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post-talk notes? Some metadata added 2026-10-20
author Henry Thompson <ht@markup.co.uk>
date Tue, 20 Oct 2026 14:28:21 +0100
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91
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Henry Thompson <ht@markup.co.uk>
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1 Session 1 of Albertus evening talks on _Magnifica Humanitas_ 16 and 30
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2 June 2026
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3
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4 --------[My notes ahead of time for my expected contribution]
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5
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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6 Points to make: BCS observation
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7
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8 Phase 1: 1960--1970s: AI -> CogSci trajectory from basing AI on what's
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9 understood in Psych/Ling/Anthro/Socio etc. and developing
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10 computational implementable approaches to understanding e.g. human
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11 language. HMMs
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12
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13 Phase 2, Late 1970s-early 20th: Evidence-based, but with relatively
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14 little evidence by today's standards: a few millions of words of
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15 written (American) English, a few 10s of hours of spoken, simple
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16 probabilistic models, _no_ reference to human process. ANNs.
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17
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18 Phase 3, 2010s to 2023: Step-change in the size (of data, of models,
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19 of compute power) and in the complexity of the architecture (LLMs) and
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20 the underlying mathematics.
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21
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22 Apothesis: Release of ChatGPT in April 2023 (?).
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23
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24 But one thing hasn't changed: it's all about the _form_ of the data,
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25 not the substance (BCS).
91
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26
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27 ---------[Start notes during Fr. Patrick's Albertus session 1 talk]
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28
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29 Fr. Patrick Akunne is a philosopher of mind, in particular
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30 neuroscience, at Ibadan Univ.
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31 -==========
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32
90
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33 Dignity by right of being created and loved by God. No act is needed
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34 to have it, to deserve it.
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35
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36 Social, Moral, Existential Dignity
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37
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38 Techno-anthropology, that is, the kind of anthropology which is
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39 implicit in the technology, of AI in particular.
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40
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41 [Taiwan example]
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42
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43 Trans- and post- humanism -- AI can help us transcend the
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44 constraints/limitations we currently experience.
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45
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46 "we need to redefine what it means to be human" [whom?]
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47
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48 Things that this opens up:
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49 1) What it means to be human is open for revision
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50 2) Materiality is all
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51 3) Human limitations are _problems_ that can be transcended
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52
91
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53 -----------[end of notes at the event]
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54
91
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55 -----------[What follows was written the next morning.
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56 Maybe notes on MH?]
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57
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58 Hardware/software analogy is the last in a long series of appeals to
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59 the dominant technology of the day.
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60
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61 [Prove that you are a human being example]
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62
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63 Humans can be understood as processors of information.
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64
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65 So trans-humanism is about enhancing us, understood as above.
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66
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67 Problems with the new anthropology
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68
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69 1) As mechanisms which can be dominated, sidestepping their human
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70 dignity;
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71 2) Value can be defined by efficiency
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72 3) Automation/simulation of human emotion -- replacement of real human
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73 relationships diminishes the humanity of their interlocutor.
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74 4) Founded on a metaphysics of materialism. Such a view of the
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75 essence of human nature, but this means there is no ontological
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76 dignity left.
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77
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78 Weakness, disability, age are not defects, they are inescapably part
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79 of human nature.
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80
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81 We are the best possible human beings when we help the fit to fit in.
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82
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83 The AI Observer effect [allegedly].