The Interplay Between Humans and Artificial Agents: Exploring the Possibility of Life-like AI

Speaker: TIAN Koumao

Venue: 4-311, Chengjun Court, Zijingang Campus

Abstract: There is an argument that the ‘mind’ of another person is not hidden inside the skull, but is ‘seen’ directly in the body’s behavior and interaction with others. This is called ‘direct social perception’ (DSP), a concept proposed in the field of phenomenology. Based on this idea, if AI and robots can achieve behavior indistinguishable from that of humans (beyond a certain level), we are forced to see a ‘subject’ with whom we can interact. In this talk, I will point to the passive generation of an enactive intersubjective loop as the condition that makes DSP possible, and argue that this level diverges from the level of active reasoning when interacting with AI. Then, I believe that artificial life-like ‘fragility’ and ‘precariousness’ are necessary for the interaction with artificial subjects to go one step deeper. Finally, I will consider the future of coexistence with AI, distinguishing between the future in which fragile life-like AI incorporating ‘death’ is born and the future in which it is not.