A philosopher on why AI bugs us
🦋 Today marks the 77th anniversary of the first computer bug, when a moth got stuck in the 25-ton Harvard Mark II; programmer Grace Hopper filed the first bug ticket
Issue #159: turning 90, MFA woes, and how to semester your life
By Harris Sockel
If someone cornered me at a bar and asked me what the most popular topic on Medium is right now, I’d probably say AI. (I don’t know why I phrased that so weirdly. Someone actually did ask me this at a bar recently, but I was not cornered and they were very nice about it.)
So far this year, data scientist Stephanie Kirmer reminded us that generative AI still isn’t profitable; Margaret Efron listed words that scream “I used AI to write this” (looking at you, “robust”); and Jim the AI Whisperer went straight to the heart of the matter, explaining why ChatGPT is obsessed with saying “delve” (its training data relies on British English).
But there’s a deeper conversation happening, too. Writers are grappling with what AI means — existentially, for us humans. How does it change the way we see our humanity?
Paul Siemers, PhD who studies the philosophy of technology, delves (sorry) into this question in his essay, “The Ontological Shock of AI.” Ontology is the philosophy of existence. Siemens traces how our understanding of ourselves has evolved through the last few thousand years. Early humans thought everything was alive in some way; over the last 200-ish years, we’ve started to divide the world into two categories: living and non-living things.
Siemers believes AI challenges that binary. “We must abandon rigid human/thing dualism and accept that there can be other kinds of beings,” he contends. It’s always unsettling when your internal categories don’t match reality… and that might be a tiny bit of what the world is feeling right now.
Elsewhere on Medium: two of the most human stories we could find
- Novelist and marketing exec Felicia C. Sullivan remembers her Columbia MFA as “botched surgery where the attending doctors learned their trade by binge watching the Discovery Channel.” Woof. Sullivan realizes, looking back, that she didn’t need a $110K MFA to be a writer; she just needed a library card, discipline, and a few trusted friends who also cared about writing.
- Katharine Esty PhD, who turned 90 this summer and published a practical guide to being in your 80s, looks backwards and forwards in time. Her life story is a tribute to reinvention, and it inspired me deeply!
Your daily dose of practical wisdom: on semesters
Live life not in days or weeks, but in “semesters” — 15–17 weeks is just long enough to complete a meaningful chunk of work, but not so long that you’ll give up.
And the winner of Friday’s quiz is…
Sargas (a two-time winner!) for the following answers:
- Which part of the U.S. Constitution concerns the separation of church and state? The non-establishment clause of the First Amendment. It doesn’t prevent religion from affecting how people campaign, vote, or fulfill their civic duties; instead, it protects religious freedoms and prohibits the establishment of a national church.
- According to engineer Marianne Bellotti, what’s the difference between a true tech company and a company that merely says they’re one but actually isn’t? True tech companies plan for the long-term maintenance of their infrastructure.
- What is the most mispronounced word in the world according to poli-sci professor Darren Zook? Karaoke. The correct pronunciation based on its Japanese origins and according to Zook “would rhyme with ‘la la’ (as in ‘La La Land’) and ‘okay,’ so we get ‘la la okay.’”
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Edited and produced by Scott Lamb & Carly Rose Gillis
Questions, feedback, or story suggestions? Email us: tips@medium.com
