While there is attention to the ethical issues raised by Artificial intelligence (AI), there is very little philosophical work on the politics of AI. The issues people care about in political and societal discussions such as racism, climate change and (threats to) democracy take on a new urgency and meaning in the light of technological developments such as AI and robotics. How can we talk about AI and important political issues such as inequality and the danger of totalitarianism while moving beyond mere warnings and easy accusations? How can we do justice to both the insight that these technologies are not politically neutral and the complexity of the normative problems they pose? The Political Philosophy of AI is the first book to offer an accessible introduction to the political challenges related to AI and its (potential) use. Using political philosophy as a unique lens through which to explore key debates in the area, the book shows how various political issues are already impacted by emerging AI technologies: from justice and discrimination to democracy and surveillance. Revealing the inherently political nature of technology, the book offers a rich conceptual toolbox to guide efforts to deal with the challenges raised by what turns out to be not only artificial intelligence but also artificial power. This timely and original book will appeal to students and scholars in philosophy of technology and political philosophy, as well as tech developers, innovation leaders, policy makers, and anyone interested in the impact of technology on society.
Author(s): Mark Coeckelbergh
Edition: 1
Publisher: Polity
Year: 2022
Language: English
Commentary: Taken from the Amazon Kindle version.
Pages: 176
Tags: AI, Philosophy, Political Science, Polisci
Title Page
Copyright Page
Acknowledgments
1 Introduction
Rationale, aims, and approach of this book
Structure of the book and overview of its chapters
2 Freedom: Manipulation by AI and Robot Slavery
Introduction: Historical declarations of liberty and contemporary slavery
AI, surveillance, and law enforcement: Taking away negative freedom
AI and the steering of human behavior: Circumventing human autonomy
Threats to self-realization and emancipation: Exploitation by means of AI and the problem with robot slaves
Who decides about AI? Freedom as participation, AI in elections, and freedom of speech
Other politically relevant notions of freedom and other values
3 Equality and Justice: Bias and Discrimination by AI
Introduction: Bias and discrimination as a focus for raising problems concerning equality and justice
Why is bias wrong (1)? Equality and justice in standard anglophone liberal political philosophy
Why is bias wrong (2)? Class and identity theories as criticisms of universalist liberal thinking
Conclusion: AI is not politically neutral
4 Democracy: Echo Chambers and Machine Totalitarianism
Introduction: AI as a threat to democracy
AI as a threat to democracy, knowledge, deliberation, and politics itself
Starting with Plato: Democracy, knowledge, and expertise
Beyond majority rule and representation
Deliberative and participatory democracy versus agonistic and radical democracy
Information bubbles, echo chambers, and populism
More problems: Manipulation, replacement, accountability, and power
AI and the origins of totalitarianism: Lessons from Arendt
AI and totalitarianism
Arendt on the origins of totalitarianism and the banality of evil
5 Power: Surveillance and (Self-)Disciplining by Data
Introduction: Power as a topic in political philosophy
Power and AI: Towards a general conceptual framework
Marxism: AI as a tool for technocapitalism
Foucault: How AI subjects us and makes us into subjects
Disciplining and surveillance
Knowledge, power, and the making and shaping of subjects and selves
Technoperformances, power, and AI
Conclusion and remaining questions
6 What about Non-Humans? Environmental Politics and Posthumanism
Introduction: Beyond a human-centered politics of AI and robotics
Not only humans count, politically: The political status of animals and (non-human) nature
Implications for the politics of AI and robotics
The political significance of the impact of AI on non-humans and natural environments
Political status for AI itself?
7 Conclusion: Political Technologies
What I have done in this book and what we can conclude
What needs to be done next: The question regarding political technologies
References
Index
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