Peter D. Hershock, Director of the Asian Studies Development Program, dives into how Buddhism can guide us through the complexities of intelligent technology. He discusses the ethical implications of AI and its impact on human consciousness, cautioning against the outsourcing of our cognitive functions. Hershock highlights the need for a diversified ethical framework, merging Buddhist teachings with Western philosophies to foster genuine human connections. His insights reveal the potential of ancient wisdom to shape a more equitable relationship with technology.
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insights INSIGHT
Relationality in Buddhism
Buddhism emphasizes relationality, not individuality, as the basis of analysis.
It examines how our relationships, including those with technology, shape us.
insights INSIGHT
Buddhism vs. Western Religions
Buddhism, unlike Western religions, lacks a revealed text from a deity.
It focuses on achieving freedom from suffering through understanding interdependence and relationality.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Early AI and TurboTax
Hershock worked on early expert systems, like TurboTax, by interviewing human experts.
He found that human decision-making isn't always logical, making it hard to code.
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In "Buddhism and Intelligent Technology: Toward a More Humane Future," Peter Hershock explores the intersection of Buddhist philosophy and the rapid advancements in artificial intelligence. He challenges readers to reconsider our relationship with technology, urging a shift from control-biased approaches to a more ethical and humane engagement. Hershock draws upon classical Confucian and Socratic philosophies to illuminate the impact of technology on human experience. The book emphasizes the importance of cultivating attention and resisting the colonization of consciousness by AI. Ultimately, Hershock proposes a constructive path forward, blending ancient wisdom with contemporary insights to navigate the unprecedented opportunities and perils of intelligent technology.
Machine learning, big data and AI are reshaping the human experience and forcing us to develop a new ethical intelligence. In Buddhism and Intelligent Technology: Toward a More Humane Future (Bloomsbury, 2021), Peter Hershock offers a new way to think about attention, personal presence, and ethics as intelligent technology shatters previously foundational certainties and opens entirely new spaces of opportunity.
Rather than turning exclusively to cognitive science and contemporary ethical theories, Hershock shows how classical Confucian and Socratic philosophies help to make visible what a history of choices about remaking ourselves through control biased technology has rendered invisible. But it is in Buddhist thought and practice that Hershock finds the tools for valuing and training our attention, resisting the colonization of consciousness, and engendering a more equitable and diversity-enhancing human-technology-world relationship. Focusing on who we need to be present as to avoid a future in which machines prevent us from either making or learning from our own mistakes, Hershock offers a constructive response to the unprecedented perils of intelligent technology and seamlessly blends ancient and contemporary philosophies to envision how to realize its equally unprecedented promises.
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