Spotlight: AI – a curse, a blessing, or both?

“The good thing about AI is: it doesn’t sweat like we do—or does it?” With this remark, Professor Oliver Müller opened the floor to an in-depth discussion on artificial intelligence in the evening heat of May 27 at the Kulturscheune Ebnet. As a member of BrainLinks-BrainTools, the philosophy professor draws on his unique expertise in new forms of human-machine interaction.

While the world often celebrations the efficiency of these new tools, Müller reminded us of the human and ecological foundations of this technology: the work of precariously employed clickworkers, without whose intensive quality assurance AI would deliver less impressive results; the enormous consumption of energy; and the looming loss of our own writing skills. The concern is that those who delegate writing to machines may be giving up part of their own ability to think.

The more than 80 attendees took up these ideas in a subsequent discussion. It was an interesting tension: on the one hand, the professor’s philosophical caution; on the other, a palpable spirit of technological optimism among the audience. It was an engaging evening that invited us to examine the digital present with a critical eye.