A phenomenological reply to Gary Marcus and Ernest Davis’s Rebooting AI: building artificial intelligence we can trust: contributing to the creation of general artificial intelligence
Abstract
Marcus and Davis’s Rebooting AI: Building Artificial Intelligence We Can Trust (2019) describes the narrowness of current artificial intelligence, posits constituents of human intelligence it contends artificial intelligence (AI) must reproduce to achieve a general (broad) formulation, and envisages the contributions of general AI to human living. This article (1) reviews Marcus and Davis’s argument, (2) phenomenologically evaluates their interpretation of human intelligence, and (3) discloses the moral inconsistencies implied by their vision of the relation between general AI and human being. Transcendental and hermeneutic phenomenological perspectives are employed to address the range of phenomena the authors affiliate with human intelligence.
Keyword : artificial intelligence, common sense, hermeneutics, human intelligence, phenomenology
How to Cite
Trujillo, J. (2023). A phenomenological reply to Gary Marcus and Ernest Davis’s Rebooting AI: building artificial intelligence we can trust: contributing to the creation of general artificial intelligence. Creativity Studies, 16(2), 448-464. https://doi.org/10.3846/cs.2023.16193
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
References
Asimov, I. (1977). The robot series. I, Robot. Bantam Books.
Breda, van H. L. (1982). Preface. In A. Schutz, Phaenomenologica: Collection Publiée Sous le Patronage des Centres d’Archives-Husserl. Book: 11. Collected papers. Vol. 1: The problem of social reality (vi–xiii). M. Natanson (Ed.). Martinus Nijhoff.
Davis, E., & Marcus, G. (2015). Commonsense reasoning and commonsense knowledge in artificial intelligence. Communications of the Association for Computing Machinery, 58(9), 92–103. https://doi.org/10.1145/2701413
Emad, P. (2000). On the inception of being-historical thinking and its unfolding as mindfulness. Heidegger Studies, 16, 55–71. https://doi.org/10.5840/heideggerstud2000163
Frankl, V. E. (2014). The will to meaning: Foundations and applications of logotherapy. A Plume Book.
Gurwitsch, A. (1970). Introduction. In A. Schutz, Phaenomenologica: Collection Publiée Sous le Patronage des Centres d’Archives-Husserl. Book: 22. Collected papers. Vol. 3: Studies in Phenomenological Philosophy (xi–xxxi). Martinus Nijhoff.
Heidegger, M. (2001). Being and time. Blackwell.
Heidegger, M. (2000). Hölderlin and the essence of poetry. In M. Heidegger, Elucidations of Hölderlin’s Poetry (pp. 51–65). Humanity Books.
Heidegger, M. (2008a). Letter on humanism. In M. Heidegger, Basic writings from being and time (1927) to the task of thinking (1964) (pp. 213–266). D. F. Krell (Ed.). Harper Perennial/Modern Thought.
Heidegger, M. (2008b). The question concerning technology. In M. Heidegger, Basic writings from being and time (1927) to the task of thinking (1964) (pp. 307–342). D. F. Krell (Ed.). Harper Perennial/Modern Thought.
Husserl, E. (1982). Cartesian meditations: An introduction to phenomenology. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.
Husserl, E. (1980). Collected works. Vol. 1: Phenomenology and the foundations of the sciences. Book 3: Ideas pertaining to a pure phenomenology and to a phenomenological philosophy. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-8779-1
Husserl, E. (1970). Northwestern University studies in phenomenology and existential philosophy. The crisis of European sciences and transcendental phenomenology: An introduction to phenomenological philosophy. J. Wild (General Ed.). Northwestern University Press.
Kovacs, G. (2016). Heidegger in dialogue with Husserl. Heidegger Studies, 32, 245–258. https://doi.org/10.5840/heideggerstud20163213
Kovacs, G. (2013). Heidegger’s insight into the history of language. Heidegger Studies, 29, 121–132. https://doi.org/10.5840/heideggerstud2013296
Legg, Sh., & Hutter, M. (2006, 11–12 May). A formal measure of machine intelligence. In Proceedings of 15th Annual Machine Learning Conference of Belgium and the Netherlands (Benelearn 2006) (pp. 73–80). Ghent, Belgium. Technical Report No. IDSIA-10-06. Istituto Dalle Molle di Studi sull’Intelligenza Artificiale.
Legg, Sh., & Hutter, M. (2007). Universal intelligence: A definition of machine intelligence. Minds and Machines, 17, 391–444. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11023-007-9079-x
Marcus, G., & Davis, E. (2019). Rebooting AI: Building artificial intelligence we can trust. Vintage.
Merleau-Ponty, M. (1962). Phenomenology of perception. Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Mitchell, M. (2019). Artificial intelligence: A guide for thinking humans. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Natanson, M. (1982). Introduction. In A. Schutz, Phaenomenologica: Collection Publiée Sous le Patronage des Centres d’Archives-Husserl. Book: 11. Collected papers. Vol. 1: The problem of social reality (xxv–xlvii). M. Natanson (Ed.). Martinus Nijhoff.
Pinker, S. (2018). We’re told to fear robots. But why do we think they’ll turn on us? Popular Science. https://www.popsci.com/robot-uprising-enlightenment-now/
Schuetz, A. (1953). Common-sense and scientific interpretation of human action. Philosophy and Phenomenological Research: A Quarterly Journal, 14(1), 1–38. https://doi.org/10.2307/2104013
Schuetz, A. (1945). On multiple realities, Philosophy and Phenomenological Research: A Quarterly Journal, 5(4), 533–576. https://doi.org/10.2307/2102818
Schutz, M. (1982a). Language, language disturbances, and the texture of consciousness. In A. Schutz, Phaenomenologica: Collection Publiée Sous le Patronage des Centres d’Archives-Husserl. Book: 11. Collected Papers. Vol. 1: The Problem of Social Reality (pp. 261–286). M. Natanson (Ed.). Martinus Nijhoff.
Schutz, M. (1982b). Symbol, reality and society. In A. Schutz, Phaenomenologica: Collection Publiée Sous le Patronage des Centres d’Archives-Husserl. Book: 11. Collected papers. Vol. 1: The Problem of Social Reality (pp. 287–356). M. Natanson (Ed.). Martinus Nijhoff.
Schutz, A. (1970). The problem of transcendental intersubjectivity in Husserl. In A. Schutz, Phaenomenologica: Collection Publiée Sous le Patronage des Centres d’Archives-Husserl. Book: 22. Collected papers. Vol. 3: Studies in phenomenological philosophy (pp. 51–84). I. Schutz (Ed.). Martinus Nijhoff. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-3456-7_4
Spiegelberg, H. (1994). The phenomenological movement: A historical introduction. Kluwer Academic Publishers. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-7491-3
Stannard, R. (2008). Very short introductions. Relativity: A very short introduction. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/actrade/9780199236220.001.0001
Trujillo, J. (2021). The phenomenon of common sense and the thinking of Alfred Schutz. Filosofija. Sociologija, 32(3), 268–276. https://doi.org/10.6001/fil-soc.v32i3.4499
Zaner, R. M. (1961). Theory of intersubjectivity: Alfred Schutz. Social Research: An International Quarterly, 28(1), 71–93.
Zeh, H. D. (2007). The Frontiers collection. The physical basis of the direction of time. A. C. Elitzur, M. P. Silverman, J. Tuszynski, R. Vaas & H. D. Zeh (Series Eds.). Springer-Verlag.
Breda, van H. L. (1982). Preface. In A. Schutz, Phaenomenologica: Collection Publiée Sous le Patronage des Centres d’Archives-Husserl. Book: 11. Collected papers. Vol. 1: The problem of social reality (vi–xiii). M. Natanson (Ed.). Martinus Nijhoff.
Davis, E., & Marcus, G. (2015). Commonsense reasoning and commonsense knowledge in artificial intelligence. Communications of the Association for Computing Machinery, 58(9), 92–103. https://doi.org/10.1145/2701413
Emad, P. (2000). On the inception of being-historical thinking and its unfolding as mindfulness. Heidegger Studies, 16, 55–71. https://doi.org/10.5840/heideggerstud2000163
Frankl, V. E. (2014). The will to meaning: Foundations and applications of logotherapy. A Plume Book.
Gurwitsch, A. (1970). Introduction. In A. Schutz, Phaenomenologica: Collection Publiée Sous le Patronage des Centres d’Archives-Husserl. Book: 22. Collected papers. Vol. 3: Studies in Phenomenological Philosophy (xi–xxxi). Martinus Nijhoff.
Heidegger, M. (2001). Being and time. Blackwell.
Heidegger, M. (2000). Hölderlin and the essence of poetry. In M. Heidegger, Elucidations of Hölderlin’s Poetry (pp. 51–65). Humanity Books.
Heidegger, M. (2008a). Letter on humanism. In M. Heidegger, Basic writings from being and time (1927) to the task of thinking (1964) (pp. 213–266). D. F. Krell (Ed.). Harper Perennial/Modern Thought.
Heidegger, M. (2008b). The question concerning technology. In M. Heidegger, Basic writings from being and time (1927) to the task of thinking (1964) (pp. 307–342). D. F. Krell (Ed.). Harper Perennial/Modern Thought.
Husserl, E. (1982). Cartesian meditations: An introduction to phenomenology. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.
Husserl, E. (1980). Collected works. Vol. 1: Phenomenology and the foundations of the sciences. Book 3: Ideas pertaining to a pure phenomenology and to a phenomenological philosophy. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-8779-1
Husserl, E. (1970). Northwestern University studies in phenomenology and existential philosophy. The crisis of European sciences and transcendental phenomenology: An introduction to phenomenological philosophy. J. Wild (General Ed.). Northwestern University Press.
Kovacs, G. (2016). Heidegger in dialogue with Husserl. Heidegger Studies, 32, 245–258. https://doi.org/10.5840/heideggerstud20163213
Kovacs, G. (2013). Heidegger’s insight into the history of language. Heidegger Studies, 29, 121–132. https://doi.org/10.5840/heideggerstud2013296
Legg, Sh., & Hutter, M. (2006, 11–12 May). A formal measure of machine intelligence. In Proceedings of 15th Annual Machine Learning Conference of Belgium and the Netherlands (Benelearn 2006) (pp. 73–80). Ghent, Belgium. Technical Report No. IDSIA-10-06. Istituto Dalle Molle di Studi sull’Intelligenza Artificiale.
Legg, Sh., & Hutter, M. (2007). Universal intelligence: A definition of machine intelligence. Minds and Machines, 17, 391–444. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11023-007-9079-x
Marcus, G., & Davis, E. (2019). Rebooting AI: Building artificial intelligence we can trust. Vintage.
Merleau-Ponty, M. (1962). Phenomenology of perception. Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Mitchell, M. (2019). Artificial intelligence: A guide for thinking humans. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Natanson, M. (1982). Introduction. In A. Schutz, Phaenomenologica: Collection Publiée Sous le Patronage des Centres d’Archives-Husserl. Book: 11. Collected papers. Vol. 1: The problem of social reality (xxv–xlvii). M. Natanson (Ed.). Martinus Nijhoff.
Pinker, S. (2018). We’re told to fear robots. But why do we think they’ll turn on us? Popular Science. https://www.popsci.com/robot-uprising-enlightenment-now/
Schuetz, A. (1953). Common-sense and scientific interpretation of human action. Philosophy and Phenomenological Research: A Quarterly Journal, 14(1), 1–38. https://doi.org/10.2307/2104013
Schuetz, A. (1945). On multiple realities, Philosophy and Phenomenological Research: A Quarterly Journal, 5(4), 533–576. https://doi.org/10.2307/2102818
Schutz, M. (1982a). Language, language disturbances, and the texture of consciousness. In A. Schutz, Phaenomenologica: Collection Publiée Sous le Patronage des Centres d’Archives-Husserl. Book: 11. Collected Papers. Vol. 1: The Problem of Social Reality (pp. 261–286). M. Natanson (Ed.). Martinus Nijhoff.
Schutz, M. (1982b). Symbol, reality and society. In A. Schutz, Phaenomenologica: Collection Publiée Sous le Patronage des Centres d’Archives-Husserl. Book: 11. Collected papers. Vol. 1: The Problem of Social Reality (pp. 287–356). M. Natanson (Ed.). Martinus Nijhoff.
Schutz, A. (1970). The problem of transcendental intersubjectivity in Husserl. In A. Schutz, Phaenomenologica: Collection Publiée Sous le Patronage des Centres d’Archives-Husserl. Book: 22. Collected papers. Vol. 3: Studies in phenomenological philosophy (pp. 51–84). I. Schutz (Ed.). Martinus Nijhoff. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-3456-7_4
Spiegelberg, H. (1994). The phenomenological movement: A historical introduction. Kluwer Academic Publishers. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-7491-3
Stannard, R. (2008). Very short introductions. Relativity: A very short introduction. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/actrade/9780199236220.001.0001
Trujillo, J. (2021). The phenomenon of common sense and the thinking of Alfred Schutz. Filosofija. Sociologija, 32(3), 268–276. https://doi.org/10.6001/fil-soc.v32i3.4499
Zaner, R. M. (1961). Theory of intersubjectivity: Alfred Schutz. Social Research: An International Quarterly, 28(1), 71–93.
Zeh, H. D. (2007). The Frontiers collection. The physical basis of the direction of time. A. C. Elitzur, M. P. Silverman, J. Tuszynski, R. Vaas & H. D. Zeh (Series Eds.). Springer-Verlag.