, including personalized search results, allow people to access relevant information quickly and in a highly targeted way. Though expedient, these search algorithms induce humans to neglect putting newly acquired knowledge into broader perspective, reflect on it or question its underlying philosophical assumptions. The same goes for politics: As social media sites tailor political messages to individual users based on their personal concerns and political leanings, citizens fail to grasp the broader context of policy issues and don’t weigh competing priorities against one another.  

“The US government should consider a presidential commission of eminent thinkers to help develop a national vision. This much is certain: If we do not start this effort soon, before long we shall discover that we started too late.”

AI algorithms excel at interpreting data and making strategic judgments based on previous observation. Yet currently, AI is unable to take context into account when executing tasks. This single-minded task execution can thus lead to unanticipated outcomes. Furthermore, as AI takes on making decisions on behalf of humans, humans may soon no longer be in charge of making value judgments. The prospect of humans deferring to algorithmically-powered machines when it comes to deciding what is ethical or reasonable, however, is disconcerting. Finally, AI lacks the capacity to explain the rationale behind its actions. Should AI come to master this ability sometime in the future, it is questionable whether humans will be able to follow the reasoning behind a solution that may or may not be superior. Consequently, humans would no longer be in charge of interpreting the world around them and defining meaning. To address these concerns, AI developers will need to work with people steeped in philosophy and the humanities to define AI’s purpose and place in human society.