AI: Unlocking the Post-Human - David Pearce & James Hughes

A discussion between David Pearce and James Hughes moderated by Adam Ford exploring the ethical and philosophical landscapes of AI, human enhancement and the future of emerging technologies affording higher states of well-being.

David Pearce, a philosopher known for his work on the Hedonistic Imperative and The Abolitionist Project, advocates for the use of biotechnology to abolish suffering and enhance well-being. His ideas center around the notion of 'paradise engineering,' aiming to redesign the living world so that sentient beings possess gradients of bliss, free from pain and suffering.

James Hughes, a sociologist and the executive director of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technology (IEET), and author of Citizen Cyborg, specializes in bioethics and policy regarding human enhancement technologies. His approach integrates concerns about social justice with the potential benefits of technological advancements. He emphasizes the importance of democratic governance in the deployment of enhancement technologies and is a proponent of techno-progressivism, which supports the use of technology to enhance human capacities while advocating for policies that ensure these benefits are accessible to all.
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Pearce and Hughes will discuss the implications of transforming human experience via leveraging biotech and cybernetics. They will critically evaluate the feasibility, ethics, and societal ramifications of manifesting a post-human condition characterized by the radical reduction (perhaps the wholesale eradication) of suffering, increasing well-being (happiness, and novelty sensitivity etc) as well as interrogate the ethics, the hazards associated with biological technological interventions, and the deep philosophical quandaries surrounding the nature of well-being - and the ongoing journey of discovering what well-being is (whilst avoiding value lock-in).

Additionally, their conversation will consider artificial intelligence, reflecting on its recent capability gains. They will explore the potential of tomorrow's transformative AI technologies, probing whether these advances will serve as catalysts for good or vectors of risk. The dialogue will scrutinize how AI might either facilitate or obstruct ethical post-humanism. It will also consider AI’s potential to meticulously navigate the philosophical nuances of what value and well-being are and the need for equitable distribution of enabling technologies to prevent exacerbating social disparities.

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Kind regards,
Adam Ford
Science, Technology & the Future - #SciFuture - http://scifuture.org