Rethinking AI: A Review of 'Making Kin with the Machines'
YUSHIEN, 2024
Anicka Yi, Aerobes, 2022 Abstract
YUSHIEN, 2024
Since ancient Greek philosopher Parmenides divided human’s cognition into rational and sensory forms, the philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Kant, and others tried to argue that "only rational thought can free humanity from the world of appearances to reach perfect truth," a grand building of rationality has been constructed. This rational framework has ensured that humans have the “right” to dominate various fields exclusively (Serkova 2019).
The modern era began with the Scientific and Industrial Revolutions, during which rationality shifted from speculative thinking to mathematics. However, by the 19th century, philosophers like Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, and Bergson began to challenge the foundations of modernism. Additionally, Deleuze, Foucault, and Derrida sought new ways that were anti-essentialist, anti-absolutist, and emphasized difference, plurality, and variability. They opposed traditional binary thinking, such as the distinctions between subject and object, mind and body, sensory and rational, and emphasized the creative, dynamic, and uncertain nature of the cognitive object. This approach embraced the diversity of all objects and rejected hierarchical, tree-like structures among individuals.
Indigenous epistemologies and the philosophical perspectives of Deleuze offer profound reflections on our relationship with artificial intelligence. This paper explores how these diverse frameworks collectively inspire a more equitable and interconnected approach to AI, viewing AI not merely as a tool but as a crucial part of our kinship network. It suggests integrating AI into our cognitive system, akin to the concept of distributed cognition, to change our perspective on tools and technology. Moreover, the emergence of AI might signify the end of human rationality (as we are no longer the most rational entity), encouraging us to adopt a more humble attitude towards all species and abandon the mindset of "those who are not of my kind must have a different mind."
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The modern era began with the Scientific and Industrial Revolutions, during which rationality shifted from speculative thinking to mathematics. However, by the 19th century, philosophers like Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, and Bergson began to challenge the foundations of modernism. Additionally, Deleuze, Foucault, and Derrida sought new ways that were anti-essentialist, anti-absolutist, and emphasized difference, plurality, and variability. They opposed traditional binary thinking, such as the distinctions between subject and object, mind and body, sensory and rational, and emphasized the creative, dynamic, and uncertain nature of the cognitive object. This approach embraced the diversity of all objects and rejected hierarchical, tree-like structures among individuals.
Indigenous epistemologies and the philosophical perspectives of Deleuze offer profound reflections on our relationship with artificial intelligence. This paper explores how these diverse frameworks collectively inspire a more equitable and interconnected approach to AI, viewing AI not merely as a tool but as a crucial part of our kinship network. It suggests integrating AI into our cognitive system, akin to the concept of distributed cognition, to change our perspective on tools and technology. Moreover, the emergence of AI might signify the end of human rationality (as we are no longer the most rational entity), encouraging us to adopt a more humble attitude towards all species and abandon the mindset of "those who are not of my kind must have a different mind."
Click to read the paper