Three philosophical perspectives on the relation between technology and society, and how they affect the current debate about artificial intelligence

Journal article (2020)

Authors

I.R. van de Poel Values Technology and Innovation
Department
Values Technology and Innovation
Copyright: © 2020 I.R. van de Poel
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/humaff-2020-0042
Artificial intelligence Philosophy Values Co-evolution Technology Society Technological determinism
More Info
expand_more

Published Date

2020

Language

English

Reuse Rights

Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download, forward or distribute the text or part of it, without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license such as Creative Commons.

Department

Values Technology and Innovation

Abstract

Three philosophical perspectives on the relation between technology and society are distinguished and discussed: 1) technology as an autonomous force that determines society; 2) technology as a human construct that can be shaped by human values, and 3) a co-evolutionary perspective on technology and society where neither of them determines the other. The historical evolution of the three perspectives is discussed and it is argued that all three are still present in current debates about technological change and how it may affect society. This is illustrated for the case of Artificial Intelligence (AI). It is argued that each of the three perspectives contributes to the debate of AI but that the third has the strongest potential to uncover blind spots in the current debate.

Files

2020_1337401X_.pdf
(.pdf | 0.199 Mb)