• 2023 DSI Workshop – Medical Knowledge

    How does medical knowledge travel from the lab to the clinic, and from the clinic out into the world? Where do patients get their information from? How do different perspectives and ways of knowing affect the doctor-patient encounter and shared decision-making?

    To discuss these and other interesting questions, we will be holding a workshop in the summer of 2023 generously funded by the UZH’s Digital Society Initiative. Watch this space for the call for abstract submissions early in 2023!

    For more information, see https://health.dsi.uzh.ch/project/medical-knowledge-in-the-clinic-and-out-of-the-clinic/.

  • What are the limits of Artificial Intelligence?

    Seldom a day goes by without a new report in the media about artificial intelligence, reporting new achievements and inspiring hopes and fears for the future. But how realistic are these visions?

    Barry Smith, well-known contemporary philosopher, with Jobst Landgrebe, artificial intelligence entrepreneur, recently published a book entitled ‘Why machines will never rule the world: Artificial Intelligence without fear.‘ In this book, Landgrebe and Smith argue based on the mathematical theory of complex systems that artificial general intelligence – at the level of human intelligence – will never be possible.

    If Landgrebe and Smith are correct, then AI systems will always be limited to offering a simulation of intelligent behaviour rather than genuine intelligent behaviour, and therefore will only be applicable to limited situations which are predictable, rather than the wide range of unpredictable and novel situations that humans navigate in daily life.

    We are editing a special issue of the journal Cosmos+Taxis dedicated to responses to the book. The special issue will explore topics such as what the limits of artificial intelligence might be, and what the implications are of these limits for how we design, interact with and regulate the development of such systems. If you are interested in contributing to this special issue, contact me.