{"title":"Subjectness of Intelligence: Quantum-Theoretic Analysis and Ethical Perspective","authors":"","doi":"10.1007/s10699-024-09947-y","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<h3>Abstract</h3> <p>Recent developments in artificial intelligence urge clarification of its ethical and legal status. The issue revolves around the concept of subjectness, distinguishing active and responsible conduct from inert performance. We analyze this notion from a physical viewpoint, building on the quantum-theoretic refinement of the concept of uncertainty into quantum and classical types: quantum uncertainty refers to an objective freedom to construct the future, while classical uncertainty denotes subjective ignorance of present states of nature. Subjectness of intelligence is then defined by the kind of uncertainty it is capable to resolve. To analyze different aspects of intelligence, quantum-inspired definitions of decision, subjectness, originality, and meaning are introduced on this basis. These concepts are first calibrated on natural intelligence and then applied to artificial systems, classified as classical and quantum. Classical AI then appears fundamentally alien to subjectness due to its algorithmic nature, limited to the resolution of classical uncertainty. Quantum AI, in contrast, breaks this limit by hosting some degree of proto-subjectness on the level of elementary particles, involved in its operation. Fundamentally, our approach tracks alternative views on subjectness of intelligence to the interpretations of quantum randomness, identifying both as different sides of the same ethical dilemma. Quantum physics then provides fertile ground for possible solutions, aligned with Eastern and Western views on freedom and constraint, subject and context in social life. These results offer a scientific approach to the controversial challenges of socio-technological development, integrating physical and humanitarian perspectives.</p>","PeriodicalId":55146,"journal":{"name":"Foundations of Science","volume":"47 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.9000,"publicationDate":"2024-04-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Foundations of Science","FirstCategoryId":"98","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10699-024-09947-y","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"HISTORY & PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Recent developments in artificial intelligence urge clarification of its ethical and legal status. The issue revolves around the concept of subjectness, distinguishing active and responsible conduct from inert performance. We analyze this notion from a physical viewpoint, building on the quantum-theoretic refinement of the concept of uncertainty into quantum and classical types: quantum uncertainty refers to an objective freedom to construct the future, while classical uncertainty denotes subjective ignorance of present states of nature. Subjectness of intelligence is then defined by the kind of uncertainty it is capable to resolve. To analyze different aspects of intelligence, quantum-inspired definitions of decision, subjectness, originality, and meaning are introduced on this basis. These concepts are first calibrated on natural intelligence and then applied to artificial systems, classified as classical and quantum. Classical AI then appears fundamentally alien to subjectness due to its algorithmic nature, limited to the resolution of classical uncertainty. Quantum AI, in contrast, breaks this limit by hosting some degree of proto-subjectness on the level of elementary particles, involved in its operation. Fundamentally, our approach tracks alternative views on subjectness of intelligence to the interpretations of quantum randomness, identifying both as different sides of the same ethical dilemma. Quantum physics then provides fertile ground for possible solutions, aligned with Eastern and Western views on freedom and constraint, subject and context in social life. These results offer a scientific approach to the controversial challenges of socio-technological development, integrating physical and humanitarian perspectives.
期刊介绍:
Foundations of Science focuses on methodological and philosophical topics of foundational significance concerning the structure and the growth of science. It serves as a forum for exchange of views and ideas among working scientists and theorists of science and it seeks to promote interdisciplinary cooperation.
Since the various scientific disciplines have become so specialized and inaccessible to workers in different areas of science, one of the goals of the journal is to present the foundational issues of science in a way that is free from unnecessary technicalities yet faithful to the scientific content. The aim of the journal is not simply to identify and highlight foundational issues and problems, but to suggest constructive solutions to the problems.
The editors of the journal admit that various sciences have approaches and methods that are peculiar to those individual sciences. However, they hold the view that important truths can be discovered about and by the sciences and that truths transcend cultural and political contexts. Although properly conducted historical and sociological inquiries can explain some aspects of the scientific enterprise, the editors believe that the central foundational questions of contemporary science can be posed and answered without recourse to sociological or historical methods.