The second workshop began with a provocative presentation by Bhagya Samarakoon, a researcher in the Engineering Product Development program at Singapore University of Technology and Design. After her careful summary of the history of artificial intelligence, which has been marked by both technological and conceptual shifts, the discussion centered on contemporary challenges of ethics, responsibility, and accountability. Despite the remarkable advances of the past several years, AI is still in its infancy, fully reliant on human design. We are far from truly thinking, feeling, or conscious machines. Any effort to shape an evolution of AI systems in a more complex and independent direction must be accompanied by careful ethical reflection that draws on the world’s diverse philosophical and spiritual traditions.
This workshop was co-sponsored by the Georgetown University Representative Office in Rome and the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS, University of London).
