Philosophy of Technology and Artificial Intelligence

A condensed, point-by-point summary of the module, for reviewing right before a test or exam.

1. Heidegger's "The Question Concerning Technology". Heidegger argues technology's essence is a mode of revealing, culminating in the danger of Enframing.
2. Ellul and the Autonomy of Technique. Ellul argued technique has become a self-augmenting system that follows efficiency, not human ends.
3. The Turing Test and Machine Intelligence. Turing replaced "Can machines think?" with a behavioral imitation game as an operational test.
4. Searle's Chinese Room Revisited in the Context of AI. Searle's Chinese Room argues symbol manipulation cannot by itself produce genuine understanding.
5. The Ethics of Autonomous Systems and Algorithmic Decision-Making. Autonomous algorithmic systems raise hard questions of bias, opacity, and moral responsibility.
6. Transhumanism and the Philosophy of Human Enhancement. Transhumanists defend radical enhancement; bioconservatives warn it threatens dignity and equality.
7. The Alignment Problem and the Philosophy of AI Safety. AI safety asks how to ensure a system's actual goals match human values as capability grows.
8. Technology, Alienation, and the Philosophy of Everyday Life. From Marx to Zuboff, thinkers trace how technology can mediate, and diminish, everyday human life.