Fakulta filozofická; Katedra filozofie

The recent rise of AI seems to defy an old pattern commonly known as “AI winters,” where cycles of hyped‐up boom were followed by periods of decline and disappointment. This time, it seems, AI is here to stay, drawing attention and investment from a whole gamut of contemporary institutions (academia, corporations, governments, international bodies, etc.). How can we explain this
state of affairs? I propose to approach this question from the perspective of longue durée, thinking of AI as a project that expresses the underlying predicaments of modernity. I would like to show that AI itself is the culmination of four modernist projects, each with its own underlying logic: (i) the calculative logic of rationalism; (ii) the accumulative logic of capitalism; (iii) the dominative
logic of colonialism; and (iv) the delegative logic of postmodernism.The convergence of these projects in our times has brought about a global crisis of historical scale, of which AI is a vivid expression. In this light, what seems to be a hot summer for AI might, in fact, promise a long winter for the global humanity. Refusing to take this as an indispensable destiny, I explore alternatives, inviting collective action to avoid it.