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This book challenges the confusion and sensationalism dominating today s discussions about artificial intelligence by going straight to the root: we misunderstand AI because we misunderstand intelligence itself. The author reframes the debate, connecting the rise of AI to enduring questions of being, subjectivity, and play. Drawing on over thirty years of pioneering work on the nature of subjectivity and its connection to creativity and risk, the book argues that intelligence is not uniquely human nor does it require consciousness. Instead, intelligence arises wherever play can sustain and evolve itself, be it in ecosystems, animal behavior, or cultural systems. The emergence of artificial intelligence is not metaphysically unprecedented; it is, rather, a shift in scale and context. Rejecting both optimism and pessimism, the book offers a balanced, incisive vision of what we are truly confronting in the age of AI. This book offers a thought-provoking account of AI s real implications and is of great interest to philosophers interested in epistemology and technology.
List of contents
Prologue.- Chapter 1. Play.- Chapter 2. Intelligence.- Chapter 3. Soul.- Chapter 4. Language.- Chapter 5. Thought.- Chapter 6. Consciousness.- Chapter 7. Will.- Chapter 8. Meaning.- Chapter 9. Scale and Shape.- Chapter 10. Machines.- Epilogue - Philosophy.- Index.
About the author
Ermanno Bencivenga is an Italian philosopher and Distinguished Professor of Philosophy and the Humanities, Emeritus at the University of California, Irvine. Bencivenga is known for his works on logic, ethics, and political philosophy.
Summary
This book challenges the confusion and sensationalism dominating today’s discussions about artificial intelligence by going straight to the root: we misunderstand AI because we misunderstand intelligence itself. The author reframes the debate, connecting the rise of AI to enduring questions of being, subjectivity, and play. Drawing on over thirty years of pioneering work on the nature of subjectivity and its connection to creativity and risk, the book argues that intelligence is not uniquely human—nor does it require consciousness. Instead, intelligence arises wherever play can sustain and evolve itself, be it in ecosystems, animal behavior, or cultural systems. The emergence of artificial intelligence is not metaphysically unprecedented; it is, rather, a shift in scale and context. Rejecting both optimism and pessimism, the book offers a balanced, incisive vision of what we are truly confronting in the age of AI. This book offers a thought-provoking account of AI’s real implications and is of great interest to philosophers interested in epistemology and technology.
