On October 21, the academic seminar and new book launch conference of “Human Enhancement and the Future of Humanism ” was held at Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences . "Human Enhancement" is the technology ethics and science and technology philosophy issues caused by modern technology transformation of human beings. It involves the challenges of cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence , brain-computer interface , neural regulation, gene editing , synthetic biology and other cutting-edge technologies to the foundation of human nature, and is a hot topic of academic concern in recent years. In order to clarify the basic theoretical issues of scientific and technological development, scientific and technological ethics, and human nature philosophy, the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences Science and Technology Innovation Team published the book "Augmentation, Human and Post-Human Future - Philosophical Exploration on Human Augmentation", which gathers the latest research results in order to provide clues to thinking about the "future question" of the development of human civilization and philosophical answers.
Humanistic Questions that technology cannot avoid
In the release of the new book, the author of the book "Augmentation, Human and Post-Human Future - Philosophical Exploration on Human Augmentation", a researcher Ji Haiqing made a keynote speech entitled "Human Augmentation and Philosophical Issues". He pointed out that the phenomenon of "human augmentation" is receiving more and more philosophical attention. In the 2020 National Social Science Fund funding, two academic teams from Shanghai and Hunan have obtained major projects for the "Human Enhancement" philosophy, which is a proof of the important philosophical significance of this issue. He believes that the enhanced philosophical significance of human beings is concentrated in the relationship between scientific and technological development and humanism, and has raised important philosophical issues in four aspects: scientific and technological ethics, philosophical ontology, biological philosophy and historical materialism. In the ethics of science and technology, the question raised by human enhancement is: how the development of cutting-edge technology challenges the basic humanistic values, such as whether brain-computer interface technology infringes on individual autonomy, whether gene editing undermines the innate equality between people and other difficult application ethics. In philosophical ontology, the question raised by human enhancement is: how to understand the contradictions and conflicts between naturalistic and humanistic views of humanity, and the key is how to inherit the anthropocentric legacy in humanism. In the philosophy of biology, the question raised by human enhancement is whether modern biotechnology can have the significance of species evolution level, and whether the power of technology is sufficient to be recognized as an influencing factor of acquired genetics. In historical materialism, the question raised by human enhancement is: Will the changes in human enhancement on human bodies affect our re-understanding of key concepts such as productivity in historical materialism and production relations . The answer to this should be combined with modern technical philosophy ideas to rethink the possibility and model of the new combination of humans and technology.
In the discussion session, Professor of the Center for Life Medicine Ethics of Fudan University and the major project of National Social Science Fund ""Hypermanent at the forefront of contemporary emerging enhancement technology" Research on Humanistic " Research on Humanistic " Research on Humanistic " Research on Yang Qingfeng believes that interpreting human enhancement from Marxist historical materialism is a new theoretical perspective worthy of in-depth discussion; in addition, the investigation of human enhancement should not ignore the differences in the definition of the concept of enhancement from different cultural backgrounds, which largely determines the different understanding of the nature of physical intervention methods in medical practice and medical ethics. Professor of the School of Marxism of Hunan Normal University and a major project of NTU "Research on Humanistic Philosophy at the Frontier of Contemporary Emerging Enhancement Technology" The chief expert of the research team, Yi Xianfei, proposed that discussing the difference between traditional enhancement and modern technology-based enhancement. The former is indirect, gradual, and mostly spiritual, while the latter is direct, quick and transforming the human body. By comparing the differences in nature and degree of these interventions, many theoretical issues worth discussing will be drawn. of the Institute of History and Science and Culture of Shanghai Jiaotong University proposed that in the study of human enhancement ethics, the traditional humanistic stance often unilaterally refutes and denies from a critical perspective, but more and more research results on show that human survival has always been "evolved" with various technologies, which will be an important revelation for the rational evaluation of human enhancement technology. Fudan University School of Philosophy Associate Professor Xu Zhihong proposed that humanistic thought has a basic assumption about the existence of human beings, that is, human beings are finite existences, but some radical human enhancement technologies hope to change this, such as the mental uploading scheme, which includes theoretical misalignment and reversal. If human age does not constitute a substantial constraint on human existence, will future humanism transform itself into post-humanism? This will lead to great transformation of ideas.
Human enhancement: the position of wisdom and human nature
The philosophical significance of human enhancement problem has also been revealed in the reflection on philosophy of various cutting-edge technologies. Professor Yan Kunru, Dean of the School of Marxism at Shanghai University, gave a report entitled "Philosophical Reflection that Explains Artificial Intelligence". She proposed: It is crucial to explain artificial intelligence technology and reveal the operating logic of artificial intelligence. The risk and opacity of artificial intelligence technology are the inherent attributes of artificial intelligence systems. However, through the technical ethical method based on the combination of internalism and externalism, and the application ethics means that combine normativeness and descriptiveness, the causal relationship of artificial intelligence can be shaped to build an interpretable artificial intelligence model. This is a useful path to developing responsible artificial intelligence, and it is also an effective guarantee to avoid human enhancement technology deviating from humanism due to misuse of artificial intelligence.
Fudan University Journalism School Professor Pan Ji gave a report entitled "Comprehensive Symbiosis: Reflecting on Algorithm Ethics from Media Operation". He proposed that the design of artificial intelligence algorithms needs to transcend traditional humanistic theoretical frameworks. Outside the human scale, the operation of media systems is introduced into considerations of algorithmic ethics. This will provide media insights into algorithmic ethics problems. The principle of "integration and symbiosis" fully considers the medium of existence as a human communication system, and uses the reconciliation of human-technical relationships as the basis of the ethical order. The principle of "integration and symbiosis" requires transcending the myth of humanism. In the allocation of intelligent computing resources, in the mutual construction of virtual identities, and in the multi-level planning of meta-universe space, the integration and development of people and media is realized as a value goal.
Assistant researcher at the Institute of Philosophy, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, , Ruan Kai gave a report entitled "Problems, risks and regulation of emotion recognition technology". He believes that emotion recognition technology is a new technology in the field of artificial intelligence, which enhances the intelligence level of machines by improving the ability of machines to recognize human emotions, which may lead to a revolution in human-computer interaction. However, AI emotion recognition technology also has ethical risks. Inefficient and error-prone emotional recognition will bring psychological harm to people and worsen human-computer relationships; efficient and accurate emotional recognition may infringe on personal privacy; and unrestrained use of emotional recognition will lead to uncontrollable risks such as behavioral manipulation. Therefore, it is necessary to prudently develop AI emotion recognition under the premise of reasonably planning the scope of application of technology.
Enhancement and Service: Perception Broadening and Cognition Improvement
In addition to artificial intelligence technology, the implementation of human enhancement also depends on the application of other cutting-edge technologies, and corresponding philosophical investigations are also indispensable. Lai Changsheng, assistant professor of the Department of Philosophy at Shanghai Jiaotong University, gave a report entitled "The Triple Dilemma of Cognitive Extension Technology". He first asked the question: Can human memory really be enhanced through cognitive extension technology? Is the memories we achieve using external technical means such as search engines, learning software, and perception cameras, and are we recalling the past or re-learning the past? He believes that memory itself is not a pure psychological activity as traditional humanism believes, but a process of continuous re-learning through technical practice.
The postdoctoral index of the School of History and Science Culture, Shanghai Jiaotong University is the title of "The Generation and Enhancement Effect of Virtual Reality Experience in the Perspective of Body Phenomenology ". He believes that the virtual reality experience can not only enhance people's cognitive ability, interaction ability, and practical ability to build a life world at the behavioral level, but also expand people's perceptual dimensions of their own existence at the perceptual level, strengthen empathy connection between people and others, and enrich the presentation of the object world. These enhancements of physical experiences have led to an informative transformation of human mode of existence, symbolizing the future transformation of human mode of survival under technology shaping.
The title of the report by Mr. Zhang Qing of Shanghai Mental Health Center is "Brain-computer interface and ethical consensus". He believes that as a brain-computer interface technology that enhances human cognition, it also has broad application prospects in the treatment of mental illnesses. Its function is to suppress and eliminate lesions of mental illness by performing non-invasive magnetic stimulation, photo stimulation or invasive electrode implantation on the brain. Although there have been preliminary evidence in terms of feasibility, corresponding technological advances still need to be supplemented by ethical consensus. On the one hand, ethical consensus can enhance the public's recognition of this therapy. On the other hand, it will also effectively protect the basic rights of patients. More importantly, ethical consensus will also provide a humanistic theoretical framework for scientific and technological progress, so that science and technology can better serve mankind.
Deputy Director Cheng Sumei of the Institute of Philosophy, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, summarized the new book launch conference. She pointed out that when philosophical research involves modern science and technology, speculations that lack objective basis should be avoided. Humanities scholars should accurately and meticulously grasp the cutting-edge of science and technology, so that they can objectively evaluate the development of science and technology and its significance. Human enhancement technology raises the question of whether the human spirit can be technicalized, which contains many paradoxes, because the fundamental characteristic of human enhancement technology is reflexivity, that is, pointing to humans themselves. The era of intelligent civilization is an era of highly developed technology, and it is also an era where human nature needs to be reflected on. How to understand human nature and how to understand human itself is an important philosophical question brought about by the topic of human enhancement. It is a big and difficult question that must be answered in a technological era and is worth further exploration. This meeting is also one of the series of releases of major scientific research achievements of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences to welcome the convening of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and to publicize and implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.
Question source: Visual China Photo editor: Xu Jiamin
Source: Author: Wang Duo
