Meaningful Lives in an Age of Artificial Intelligence: A Reply to Danaher

Scripter, Lucas

doi:10.1007/s11948-021-00349-y

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…We take this premise to be intuitively appealing, but a further elaboration of our argumentation would have to try to figure out, whether this trias is really exhaustive, and if so, due to which underlying more general principle. 35 Third, the receptive side of finding meaning in the realm of the true and beautiful was emphasized and opposed to the active striving towards meaningful aims. Here, we have to more precisely clarify what axiological status reception has in contrast to active productionwhether it is possibly meaning conferring to a comparable extent or whether it is actually just a less meaningful form.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, one can also orientate oneself towards common intuitions, 34 Some authors are very optimistic in this regard [5,13,17]. 35 For the suggestion to be more explicit about this non-trivial premise and the need for further justification, we would like to thank an anonymous reviewer. Also, a further elaboration of the trias that we, and many in the discourse, subscribe to can be found in [21] and [33] 36 More radically, one might also question the relevance of meaningfulness as a dimension of the good life in general, and in conclusion downplay our own considerations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For the suggestion to emphasize this point we would like to thank an anonymous reviewer. 18 See, for example, the reactions of Tigard [39] and Scripter [35] and the further elaboration of the problem in Danaher [12]. question of whether and how this challenge actually exists, and if so, then how to deal with it.…”

Section: Expanding the Challenge: The Striving Gapmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Artificial intelligence, superefficiency and the end of work: a humanistic perspective on meaning in life

Knell

Rüther²

2023

AI Ethics

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How would it be assessed from an ethical point of view if human wage work were replaced by artificially intelligent systems (AI) in the course of an automation process? An answer to this question has been discussed above all under the aspects of individual well-being and social justice. Although these perspectives are important, in this article, we approach the question from a different perspective: that of leading a meaningful life, as understood in analytical ethics on the basis of the so-called meaning-in-life debate. Our thesis here is that a life without wage work loses specific sources of meaning, but can still be sufficiently meaningful in certain other ways. Our starting point is John Danaher’s claim that ubiquitous automation inevitably leads to an achievement gap. Although we share this diagnosis, we reject his provocative solution according to which game-like virtual realities could be an adequate substitute source of meaning. Subsequently, we outline our own systematic alternative which we regard as a decidedly humanistic perspective. It focuses both on different kinds of social work and on rather passive forms of being related to meaningful contents. Finally, we go into the limits and unresolved points of our argumentation as part of an outlook, but we also try to defend its fundamental persuasiveness against a potential objection.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Expanding the Challenge: The Striving Gapmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Artificial intelligence, superefficiency and the end of work: a humanistic perspective on meaning in life

Knell

Rüther²

2023

AI Ethics

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The achievement gap thesis reconsidered: artificial intelligence, automation, and meaningful work

Scripter

2024

AI & Soc

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John Danaher and Sven Nyholm have argued that automation, especially of the sort powered by artificial intelligence, poses a threat to meaningful work by diminishing the chances for meaning-conferring workplace achievement, what they call “achievement gaps”. In this paper, I argue that Danaher and Nyholm’s achievement gap thesis suffers from an ambiguity. The weak version of the thesis holds that automation may result in the appearance of achievement gaps, whereas the strong version holds that automation may result on balance loss in possibilities for workplace achievements, i.e., in the appearance of an overall gappier work landscape. Against the strong version of the achievement gap thesis, I characterize situations where automation may result in boons to meaning-conferring workplace achievements: the appearance of what I call achievement spread and achievement swaps. Nevertheless, Danaher and Nyholm are right to worry about some uses of automation whereby human workers become subservient to AI. But these situations are better framed, I argue, as autonomy gaps rather than achievement gaps.

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Perspectives for a human-centric industry: understanding the social critique of the utopian proposal

Pugnaletto

2024

AI & Soc

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This article assesses the exploration of the utopian paradigm within the context of technological advancement and its implications for human labor. It engages in this reflection, beginning with John Danaher’s reading of utopian perspectives related to the evolution of the labor domain, and then focusing on the significance of the social element and its dynamics in redefining labor and productive structures. It focuses on utopia as a regulatory ideal, valuing the conjectural contributions from theories throughout the history of utopian thought. The analysis aims to understand how utopian theories arise in contexts of social dissatisfaction, prompting internal reflection on the structure. The article is organized into three sections: the first introduces the concept of utopia, tracing its historical and philosophical roots, with a focus on influential figures such as Henri de Saint-Simon and Charles Fourier. Through the study of nineteenth-century social theories, the article explores their radical proposals for societal restructuring in response to the socio-economic upheavals of their time. The second section examines utopia as a form of social critique, emphasizing its critical function in assessing and guiding societal development, by engaging with Norbert Elias’s definitions of utopia. The third section evaluates the relevance of utopia in contemporary discourse on social change, emphasizing the critical examination of utopian visions in relation to the concept of the end of work and aiming to articulate clear parameters defining a utopian model as a social regulatory ideal.

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Meaningful Lives in an Age of Artificial Intelligence: A Reply to Danaher

Cited by 4 publications

References 20 publications

Artificial intelligence, superefficiency and the end of work: a humanistic perspective on meaning in life

Artificial intelligence, superefficiency and the end of work: a humanistic perspective on meaning in life

The achievement gap thesis reconsidered: artificial intelligence, automation, and meaningful work

Perspectives for a human-centric industry: understanding the social critique of the utopian proposal

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