On AI after Avicenna

April 20, 2024 timothywstanley@me.com

Similarly, if an artificial neural network were presented with the task of the sheep, it would not reason as the human does, from a general concept of wolf-ness to features of the particular wolf such as dangerousness. Instead, it would reason as the sheep does, constrained to the realm of particulars... Ibn Sina’s core criterion for personhood—reasoning from universals—closely resembles systematic compositional generalizability. This criterion could provide a potentially testable standard for personhood. In fact, so far, AI has failed this test in numerous studies. Whether or not one adopts it as a solution, Ibn Sina’s account provides a new lens on the problem of personhood that challenges the assumptions of consciousness-centered accounts. Scientific ethics is so often concerned with the cutting edge—the latest research, the newest technology, a constant influx of data. But sometimes the questions of the future require careful consideration of the past. Looking to history allows us to look beyond the preoccupations and assumptions of our time and may just provide refreshing approaches toward current stalemates.

Abigail Tulenko, “What Philosopher Ibn Sina Can Teach Us about AI,” - https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-philosopher-ibn-sina-can-teach-us-about-ai.