Examining popular arguments against AI existential risk: a philosophical analysis

Purpose. The main content of the presented study is a philosophical and anthropological analysis of the problem of memory in the context of the phenomenon of forgetting, the essential factors of establishing a new image of the Ukrainian person, his/her national memory and identity. This circumstance, in the situation of Ukraine’s defence against the Russian aggressor, upholding of freedoms and European values, poses the following tasks: 1) to undertake a consistent review of the conceptual content of the concepts of "memory" and "forgetting" and to identify their philosophical and anthropological content; 2) to analyse the phenomenon of national memory and show its significance for the struggle of the Ukrainian people for the European choice; 3) to study the main parameters of the process of forming a system of new values in the context of the phenomenon of forgetting in the discourse of philosophical anthropology. Theoretical basis. The complex and dynamic process of forming Ukrainian identity in the contexts of national memory and forgetting brings the system of life values to a new level of theoretical and methodological understanding. The philosophical and anthropological dimension of the values of a modern Ukrainian person allows us to engage the methodological discourses of memory studies, which are a way for people to construct their historical past in the perspective of creating a new future in the integrity of axiological, moral and existential content. The relevance of this problem is due to the crisis of worldview and cultural meanings of human existence in the context of war, the processes of which have a powerful impact on all aspects of social, political, and spiritual life, which ultimately leads to the need for a new type of communication, thinking, and behaviour. Originality. The study substantiates that the phenomenon of forgetting in the context of the formation of a new national memory largely determines the strategy of asserting Ukrainian identity in the context of modern civilizational challenges faced by Ukraine as a result of military aggression against its freedom and territorial integrity. This situation opens up new prospects for the formation of a civilizational system of values in interaction with a qualitatively different image of the Ukrainian person. Conclusions. Today, the Ukrainian state is facing an existential threat, which raises the problem of creating a new Ukrainian person whose worldview and system of values correspond to the image of a European person. Despite the serious problems that Ukraine has faced as a result of geopolitical contradictions on a global scale, philosophical and anthropological analysis has shown that the strategy of forming a new Ukrainian identity in the context of historical memory, which contains an element of forgetting, determines the process of creating a mentality that is consistent with the national strategy of entering Western civilisation. It is within the parameters of such an analysis that a new memory adequate to the needs of our time is formed.

The article is devoted to the problem of destructive cyber influence. The objects of the study are “death groups” calling on young people to commit suicide, as well as the “Columbine communities,” which are associated with acts of aggression and murder in educational institutions. The problem of virtual youth communities of destructive type is presented from the positions of philosophical, anthropological, existential, and axiological analysis.

Modern science and practice widely uses the concept of «human capital» when discussing both the general strategic tasks of transforming an industrial civilization on the way to the formation of a post-industrial, information society, and practical guidelines for the growth of a post-industrial economy, current social transformations and social management systems, corresponding to these general tasks. A broad interdisciplinary managerial discourse of human capital concerns all these areas. The issues of the human capital development index and quality of life indicators are paid special attention to. At the same time, practical functioning of the concept “human capital” and ambiguities in attempts to reflect it cause many problematic situations. Accordingly, the author of the article considers the philosophical and methodological reflection of the «human capital» concept no less relevant. In the context of dialectic of the historical and logical, tradition and innovation, the logic of «transitive» transition, transdisciplinary approach, philosophical and linguistic analysis, etc., the author joins the established interdisciplinary discourse of human capital and stresses the importance of clarifying the essential meanings of the linguistic construct «human capital». Analysis of logic of its historical formation and correlation with the concepts of “man”, “human integrity”, “human potential”, “labor resource”, etc., fixed in the scientific thesaurus, allow us raise questions of clarifying the scientific status and subject boundaries of this concept, which is the sphere of economy. According to the author when the concept of «human capital» is beyond its limits, it acquires the status of a metaphor or an oxymoron. This is evidenced by both the discourse positions and the existential risks of its scientific use in humanitarian sphere.

Introduction. The object of the study is the philosophical problems of the development of artificial intelligence. The article analyzes the impact of AI technologies on society and science. Some problems of AI ethics are considered, including from a philosophical and axiological perspective. It is assumed that the answer to the existential risks of using artificial intelligence should be the search for new philosophical approaches to the ethical aspects related to high technologies, including the concept of digital humanism. Content. The author analyzes in detail such aspects of the topic as the classification of existential risks according to N. Bostrom, the consequences of the development of superintelligence, the phenomenon of technological singularity, the problems of AI control according to S. Russell. The article substantiates the need for new approaches to understanding the philosophy and ethics of AI as a foundation for building a digital future in the interests of humans. A future where homo sapiens as a subject of the digital revolution turns into homo digital, but remains more important than the program code. Particular attention is paid to the issue of axiological training of AI technologies as a guarantee of global security. The hypothesis is considered that the ethics of artificial intelligence, which cannot be limited only to ethical rules in the development of AI systems, but must take into account the semblance of “free will” in the machine, can be based on the principles of the philosophical concept of digital humanism. Conclusions. The novelty of the study lies in the consideration of a set of concepts related to the existential risks of artificial intelligence (AI) development. Based on the conducted philosophical analysis, a justification is given for digital humanism as a theoretical foundation for building safe AI models and a powerful intellectual force for socio-technological changes. The author acknowledges that this concept requires extensive discussion and addition, as well as a more critical look at the problem of the relationship between man and technology, but considers it as promising and significant for philosophical discourse. The author is convinced that the mission of modern philosophy of technology is to maintain faith that humans will be able to keep AI technologies under control and that they will become the basis for a more human-centered and safer future on our planet.

Religious fundamentalism continues to be an enormous concern in the aftermath of the 9/11 tragedy since the atrocity involved numerous extremist groups, including religious fundamentalist ones. This horrible tragedy has brought in all citizens of the globe mindful of the existential threat of these organizations. Their existence sparks an immense discourse in various fields, including in the academic field that centres around the query of ‘what drives them to act mercilessly and inhumanely.’ Aside from political matters, their extremism is shaped by their method of approach to the doctrines or dogmas, teachings, ideologies, and religious traditions of faith they espouse. The methodology used by fundamentalists in approaching their religious texts and traditions is one of the major issues confronting religious fundamentalism. That methodology refers to the authoritative method, which entails two notable inquiries. Why do fundamentalists consider their religious doctrines or dogmas to be infallible or unquestionable? Why do they presume that all other knowledge and values are subordinate to their religious texts? This philosophical analysis seeks to investigate and evaluate the flaws of the authoritative method within fundamentalism by contrasting it with the Deweyan experimental or scientific method and bridging the two methods with the ‘reflective method’ the author postulates.

The philosophical analysis of the content of the modern university's work leads to an understanding of commercialization and professional localization in the training of specialists. The ways of determining the essence of a modern university are grounded: elite, mass, niche, regional, pragmatic, ecological, and others. It is argued that the commercialization of education is conditioned by an increase in the level of technology impact on the dynamics of cultural development, globalization and informatization of society. Accordingly, traditional notions of academic freedom and the value of science and education are inferior to considerations of pragmatic feasibility and utilitarianism. The idea of ​​the perniciousness of such a trend in education that threatens the personality deformation and the possible risks of global catastrophes is upheld in the paper.

The digital transformation of processes and control systems in the last decade has been accompanied by the introduction of artificial intelligence technologies. The purpose of this study is to investigate the conditions for the safe use of intelligent technologies and tools for managing social infrastructure. The research methodology bases on an integrated approach, comparative analysis, and logical synthesis. The author suggests a philosophical analysis of existential risks of intellectual automation of social management and the mechanisms of their implementation, and also investigates the conditions for a safer use of technologies for intelligent automation of socially significant decisions. Generalized measures and search directions are proposed to reduce a number of risks associated with intelligent automation of control.

The limitation on the development of artificial intelligence technologies which well-known developers of these technologies have recently been talking about, is due to fears of existential risks, one of which, according to the theory of the philosopher N. Bostrom, is Superintelligence as a result of the further development of artificial intelligence. Despite the fact that the problem of artificial intelligence has been widely studied in foreign philo-sophical literature, the issue of values underlying new technologies remains practically unstudied. The article substantiates that Bostrom's theory of risks of superintelligence is due to axiological reasons: artificial intelli-gence, according to the philosopher, can pose a threat to transhumanistic values. On the other hand, to prevent a catastrophe, it is these values that are supposed to be the basis for the development of artificial intelligence. The aim of the article is to analyze ethico-philosophical values of transhumanism and their role in the devel-opment of artificial intelligence technologies. It is noted that, in fact, current AI projects are developing precisely in the spirit of the philosophy of transhumanism. The scientific novelty of the article is due to the ethical and philosophical analysis of transhumanistic values, which N. Bostrom proposes to use in the context of the devel-opment of AI. As a result, the ethical meanings of the development of AI are assessed in the aspect of N. Bostrom’s concept of transhumanistic values.

This work presents a systematic philosophical analysis of society’s digital transformation, focusing on changes occurring under the influence of digital technologies and artificial intelligence. The concept of a “third space” is conceptualised as a new hybrid “weakened” reality, where physical and virtual dimensions form an inseparable unity, leading to the transformation of human subjectivity characterised by the emergence of distributed identity in the digital space. Special attention is paid to the problem of artificial intelligence opacity through the lens of the inexplicability and incomprehensibility of algorithmic systems. Existential risks of digitalisation are examined, including threats to personal autonomy, the formation of “algorithmic determinism”, and new forms of alienation. Based on the analysis, principles for a responsible approach to digital transformation are formulated. The research contributes to the development of the philosophy of digital technologies as an interdisciplinary field uniting social philosophy, philosophy of technology, digital ethics, phenomenology, and critical theory.