Chapter Thirteen - Artificial Dignity: The Humanizing and Dehumanizing Implications of Polanyi versus Turing’s Ontology

Summary

Introduction: Technological Advancement and Human Dignity

Given the rapid technological growth of artificial intelligence (AI) through advancements in machine learning, what was once thought impossible is quickly becoming a reality. It is no longer so far-fetched that humanlike machines will soon be a part of everyday life. People today are divided on whether these continued advancements in AI technologies will lead to the best of times or the worst of times for humankind. History continues to teach that a utopian or dystopian future is largely determined by a society's ability to identify and defend human dignity. Given AI's potential for dehumanization, if we are to avoid the mistakes of our past, our future will depend on people's ability to correctly see the difference between machines and humans.

By developing the work of Michael Polanyi and Alan Turing, the following chapter challenges reductionist perspectives in AI studies that are dehumanizing and explores an alternative foundation that can help navigate the technological future, while upholding the inherent dignity of being human. First (Section 1), a brief history of AI's ontological development is developed within Polanyi and Turing's interactions through tacit knowledge and the imitation game. Second (Section 2), it is demonstrated that Turing's imitation game, as expressed in strong AI, undermines the inherent nature of dignity in that it is intrinsically dehumanizing. Third (Section 3), Polanyi's machine ontology is developed as an alternative to the imitation game. Fourth (Section 4), Polanyi's non-reductive approach is contrasted with Turing's reductive approach to explore which best provides a foundation for the nature of human dignity.

Artificial Intelligence: Polanyi vs. Turing's Machine Ontology

For a time, Michael Polanyi and Alan Turing both worked at Manchester University in the United Kingdom. Polanyi was a scientist-turned-philosopher and Turing was a mathematician-turned-computer scientist. They both had a keen interest in AI studies and regularly discussed the philosophy of ‘intelligent machines’ (Hodges 2009, 13). Turing was focused on technological advancement, and Polanyi was concerned with the philosophies behind these advancements.