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Oration Infinity, Kaleidoscopy and Society: On reflections of AI

By Prof. dr. Sennay Ghebreab

On December 15, 2023, Sennay Gherbreab, professor of Socially Intelligent AI, delivered his inaugural lecture 'Infinity, Kaleidoscopy and Society: On reflections of AI.' The world is increasingly turning to 'AI Safety' research and policy to ensure responsible development and deployment of AI. An important issue in the field of AI Safety is the value issue: aligning 'machine values' and 'human values', says Prof. Dr. Sennay Ghebreab in his inaugural lecture. Below you will find the links below to watch or read the inaugural lecture.

The fundamental problem, according to Ghebreab, is that AI inherits undesirable and contradictory human values. As a result, AI can cause harm despite, and sometimes even because of, the alignment of human and machine values. According to Ghebreab, to ensure that AI benefits society, a shift is necessary from human-machine coordination to human-human coordination with the help of AI. This is the only way out of the current unhealthy 'catch-22' relationship between society and AI.

Many metaphors have been used to describe AI, but according to Ghebreab, the glass mirror stands out as one of the most compelling and telling, due to the deep technological, philosophical and social associations that have evolved around it over the centuries. Like the glass mirror, AI has the potential to change society for the better, over time and space. However, this potential is at risk of being unfulfilled because AI is currently developed and deployed within selfish and self-perpetuating societies, driven by the 'ethics of the market'.

We must, Ghebreab argues, have the courage to think outside the box and adopt a perspective on AI that emphasizes inclusive engagement with the planet and its rich diversity of people, cultures and values. In this case, human-human value coordination must be given priority over human-machine value coordination. If this succeeds, an alternative route to more self-critical and self-aware societies, based on the 'ethics of life', is possible.