Teaching

AI and the Human: Interdisciplinary Dialogues

cameron.pattison@vanderbilt.edu

About the Seminar

This seminar explores what it means to be intelligent in an age of artificial minds. It examines how AI reshapes our sense of justice, power, and humanity. Join us for discussions with global experts in ethics, consciousness, and AI.

Focus and Aims

  • How does AI challenge traditional concepts of intelligence and human uniqueness?
  • What ethical dilemmas arise from the integration of AI into our daily lives?
  • How does AI reshape existing power dynamics, and what new forms of power does it create?
  • How can the humanities enrich the ongoing discourse on AI's societal implications?

Guest Speakers

John Tasioulas

AI Ethics and Human Rights, Oxford University

Sina Fazelpour

Tradeoffs Between Accuracy and Interpretability, Northeastern

AnaΓ―s Nony

Proletarianization of the Mind, Johannesburg Institute for Advanced Study

Kate Vredenburg

The Right to Explanation, London School of Economics

David Chalmers

Consciousness and AI, NYU

John Basl

AI Ethics and Decision Subjects, Northeastern

David Thorstad

The Singularity Hypothesis, Vanderbilt

Jesse Spencer-Smith

Future of AI, Vanderbilt

πŸ“… Calendar of Events

πŸ“ In person at the RPW Center Main Conference Room | πŸ•’ 12-2pm central time

Date Guest Readings Topic
10 Sept No guest Mollick: Co-Intelligence, Ch. 3, Frontier AI Ethics Introduction to AI and the Issues
8 Oct John Tasioulas (Oxford, Institute for Ethics in AI) AI Ethics with Aristotle AI and virtue ethics
29 Oct Sina Fazelpour (Northeastern University) Disciplining deliberation: a sociotechnical perspective on machine learning trade-offs Tradeoffs between Accuracy and Interpretability/Fairness
19 Nov AnaΓ―s Nony (Johannesburg Institute for Advanced Study) Proletarianization of the Mind AI and Contemporary French Theory
7 Jan Kate Vredenburg (London School of Economics) The Right to Explanation Justice and Explainability in AI
11 Feb David Chalmers (NYU, Center for Mind, Brain, and Consciousness) TBA Consciousness, Mind, and AI
4 Mar John Basl (Northeastern University) What We Owe to Decision Subjects Should AI be allowed to do that?
8 Apr David Thorstad & Jesse Spencer-Smith (Vanderbilt!) Against the Singularity Hypothesis The Singularity Hypothesis and the Future of AI

Special Features

  • Full Access to Amplify AI Platform
  • Talks from leading ethicists, philosophers, and researchers
  • Hands-On Sessions showcasing practical AI applications

Resources

Podcasts We Like

  • 🎧 The AI Daily Brief – daily
  • 🎧 Hardfork (NYTimes) – weekly
  • 🎧 Latent Space – weekly
  • 🎧 The Gradient – monthly

Contact

For more information, reach out to Cameron Pattison at cameron.pattison@vanderbilt.edu.