Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No.6, 2019

 

Humanism in the Era of Artificial Intelligence

(Abstract)

 

Han Shuifa

 

Scientific and technological advances such as artificial intelligence and gene editing are currently developing rapidly and reaching all levels of human society. This not only poses great challenges to human intelligence and its unique status, but also leads to changes in the nature of human beings. In the face of the urgent pressure imposed by the continuous advances in artificial intelligence and the impact of the changes taking place in human nature, current opinion is divided and contradictory; it rejects the necessity of human change, but its passively pessimistic and failed mentality is powerless against the possible prospects of artificial intelligence. These challenges and phenomena have forced people to rethink basic philosophical issues concerning humanity, and have re-energized the core concerns of humanism. Today’s humanism emphasizes that while we recognize, invent and manufacture artificial intelligence and other technologies and constantly upgrade them, we continue to enhance and improve our own intellectual abilities. From now on, we must consciously observe and enhance our own evolution. Such development and evolution evince the trend in today’s economy toward cultural and physical unity. It is on this basis that we can adopt a positive view of the challenging prospects before humanity.