The Fifth Elephant 2024 Annual Conference (12th &13th July)

The rush for building AI is taking over every business organization to adapt to a new era of automation. The push for AI is going to take over the economy and society at large with applications of AI in every sector. This brings many important questions of production of AI, from large scale data centers to data sets required to train these complex mathematical models. In this context, how do we imagine our future and how should the community build futures that are just.

This birds of feather session will look into critical questions of AI beyond the standard questions of ethics and fairness in AI. This session is aimed to bring out critical discussions on what AI futures we want and how one should go about it. What kind of philosophy should the community evolve to tackle new challenges of AI? Would AI really bring a terminator era or will it be more like the creator, what is the role of science fiction in our AI imaginations? Would a FOSS model of AI be enough in a world where large computers will determine futures? What about the role of privacy, censorship and digital rights in AI? Should AI be regulated? If so, at what point?

These are some important questions that need to be addressed by society as it adopts AI into every aspect of our lives. Where do we start and how do we go about it?

Readings:

What is AI?
Everyone thinks they know but no one can agree. And that’s a problem.

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/07/10/1094475/what-is-artificial-intelligence-ai-definitive-guide/

The Future of Artificial Intelligence and Cybernetics https://www.technologyreview.com/2016/11/10/156141/the-future-of-artificial-intelligence-and-cybernetics/

AI Should Augment Human Intelligence, Not Replace It
https://hbr.org/2021/03/ai-should-augment-human-intelligence-not-replace-it

AI is an energy hog. This is what it means for climate change. https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/05/23/1092777/ai-is-an-energy-hog-this-is-what-it-means-for-climate-change/

Should We Stop Developing AI For The Good Of Humanity? https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2023/05/03/should-we-stop-developing-ai-for-the-good-of-humanity/

The role of philosophy in mathematical modeling as understood by scientists at TCS https://archive.org/details/complex-problems-and-qualitative-modelling

Science Fiction Imaginations of Information https://www.wired.com/1995/11/krauss/