The Human Use of Human Beings: Why Artificial Intelligence is only Part of the Problem

Norbert Wiener argued in The Human Use of Human Beings (1950) that automation would bring large social benefits by freeing human beings from the drudgery of modern labor. Today, the rise of AI rekindles his argument -- and ushers in a new set of concerns.

Today, the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) rekindles Wiener’s argument, but also raises larger and more ominous questions arising from AI’s widespread adoption: Are humans still in control, or are technology and the interests of tech entrepreneurs truly taking over? What remains of human agency if AI takes over increasingly larger spheres of human endeavor? What of business decisions that involve risk to human livelihoods? Or the use of AI in military combat, in which soldiers are already treated as expendable resources without adequate legal protection? Does AI solve any of these concerns, or does it magnify their consequences? Join the American Academy in Berlin and the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities for a discussion of these and other questions with four noted historians, philosophers, and legal experts.

Panelists:

Jutta Allmendinger, President, Berlin Social Science Center (WZB); Professor of Educational Sociology and Labor Market Research, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin; and Member of the BBAW

Holly Case, Professor of History, Brown University; Fall 2023 Fellow, American Academy in Berlin

Rainer Forst, Professor of Political Theory and Philosophy, Director, Research Center “Normative Orders,” Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main; Member of the BBAW and of the British Academy

Saira Mohamed, Professor of Law, University of California, Berkeley; Fall 2023 Fellow, American Academy in Berlin

Moderated by Mitchell G. Ash, Professor Emeritus of Modern History, Universität Wien; and Member of the BBAW

Panel Discussion co-hosted by the American Academy in Berlin and Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (BBAW)

Aufzeichnung vom 12. Dezember 2023