NCOR Wiki - User contributions [en]

Education

2026-05-24T17:40:24Z

Phismith:

'''2026'''
*[https://ncorwiki.buffalo.edu/index.php/Philosophy_and_Artificial_Intelligence_2026 Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence], Università della Svizzera italiana, Lugano, Switzerland, Spring 2026

*[https://ncorwiki.buffalo.edu/index.php/BFO-Intro Introduction to Basic Formal Ontology], Department of Philosophy, University at Buffalo, Spring 2026, Fall 2026

*[https://ncorwiki.buffalo.edu/index.php/Introduction_to_Philosophy_from_an_Ontological_Perspective Introduction to Philosophy from an Ontological Perspective], University at Buffalo, Spring 2026, Fall 2026

*[https://ncorwiki.buffalo.edu/index.php/Ontology_and_AI Ontology and Artificial Intelligence], University at Buffalo, Spring 2026

*[https://ncorwiki.buffalo.edu/index.php/Ontology_of_Economics Ontology of Economics], University at Buffalo, Spring 2026

'''2025'''
*[https://ncorwiki.buffalo.edu/index.php/Philosophy_and_Artificial_Intelligence_2025 Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence], Università della Svizzera italiana, Lugano, Switzerland, Spring 2025

*[https://ncorwiki.buffalo.edu/index.php/Introduction_to_Philosophy_from_an_Ontological_Perspective Introduction to Philosophy from an Ontological Perspective], Department of Philosophy, University at Buffalo, Fall 2025

*[https://ncorwiki.buffalo.edu/index.php/Ontology_and_Artificial_Intelligence_-_Fall_2025 Ontology and Artificial Intelligence], Department of Philosophy, University at Buffalo, Fall 2025

*[https://ncorwiki.buffalo.edu/index.php/Ontology_of_Economics Ontology of Economics], Department of Philosophy, University at Buffalo, Fall 2025

'''2024'''

*[https://ncorwiki.buffalo.edu/index.php/Philosophy_and_Artificial_Intelligence_2024 Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence], Università della Svizzera italiana, Lugano, Switzerland, Spring 2024

*[https://ncorwiki.buffalo.edu/index.php/Ontology_of_Economics_2024 Ontology of Economics 2024], Department of Philosophy, University at Buffalo, Fall 2024

*[https://ncorwiki.buffalo.edu/index.php/Introduction_to_Philosophy_from_an_Ontological_Perspective Introduction to Philosophy from an Ontological Perspective], Department of Philosophy, University at Buffalo, Fall 2024

'''2023'''
*[http://ncorwiki.buffalo.edu/index.php/Philosophy_and_Artificial_Intelligence_2023 Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence], Università della Svizzera italiana, Lugano, Switzerland, Spring 2023

*[https://ncorwiki.buffalo.edu/index.php/Nature_and_Culture Nature and Culture], Department of Philosophy, University at Buffalo, Fall 2023

'''2022'''
*[http://ncorwiki.buffalo.edu/index.php/Philosophy_and_Artificial_Intelligence_2022 Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence], Università della Svizzera italiana, Lugano, Switzerland, Spring 2022

*[http://ncorwiki.buffalo.edu/index.php/Applied_Ontology,_Spring_2022 Applied Ontology 2022], Spring Semester, Department of Philosophy, University at Buffalo, Spring 2022

*[http://ncorwiki.buffalo.edu/index.php/Philosophy_of_Science Philosophy of Science], University at Buffalo, Department of Philosophy, Fall Semester

==Archived Web Content==
[[Archived Web Content]]

Education

2026-05-24T17:39:44Z

Phismith:

'''2027'''
*[https://ncorwiki.buffalo.edu/index.php/BFO-Intro Introduction to Basic Formal Ontology], Department of Philosophy, University at Buffalo, Spring 2026, Fall 2026, Spring 2027

*[https://ncorwiki.buffalo.edu/index.php/Introduction_to_Philosophy_from_an_Ontological_Perspective Introduction to Philosophy from an Ontological Perspective], University at Buffalo, Spring 2026, Fall 2026, Spring 2027

'''2026'''
*[https://ncorwiki.buffalo.edu/index.php/Philosophy_and_Artificial_Intelligence_2026 Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence], Università della Svizzera italiana, Lugano, Switzerland, Spring 2026

*[https://ncorwiki.buffalo.edu/index.php/BFO-Intro Introduction to Basic Formal Ontology], Department of Philosophy, University at Buffalo, Spring 2026, Fall 2026

*[https://ncorwiki.buffalo.edu/index.php/Introduction_to_Philosophy_from_an_Ontological_Perspective Introduction to Philosophy from an Ontological Perspective], University at Buffalo, Spring 2026, Fall 2026

*[https://ncorwiki.buffalo.edu/index.php/Ontology_and_AI Ontology and Artificial Intelligence], University at Buffalo, Spring 2026

*[https://ncorwiki.buffalo.edu/index.php/Ontology_of_Economics Ontology of Economics], University at Buffalo, Spring 2026

'''2025'''
*[https://ncorwiki.buffalo.edu/index.php/Philosophy_and_Artificial_Intelligence_2025 Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence], Università della Svizzera italiana, Lugano, Switzerland, Spring 2025

*[https://ncorwiki.buffalo.edu/index.php/Introduction_to_Philosophy_from_an_Ontological_Perspective Introduction to Philosophy from an Ontological Perspective], Department of Philosophy, University at Buffalo, Fall 2025

*[https://ncorwiki.buffalo.edu/index.php/Ontology_and_Artificial_Intelligence_-_Fall_2025 Ontology and Artificial Intelligence], Department of Philosophy, University at Buffalo, Fall 2025

*[https://ncorwiki.buffalo.edu/index.php/Ontology_of_Economics Ontology of Economics], Department of Philosophy, University at Buffalo, Fall 2025

'''2024'''

*[https://ncorwiki.buffalo.edu/index.php/Philosophy_and_Artificial_Intelligence_2024 Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence], Università della Svizzera italiana, Lugano, Switzerland, Spring 2024

*[https://ncorwiki.buffalo.edu/index.php/Ontology_of_Economics_2024 Ontology of Economics 2024], Department of Philosophy, University at Buffalo, Fall 2024

*[https://ncorwiki.buffalo.edu/index.php/Introduction_to_Philosophy_from_an_Ontological_Perspective Introduction to Philosophy from an Ontological Perspective], Department of Philosophy, University at Buffalo, Fall 2024

'''2023'''
*[http://ncorwiki.buffalo.edu/index.php/Philosophy_and_Artificial_Intelligence_2023 Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence], Università della Svizzera italiana, Lugano, Switzerland, Spring 2023

*[https://ncorwiki.buffalo.edu/index.php/Nature_and_Culture Nature and Culture], Department of Philosophy, University at Buffalo, Fall 2023

'''2022'''
*[http://ncorwiki.buffalo.edu/index.php/Philosophy_and_Artificial_Intelligence_2022 Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence], Università della Svizzera italiana, Lugano, Switzerland, Spring 2022

*[http://ncorwiki.buffalo.edu/index.php/Applied_Ontology,_Spring_2022 Applied Ontology 2022], Spring Semester, Department of Philosophy, University at Buffalo, Spring 2022

*[http://ncorwiki.buffalo.edu/index.php/Philosophy_of_Science Philosophy of Science], University at Buffalo, Department of Philosophy, Fall Semester

==Archived Web Content==
[[Archived Web Content]]

Education

2026-05-24T17:38:30Z

Phismith:

Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026

2026-05-22T21:06:20Z

Phismith: /* Tuesday (May 12, 9:30 - 12:15) 1. Why LLMs must Hallucinate. 2. Planning, Creativity, and Entrepreneurial Perception */

'''Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026'''

Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith

MAP, USI, Lugano, Spring 2026

Venue: Room A23

'''[https://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2026/05/ontology-phd.html University at Buffalo to offer world’s first doctorate in applied ontology]'''

[https://buffalo.zoom.us/j/92039377770?pwd=pL6MALdTb5mB1QnqlwYPwAoNaYeEp4.1 Zoom link]

'''Introduction'''

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the subfield of Computer Science devoted to developing programs that enable computers to display behavior that can (broadly) be characterized as intelligent. On the strong version, the ultimate goal of AI is to create what is called General Artificial Intelligence (AGI), by which is meant an artificial system that is at least as intelligent as a human being.

Since its inception in the middle of the last century AI has enjoyed repeated cycles of enthusiasm and disappointment (AI summers and winters). Recent successes of ChatGPT and other Large Language Models (LLMs) have opened a new era of popularization of AI. For the first time, AI tools have been created which are immediately available to the wider population, who for the first time can have real hands-on experience of what AI can do.

These developments in AI open up a series of questions such as:

:Will the powers of AI continue to grow in the future, and if so will they ever reach the point where they can be said to have intelligence equivalent to or greater than that of a human being?
:Could we ever reach the point where we can accept the thesis that an AI system could have something like consciousness or sentience?
:Could we reach the point where an AI system could be said to behave ethically, or to have responsibility for its actions?
:Can quantum computers enable a stronger AI than what we have today?
:Can a computer have desires, a will, and emotions?
:Can a computer have responsibility for its behavior?
:Could a machine have something like a personal identity? Would I really survive if the contents of my brain were uploaded to the cloud?

We will describe in detail how stochastic AI works, and consider these and a series of other questions at the borderlines of philosophy and AI. The class will close with presentations of papers on relevant topics given by students.

Some of the material for this class is derived from our book

''Why Machines Will Never Rule the World: Artificial Intelligence without Fear'' (2nd edition, Routledge 2025).
and from the companion volume:

''Symposium on Why Machines Will Never Rule the World'' — Guest editor, Janna Hastings, University of Zurich
which appeared as a special issue of the public access journal Cosmos + Taxis in early 2024.

'''Faculty'''

Jobst Landgrebe is the founder and CEO of Cognotekt, GmBH, an AI company based in Cologne specialised in the design and implementation of holistic AI solutions. He has 20 years experience in the AI field, 8 years as a management consultant and software architect. He has also worked as a physician and mathematician, and he views AI itself -- to the extent that it is not an elaborate hype -- as a branch of applied mathematics. CUrrently his primary focus is in the biomathematics of cancer.

Barry Smith is one of the world's most widely [https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=icGNWj4AAAAJ cited philosophers]. He has contributed primarily to the field of applied ontology, which means applying philosophical ideas derived from analytical metaphysics to the concrete practical problems which arise where attempts are made to compare or combine heterogeneous bodies of data.

Grading

:Essay with presentation: 70%
:Essay with no presentation: 85%
:Presentation: 15%
:Class Participation 15%

'''Draft Schedule'''

:Venue: Room A23

'''Program'''

==Monday, May 4 (13:30-16:15) AI and Philosophy: An Introduction==

Part 1: An introduction to the course

Part 2: Outline of the theory of complex systems documented in our book: ''[https://www.amazon.com/Machines-Will-Never-Rule-World/dp/1032941405/ Why machines will never rule the world]''. Summary [https://philpapers.org/rec/LANWMW-3 here].

:In the course of the next 2 weeks we will show why AI cannot model complex systems adequately and synoptically, and why they therefore cannot reach a level of intelligence equal to that of human beings
:Note the difference between 'complex' and 'complicated'

Part 3: Booming interest in ontology unleashed by the idea of 'neurosymbolic AI'

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-1-Video Video]

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture1-Slides Slides]

'''Background'''
The classical psychological definitions of intelligence are:
:A. the ability to adapt to new situations (applies both to humans and to animals)
:B. a very general mental capability (possessed only by humans) that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly, and learn from experience
:Can a machine be intelligent in either of these senses?

'''Readings'''
:[Capabilities: An ontology]

:Linda S. Gottfredson. Mainstream Science on Intelligence. In: Intelligence 24 (1997), pp. 13–23.
:Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith: There is no Artificial General Intelligence
:Jobst Landgrebe: Deep reasoning, abstraction and planning


:Ersatz Definitions, Anthropomorphisms, and Pareidolia

There's no 'I' in 'AI', Steven Pemberton, Amsterdam, December 12, 2024
:1. Esatz definitions: using words like 'thinks' as in 'the machine is thinking', but with meanings quite different from those we use when talking about human beings. As when we define 'flying' as moving through the air, and then jumping up and down and saying "look, I'm flying!"
:2. Pareidolia: a psychological phenomenon that causes people to see patterns, objects, or meaning in ambiguous or unrelated stimuli
:3. If you can't spot irony, you're not intelligent

'''Background'''

Will AI Destroy Humanity? A Soho Forum Debate (Spoiler: Jobst won)

R.V. Yampolskii, AI: Unexplainable, Unpredictable, Uncontrollable

Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor, AI Snake Oil

Arnold Schelsky, The Hype Book, especially Chapter 1.

==Tuesday May 5 (09:30-12:15) Transhumanism: The Ultimate Stage of Cartesianism ==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Video Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Slides Slides]

1. Surveys the full spectrum of transhumanism and its cultural origins.

2. Debunk the feasibility of radically improving human beings via technology.

Background:

TESCREALISM, or: why AI gods are so passionate about creating Artificial General Intelligence
Considering the existential risk of Artificial Superintelligence
Thursday, February 20 (9:30 - 12:15) Can a machine be conscious?
The machine will

Computers cannot have a will, because computers don't give a damn. Therefore there can be no machine ethics

The lack of the giving-a-damn-factor is taken by Yann LeCun as a reason to reject the idea that AI might pose an existential risk to humanity – an AI will have no desire for self-preservation “Almost half of CEOs fear A.I. could destroy humanity five to 10 years from now — but ‘A.I. godfather' says an existential threat is ‘preposterously ridiculous’” Fortune, June 15, 2023. See also here.
Implications of the absence of a machine will:

The problem of the singularity (when machines will take over from humans) will not arise
The idea of digital immortality will never be realized Slides
The idea that human beings are simulations can be rejected
There can be no AI ethics (only: ethics governing human beings when they use AI)
Fermi's paradox is solved
Background:

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Video Video]

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Slides Slides]

Searle's Chinese Room Argument
Machines cannot have intentionality; they cannot have experiences which are about something.

Searle: Minds, Brains, and Programs

==Wednesday May 6 (09:30-12:15) AI and the Theory of Complex and Dynamic Systems==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Video Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Slides Slides]

Provides an introduction to the theory of complex and dynamic systems. Examples include: population growth

== Thursday, May 7 (13:30 - 16:15) 1. Capabilities and Skills; 2. AI and History and Geography==

Part 0: How to give a good powerpoint presentation

Part 1: Functions, Capabilities, Skills

Part 2: Maps

[https://buffalo.box.com/s/8d1h9yidtxw0994m8rakyvxq1t41mtvj Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-4 Slides]

== Friday, May 8 (13:30 - 16:15) Part 1. The Limits of AI. Part 2. Animal, Human and Machine Intelligence: A Territorial Perspective==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5-Part-2 Slides Part 2]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-6-Part-1 Video: Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5-Part-2 Video: Part 2]

==Tuesday (May 12, 9:30 - 12:15) 1. Why LLMs must Hallucinate. 2. Planning, Creativity, and Entrepreneurial Perception==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5-Part-1 Video: Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/s/vgd92r9mv2ynw38sqgc07e5uy4uxd2tz Slides: Part 2]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-6-Part-2 Video: Part 2]

From Speech Acts to Document Acts: An Ontology of Institutions [https://buffalo.box.com/s/85h3u1nvjtbnm5krs0tr7rfkys2p48qc Slides]

Massively Planned Social Agency [https://buffalo.box.com/s/v6huywh7gs09jsosfxo7ox62ap7wiccd Slides]

AI Creativity and Entrepreneurial Perception Slides

==Wednesday, May 13 (09:30 - 12:15) David Chalmers==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2025-Lecture-5-Part-1 Slides]

==Friday May 15 (09:30-12:15) Student Presentations ==



==Background Material==

'''An Introduction to AI for Philosophers'''
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmiY8_XVvzs Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Why-not-robot-cops Slides]
(AI experts are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''An Introduction to Philosophy for Computer Scientists'''
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/What-is-philosophy Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Crash-Course-Introduction Slides]
(Philosophers are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''[https://www.cp.eng.chula.ac.th/~prabhas/teaching/cbs-it-seminar/2012/aiphil-mccarthy.pdf John McCarthy, "What has AI in common with philosophy?"]

Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026

2026-05-22T21:05:57Z

Phismith: /* Friday May 15 (09:30-12:15) Student Presentations, followed by: On AI, Jobs, and Economics */

Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026

2026-05-22T21:05:39Z

Phismith: /* Wednesday, May 13 (09:30 - 12:15) David Chalmers */

'''Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026'''

Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith

MAP, USI, Lugano, Spring 2026

Venue: Room A23

'''[https://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2026/05/ontology-phd.html University at Buffalo to offer world’s first doctorate in applied ontology]'''

[https://buffalo.zoom.us/j/92039377770?pwd=pL6MALdTb5mB1QnqlwYPwAoNaYeEp4.1 Zoom link]

'''Introduction'''

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the subfield of Computer Science devoted to developing programs that enable computers to display behavior that can (broadly) be characterized as intelligent. On the strong version, the ultimate goal of AI is to create what is called General Artificial Intelligence (AGI), by which is meant an artificial system that is at least as intelligent as a human being.

Since its inception in the middle of the last century AI has enjoyed repeated cycles of enthusiasm and disappointment (AI summers and winters). Recent successes of ChatGPT and other Large Language Models (LLMs) have opened a new era of popularization of AI. For the first time, AI tools have been created which are immediately available to the wider population, who for the first time can have real hands-on experience of what AI can do.

These developments in AI open up a series of questions such as:

:Will the powers of AI continue to grow in the future, and if so will they ever reach the point where they can be said to have intelligence equivalent to or greater than that of a human being?
:Could we ever reach the point where we can accept the thesis that an AI system could have something like consciousness or sentience?
:Could we reach the point where an AI system could be said to behave ethically, or to have responsibility for its actions?
:Can quantum computers enable a stronger AI than what we have today?
:Can a computer have desires, a will, and emotions?
:Can a computer have responsibility for its behavior?
:Could a machine have something like a personal identity? Would I really survive if the contents of my brain were uploaded to the cloud?

We will describe in detail how stochastic AI works, and consider these and a series of other questions at the borderlines of philosophy and AI. The class will close with presentations of papers on relevant topics given by students.

Some of the material for this class is derived from our book

''Why Machines Will Never Rule the World: Artificial Intelligence without Fear'' (2nd edition, Routledge 2025).
and from the companion volume:

''Symposium on Why Machines Will Never Rule the World'' — Guest editor, Janna Hastings, University of Zurich
which appeared as a special issue of the public access journal Cosmos + Taxis in early 2024.

'''Faculty'''

Jobst Landgrebe is the founder and CEO of Cognotekt, GmBH, an AI company based in Cologne specialised in the design and implementation of holistic AI solutions. He has 20 years experience in the AI field, 8 years as a management consultant and software architect. He has also worked as a physician and mathematician, and he views AI itself -- to the extent that it is not an elaborate hype -- as a branch of applied mathematics. CUrrently his primary focus is in the biomathematics of cancer.

Barry Smith is one of the world's most widely [https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=icGNWj4AAAAJ cited philosophers]. He has contributed primarily to the field of applied ontology, which means applying philosophical ideas derived from analytical metaphysics to the concrete practical problems which arise where attempts are made to compare or combine heterogeneous bodies of data.

Grading

:Essay with presentation: 70%
:Essay with no presentation: 85%
:Presentation: 15%
:Class Participation 15%

'''Draft Schedule'''

:Venue: Room A23

'''Program'''

==Monday, May 4 (13:30-16:15) AI and Philosophy: An Introduction==

Part 1: An introduction to the course

Part 2: Outline of the theory of complex systems documented in our book: ''[https://www.amazon.com/Machines-Will-Never-Rule-World/dp/1032941405/ Why machines will never rule the world]''. Summary [https://philpapers.org/rec/LANWMW-3 here].

:In the course of the next 2 weeks we will show why AI cannot model complex systems adequately and synoptically, and why they therefore cannot reach a level of intelligence equal to that of human beings
:Note the difference between 'complex' and 'complicated'

Part 3: Booming interest in ontology unleashed by the idea of 'neurosymbolic AI'

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-1-Video Video]

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture1-Slides Slides]

'''Background'''
The classical psychological definitions of intelligence are:
:A. the ability to adapt to new situations (applies both to humans and to animals)
:B. a very general mental capability (possessed only by humans) that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly, and learn from experience
:Can a machine be intelligent in either of these senses?

'''Readings'''
:[Capabilities: An ontology]

:Linda S. Gottfredson. Mainstream Science on Intelligence. In: Intelligence 24 (1997), pp. 13–23.
:Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith: There is no Artificial General Intelligence
:Jobst Landgrebe: Deep reasoning, abstraction and planning


:Ersatz Definitions, Anthropomorphisms, and Pareidolia

There's no 'I' in 'AI', Steven Pemberton, Amsterdam, December 12, 2024
:1. Esatz definitions: using words like 'thinks' as in 'the machine is thinking', but with meanings quite different from those we use when talking about human beings. As when we define 'flying' as moving through the air, and then jumping up and down and saying "look, I'm flying!"
:2. Pareidolia: a psychological phenomenon that causes people to see patterns, objects, or meaning in ambiguous or unrelated stimuli
:3. If you can't spot irony, you're not intelligent

'''Background'''

Will AI Destroy Humanity? A Soho Forum Debate (Spoiler: Jobst won)

R.V. Yampolskii, AI: Unexplainable, Unpredictable, Uncontrollable

Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor, AI Snake Oil

Arnold Schelsky, The Hype Book, especially Chapter 1.

==Tuesday May 5 (09:30-12:15) Transhumanism: The Ultimate Stage of Cartesianism ==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Video Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Slides Slides]

1. Surveys the full spectrum of transhumanism and its cultural origins.

2. Debunk the feasibility of radically improving human beings via technology.

Background:

TESCREALISM, or: why AI gods are so passionate about creating Artificial General Intelligence
Considering the existential risk of Artificial Superintelligence
Thursday, February 20 (9:30 - 12:15) Can a machine be conscious?
The machine will

Computers cannot have a will, because computers don't give a damn. Therefore there can be no machine ethics

The lack of the giving-a-damn-factor is taken by Yann LeCun as a reason to reject the idea that AI might pose an existential risk to humanity – an AI will have no desire for self-preservation “Almost half of CEOs fear A.I. could destroy humanity five to 10 years from now — but ‘A.I. godfather' says an existential threat is ‘preposterously ridiculous’” Fortune, June 15, 2023. See also here.
Implications of the absence of a machine will:

The problem of the singularity (when machines will take over from humans) will not arise
The idea of digital immortality will never be realized Slides
The idea that human beings are simulations can be rejected
There can be no AI ethics (only: ethics governing human beings when they use AI)
Fermi's paradox is solved
Background:

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Video Video]

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Slides Slides]

Searle's Chinese Room Argument
Machines cannot have intentionality; they cannot have experiences which are about something.

Searle: Minds, Brains, and Programs

==Wednesday May 6 (09:30-12:15) AI and the Theory of Complex and Dynamic Systems==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Video Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Slides Slides]

Provides an introduction to the theory of complex and dynamic systems. Examples include: population growth

== Thursday, May 7 (13:30 - 16:15) 1. Capabilities and Skills; 2. AI and History and Geography==

Part 0: How to give a good powerpoint presentation

Part 1: Functions, Capabilities, Skills

Part 2: Maps

[https://buffalo.box.com/s/8d1h9yidtxw0994m8rakyvxq1t41mtvj Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-4 Slides]

== Friday, May 8 (13:30 - 16:15) Part 1. The Limits of AI. Part 2. Animal, Human and Machine Intelligence: A Territorial Perspective==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5-Part-2 Slides Part 2]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-6-Part-1 Video: Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5-Part-2 Video: Part 2]

==Tuesday (May 12, 9:30 - 12:15) 1. Why LLMs must Hallucinate. 2. Planning, Creativity, and Entrepreneurial Perception==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5-Part-1 Video: Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/s/vgd92r9mv2ynw38sqgc07e5uy4uxd2tz Slides: Part 2]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-6-Part-2 Video: Part 2]

From Speech Acts to Document Acts: An Ontology of Institutions [https://buffalo.box.com/s/85h3u1nvjtbnm5krs0tr7rfkys2p48qc Slides]

Massively Planned Social Agency [https://buffalo.box.com/s/v6huywh7gs09jsosfxo7ox62ap7wiccd Slides]

AI Creativity and Entrepreneurial Perception Slides

==Wednesday, May 13 (09:30 - 12:15) David Chalmers==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2025-Lecture-5-Part-1 Slides]

==Friday May 15 (09:30-12:15) Student Presentations, followed by: On AI, Jobs, and Economics ==



==Background Material==

'''An Introduction to AI for Philosophers'''
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmiY8_XVvzs Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Why-not-robot-cops Slides]
(AI experts are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''An Introduction to Philosophy for Computer Scientists'''
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/What-is-philosophy Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Crash-Course-Introduction Slides]
(Philosophers are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''[https://www.cp.eng.chula.ac.th/~prabhas/teaching/cbs-it-seminar/2012/aiphil-mccarthy.pdf John McCarthy, "What has AI in common with philosophy?"]

Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026

2026-05-22T21:04:57Z

Phismith: /* Friday, May 8 (13:30 - 16:15) Part 1. David Chalmers. Part 2. Animal, Human and Machine Intelligence: A Territorial Perspective */

'''Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026'''

Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith

MAP, USI, Lugano, Spring 2026

Venue: Room A23

'''[https://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2026/05/ontology-phd.html University at Buffalo to offer world’s first doctorate in applied ontology]'''

[https://buffalo.zoom.us/j/92039377770?pwd=pL6MALdTb5mB1QnqlwYPwAoNaYeEp4.1 Zoom link]

'''Introduction'''

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the subfield of Computer Science devoted to developing programs that enable computers to display behavior that can (broadly) be characterized as intelligent. On the strong version, the ultimate goal of AI is to create what is called General Artificial Intelligence (AGI), by which is meant an artificial system that is at least as intelligent as a human being.

Since its inception in the middle of the last century AI has enjoyed repeated cycles of enthusiasm and disappointment (AI summers and winters). Recent successes of ChatGPT and other Large Language Models (LLMs) have opened a new era of popularization of AI. For the first time, AI tools have been created which are immediately available to the wider population, who for the first time can have real hands-on experience of what AI can do.

These developments in AI open up a series of questions such as:

:Will the powers of AI continue to grow in the future, and if so will they ever reach the point where they can be said to have intelligence equivalent to or greater than that of a human being?
:Could we ever reach the point where we can accept the thesis that an AI system could have something like consciousness or sentience?
:Could we reach the point where an AI system could be said to behave ethically, or to have responsibility for its actions?
:Can quantum computers enable a stronger AI than what we have today?
:Can a computer have desires, a will, and emotions?
:Can a computer have responsibility for its behavior?
:Could a machine have something like a personal identity? Would I really survive if the contents of my brain were uploaded to the cloud?

We will describe in detail how stochastic AI works, and consider these and a series of other questions at the borderlines of philosophy and AI. The class will close with presentations of papers on relevant topics given by students.

Some of the material for this class is derived from our book

''Why Machines Will Never Rule the World: Artificial Intelligence without Fear'' (2nd edition, Routledge 2025).
and from the companion volume:

''Symposium on Why Machines Will Never Rule the World'' — Guest editor, Janna Hastings, University of Zurich
which appeared as a special issue of the public access journal Cosmos + Taxis in early 2024.

'''Faculty'''

Jobst Landgrebe is the founder and CEO of Cognotekt, GmBH, an AI company based in Cologne specialised in the design and implementation of holistic AI solutions. He has 20 years experience in the AI field, 8 years as a management consultant and software architect. He has also worked as a physician and mathematician, and he views AI itself -- to the extent that it is not an elaborate hype -- as a branch of applied mathematics. CUrrently his primary focus is in the biomathematics of cancer.

Barry Smith is one of the world's most widely [https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=icGNWj4AAAAJ cited philosophers]. He has contributed primarily to the field of applied ontology, which means applying philosophical ideas derived from analytical metaphysics to the concrete practical problems which arise where attempts are made to compare or combine heterogeneous bodies of data.

Grading

:Essay with presentation: 70%
:Essay with no presentation: 85%
:Presentation: 15%
:Class Participation 15%

'''Draft Schedule'''

:Venue: Room A23

'''Program'''

==Monday, May 4 (13:30-16:15) AI and Philosophy: An Introduction==

Part 1: An introduction to the course

Part 2: Outline of the theory of complex systems documented in our book: ''[https://www.amazon.com/Machines-Will-Never-Rule-World/dp/1032941405/ Why machines will never rule the world]''. Summary [https://philpapers.org/rec/LANWMW-3 here].

:In the course of the next 2 weeks we will show why AI cannot model complex systems adequately and synoptically, and why they therefore cannot reach a level of intelligence equal to that of human beings
:Note the difference between 'complex' and 'complicated'

Part 3: Booming interest in ontology unleashed by the idea of 'neurosymbolic AI'

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-1-Video Video]

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture1-Slides Slides]

'''Background'''
The classical psychological definitions of intelligence are:
:A. the ability to adapt to new situations (applies both to humans and to animals)
:B. a very general mental capability (possessed only by humans) that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly, and learn from experience
:Can a machine be intelligent in either of these senses?

'''Readings'''
:[Capabilities: An ontology]

:Linda S. Gottfredson. Mainstream Science on Intelligence. In: Intelligence 24 (1997), pp. 13–23.
:Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith: There is no Artificial General Intelligence
:Jobst Landgrebe: Deep reasoning, abstraction and planning


:Ersatz Definitions, Anthropomorphisms, and Pareidolia

There's no 'I' in 'AI', Steven Pemberton, Amsterdam, December 12, 2024
:1. Esatz definitions: using words like 'thinks' as in 'the machine is thinking', but with meanings quite different from those we use when talking about human beings. As when we define 'flying' as moving through the air, and then jumping up and down and saying "look, I'm flying!"
:2. Pareidolia: a psychological phenomenon that causes people to see patterns, objects, or meaning in ambiguous or unrelated stimuli
:3. If you can't spot irony, you're not intelligent

'''Background'''

Will AI Destroy Humanity? A Soho Forum Debate (Spoiler: Jobst won)

R.V. Yampolskii, AI: Unexplainable, Unpredictable, Uncontrollable

Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor, AI Snake Oil

Arnold Schelsky, The Hype Book, especially Chapter 1.

==Tuesday May 5 (09:30-12:15) Transhumanism: The Ultimate Stage of Cartesianism ==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Video Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Slides Slides]

1. Surveys the full spectrum of transhumanism and its cultural origins.

2. Debunk the feasibility of radically improving human beings via technology.

Background:

TESCREALISM, or: why AI gods are so passionate about creating Artificial General Intelligence
Considering the existential risk of Artificial Superintelligence
Thursday, February 20 (9:30 - 12:15) Can a machine be conscious?
The machine will

Computers cannot have a will, because computers don't give a damn. Therefore there can be no machine ethics

The lack of the giving-a-damn-factor is taken by Yann LeCun as a reason to reject the idea that AI might pose an existential risk to humanity – an AI will have no desire for self-preservation “Almost half of CEOs fear A.I. could destroy humanity five to 10 years from now — but ‘A.I. godfather' says an existential threat is ‘preposterously ridiculous’” Fortune, June 15, 2023. See also here.
Implications of the absence of a machine will:

The problem of the singularity (when machines will take over from humans) will not arise
The idea of digital immortality will never be realized Slides
The idea that human beings are simulations can be rejected
There can be no AI ethics (only: ethics governing human beings when they use AI)
Fermi's paradox is solved
Background:

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Video Video]

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Slides Slides]

Searle's Chinese Room Argument
Machines cannot have intentionality; they cannot have experiences which are about something.

Searle: Minds, Brains, and Programs

==Wednesday May 6 (09:30-12:15) AI and the Theory of Complex and Dynamic Systems==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Video Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Slides Slides]

Provides an introduction to the theory of complex and dynamic systems. Examples include: population growth

== Thursday, May 7 (13:30 - 16:15) 1. Capabilities and Skills; 2. AI and History and Geography==

Part 0: How to give a good powerpoint presentation

Part 1: Functions, Capabilities, Skills

Part 2: Maps

[https://buffalo.box.com/s/8d1h9yidtxw0994m8rakyvxq1t41mtvj Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-4 Slides]

== Friday, May 8 (13:30 - 16:15) Part 1. The Limits of AI. Part 2. Animal, Human and Machine Intelligence: A Territorial Perspective==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5-Part-2 Slides Part 2]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-6-Part-1 Video: Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5-Part-2 Video: Part 2]

==Tuesday (May 12, 9:30 - 12:15) 1. Why LLMs must Hallucinate. 2. Planning, Creativity, and Entrepreneurial Perception==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5-Part-1 Video: Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/s/vgd92r9mv2ynw38sqgc07e5uy4uxd2tz Slides: Part 2]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-6-Part-2 Video: Part 2]

From Speech Acts to Document Acts: An Ontology of Institutions [https://buffalo.box.com/s/85h3u1nvjtbnm5krs0tr7rfkys2p48qc Slides]

Massively Planned Social Agency [https://buffalo.box.com/s/v6huywh7gs09jsosfxo7ox62ap7wiccd Slides]

AI Creativity and Entrepreneurial Perception Slides

==Wednesday, May 13 (09:30 - 12:15) David Chalmers==

==Friday May 15 (09:30-12:15) Student Presentations, followed by: On AI, Jobs, and Economics ==



==Background Material==

'''An Introduction to AI for Philosophers'''
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmiY8_XVvzs Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Why-not-robot-cops Slides]
(AI experts are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''An Introduction to Philosophy for Computer Scientists'''
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/What-is-philosophy Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Crash-Course-Introduction Slides]
(Philosophers are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''[https://www.cp.eng.chula.ac.th/~prabhas/teaching/cbs-it-seminar/2012/aiphil-mccarthy.pdf John McCarthy, "What has AI in common with philosophy?"]

Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026

2026-05-22T21:02:56Z

Phismith: /* =Wednesday, May 13 (09:30 - 12:15) David Chalmers */

'''Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026'''

Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith

MAP, USI, Lugano, Spring 2026

Venue: Room A23

'''[https://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2026/05/ontology-phd.html University at Buffalo to offer world’s first doctorate in applied ontology]'''

[https://buffalo.zoom.us/j/92039377770?pwd=pL6MALdTb5mB1QnqlwYPwAoNaYeEp4.1 Zoom link]

'''Introduction'''

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the subfield of Computer Science devoted to developing programs that enable computers to display behavior that can (broadly) be characterized as intelligent. On the strong version, the ultimate goal of AI is to create what is called General Artificial Intelligence (AGI), by which is meant an artificial system that is at least as intelligent as a human being.

Since its inception in the middle of the last century AI has enjoyed repeated cycles of enthusiasm and disappointment (AI summers and winters). Recent successes of ChatGPT and other Large Language Models (LLMs) have opened a new era of popularization of AI. For the first time, AI tools have been created which are immediately available to the wider population, who for the first time can have real hands-on experience of what AI can do.

These developments in AI open up a series of questions such as:

:Will the powers of AI continue to grow in the future, and if so will they ever reach the point where they can be said to have intelligence equivalent to or greater than that of a human being?
:Could we ever reach the point where we can accept the thesis that an AI system could have something like consciousness or sentience?
:Could we reach the point where an AI system could be said to behave ethically, or to have responsibility for its actions?
:Can quantum computers enable a stronger AI than what we have today?
:Can a computer have desires, a will, and emotions?
:Can a computer have responsibility for its behavior?
:Could a machine have something like a personal identity? Would I really survive if the contents of my brain were uploaded to the cloud?

We will describe in detail how stochastic AI works, and consider these and a series of other questions at the borderlines of philosophy and AI. The class will close with presentations of papers on relevant topics given by students.

Some of the material for this class is derived from our book

''Why Machines Will Never Rule the World: Artificial Intelligence without Fear'' (2nd edition, Routledge 2025).
and from the companion volume:

''Symposium on Why Machines Will Never Rule the World'' — Guest editor, Janna Hastings, University of Zurich
which appeared as a special issue of the public access journal Cosmos + Taxis in early 2024.

'''Faculty'''

Jobst Landgrebe is the founder and CEO of Cognotekt, GmBH, an AI company based in Cologne specialised in the design and implementation of holistic AI solutions. He has 20 years experience in the AI field, 8 years as a management consultant and software architect. He has also worked as a physician and mathematician, and he views AI itself -- to the extent that it is not an elaborate hype -- as a branch of applied mathematics. CUrrently his primary focus is in the biomathematics of cancer.

Barry Smith is one of the world's most widely [https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=icGNWj4AAAAJ cited philosophers]. He has contributed primarily to the field of applied ontology, which means applying philosophical ideas derived from analytical metaphysics to the concrete practical problems which arise where attempts are made to compare or combine heterogeneous bodies of data.

Grading

:Essay with presentation: 70%
:Essay with no presentation: 85%
:Presentation: 15%
:Class Participation 15%

'''Draft Schedule'''

:Venue: Room A23

'''Program'''

==Monday, May 4 (13:30-16:15) AI and Philosophy: An Introduction==

Part 1: An introduction to the course

Part 2: Outline of the theory of complex systems documented in our book: ''[https://www.amazon.com/Machines-Will-Never-Rule-World/dp/1032941405/ Why machines will never rule the world]''. Summary [https://philpapers.org/rec/LANWMW-3 here].

:In the course of the next 2 weeks we will show why AI cannot model complex systems adequately and synoptically, and why they therefore cannot reach a level of intelligence equal to that of human beings
:Note the difference between 'complex' and 'complicated'

Part 3: Booming interest in ontology unleashed by the idea of 'neurosymbolic AI'

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-1-Video Video]

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture1-Slides Slides]

'''Background'''
The classical psychological definitions of intelligence are:
:A. the ability to adapt to new situations (applies both to humans and to animals)
:B. a very general mental capability (possessed only by humans) that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly, and learn from experience
:Can a machine be intelligent in either of these senses?

'''Readings'''
:[Capabilities: An ontology]

:Linda S. Gottfredson. Mainstream Science on Intelligence. In: Intelligence 24 (1997), pp. 13–23.
:Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith: There is no Artificial General Intelligence
:Jobst Landgrebe: Deep reasoning, abstraction and planning


:Ersatz Definitions, Anthropomorphisms, and Pareidolia

There's no 'I' in 'AI', Steven Pemberton, Amsterdam, December 12, 2024
:1. Esatz definitions: using words like 'thinks' as in 'the machine is thinking', but with meanings quite different from those we use when talking about human beings. As when we define 'flying' as moving through the air, and then jumping up and down and saying "look, I'm flying!"
:2. Pareidolia: a psychological phenomenon that causes people to see patterns, objects, or meaning in ambiguous or unrelated stimuli
:3. If you can't spot irony, you're not intelligent

'''Background'''

Will AI Destroy Humanity? A Soho Forum Debate (Spoiler: Jobst won)

R.V. Yampolskii, AI: Unexplainable, Unpredictable, Uncontrollable

Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor, AI Snake Oil

Arnold Schelsky, The Hype Book, especially Chapter 1.

==Tuesday May 5 (09:30-12:15) Transhumanism: The Ultimate Stage of Cartesianism ==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Video Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Slides Slides]

1. Surveys the full spectrum of transhumanism and its cultural origins.

2. Debunk the feasibility of radically improving human beings via technology.

Background:

TESCREALISM, or: why AI gods are so passionate about creating Artificial General Intelligence
Considering the existential risk of Artificial Superintelligence
Thursday, February 20 (9:30 - 12:15) Can a machine be conscious?
The machine will

Computers cannot have a will, because computers don't give a damn. Therefore there can be no machine ethics

The lack of the giving-a-damn-factor is taken by Yann LeCun as a reason to reject the idea that AI might pose an existential risk to humanity – an AI will have no desire for self-preservation “Almost half of CEOs fear A.I. could destroy humanity five to 10 years from now — but ‘A.I. godfather' says an existential threat is ‘preposterously ridiculous’” Fortune, June 15, 2023. See also here.
Implications of the absence of a machine will:

The problem of the singularity (when machines will take over from humans) will not arise
The idea of digital immortality will never be realized Slides
The idea that human beings are simulations can be rejected
There can be no AI ethics (only: ethics governing human beings when they use AI)
Fermi's paradox is solved
Background:

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Video Video]

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Slides Slides]

Searle's Chinese Room Argument
Machines cannot have intentionality; they cannot have experiences which are about something.

Searle: Minds, Brains, and Programs

==Wednesday May 6 (09:30-12:15) AI and the Theory of Complex and Dynamic Systems==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Video Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Slides Slides]

Provides an introduction to the theory of complex and dynamic systems. Examples include: population growth

== Thursday, May 7 (13:30 - 16:15) 1. Capabilities and Skills; 2. AI and History and Geography==

Part 0: How to give a good powerpoint presentation

Part 1: Functions, Capabilities, Skills

Part 2: Maps

[https://buffalo.box.com/s/8d1h9yidtxw0994m8rakyvxq1t41mtvj Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-4 Slides]

== Friday, May 8 (13:30 - 16:15) Part 1. David Chalmers. Part 2. Animal, Human and Machine Intelligence: A Territorial Perspective==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2025-Lecture-5-Part-1 Slides Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5-Part-2 Slides Part 2]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-6-Part-1 Video: Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5-Part-2 Video: Part 2]

==Tuesday (May 12, 9:30 - 12:15) 1. Why LLMs must Hallucinate. 2. Planning, Creativity, and Entrepreneurial Perception==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5-Part-1 Video: Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/s/vgd92r9mv2ynw38sqgc07e5uy4uxd2tz Slides: Part 2]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-6-Part-2 Video: Part 2]

From Speech Acts to Document Acts: An Ontology of Institutions [https://buffalo.box.com/s/85h3u1nvjtbnm5krs0tr7rfkys2p48qc Slides]

Massively Planned Social Agency [https://buffalo.box.com/s/v6huywh7gs09jsosfxo7ox62ap7wiccd Slides]

AI Creativity and Entrepreneurial Perception Slides

==Wednesday, May 13 (09:30 - 12:15) David Chalmers==

==Friday May 15 (09:30-12:15) Student Presentations, followed by: On AI, Jobs, and Economics ==



==Background Material==

'''An Introduction to AI for Philosophers'''
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmiY8_XVvzs Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Why-not-robot-cops Slides]
(AI experts are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''An Introduction to Philosophy for Computer Scientists'''
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/What-is-philosophy Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Crash-Course-Introduction Slides]
(Philosophers are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''[https://www.cp.eng.chula.ac.th/~prabhas/teaching/cbs-it-seminar/2012/aiphil-mccarthy.pdf John McCarthy, "What has AI in common with philosophy?"]

Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026

2026-05-22T21:02:34Z

Phismith: /* Wednesday, May 13 (09:30 - 12:15) The Limits of AI and the Limits of Physics */

'''Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026'''

Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith

MAP, USI, Lugano, Spring 2026

Venue: Room A23

'''[https://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2026/05/ontology-phd.html University at Buffalo to offer world’s first doctorate in applied ontology]'''

[https://buffalo.zoom.us/j/92039377770?pwd=pL6MALdTb5mB1QnqlwYPwAoNaYeEp4.1 Zoom link]

'''Introduction'''

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the subfield of Computer Science devoted to developing programs that enable computers to display behavior that can (broadly) be characterized as intelligent. On the strong version, the ultimate goal of AI is to create what is called General Artificial Intelligence (AGI), by which is meant an artificial system that is at least as intelligent as a human being.

Since its inception in the middle of the last century AI has enjoyed repeated cycles of enthusiasm and disappointment (AI summers and winters). Recent successes of ChatGPT and other Large Language Models (LLMs) have opened a new era of popularization of AI. For the first time, AI tools have been created which are immediately available to the wider population, who for the first time can have real hands-on experience of what AI can do.

These developments in AI open up a series of questions such as:

:Will the powers of AI continue to grow in the future, and if so will they ever reach the point where they can be said to have intelligence equivalent to or greater than that of a human being?
:Could we ever reach the point where we can accept the thesis that an AI system could have something like consciousness or sentience?
:Could we reach the point where an AI system could be said to behave ethically, or to have responsibility for its actions?
:Can quantum computers enable a stronger AI than what we have today?
:Can a computer have desires, a will, and emotions?
:Can a computer have responsibility for its behavior?
:Could a machine have something like a personal identity? Would I really survive if the contents of my brain were uploaded to the cloud?

We will describe in detail how stochastic AI works, and consider these and a series of other questions at the borderlines of philosophy and AI. The class will close with presentations of papers on relevant topics given by students.

Some of the material for this class is derived from our book

''Why Machines Will Never Rule the World: Artificial Intelligence without Fear'' (2nd edition, Routledge 2025).
and from the companion volume:

''Symposium on Why Machines Will Never Rule the World'' — Guest editor, Janna Hastings, University of Zurich
which appeared as a special issue of the public access journal Cosmos + Taxis in early 2024.

'''Faculty'''

Jobst Landgrebe is the founder and CEO of Cognotekt, GmBH, an AI company based in Cologne specialised in the design and implementation of holistic AI solutions. He has 20 years experience in the AI field, 8 years as a management consultant and software architect. He has also worked as a physician and mathematician, and he views AI itself -- to the extent that it is not an elaborate hype -- as a branch of applied mathematics. CUrrently his primary focus is in the biomathematics of cancer.

Barry Smith is one of the world's most widely [https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=icGNWj4AAAAJ cited philosophers]. He has contributed primarily to the field of applied ontology, which means applying philosophical ideas derived from analytical metaphysics to the concrete practical problems which arise where attempts are made to compare or combine heterogeneous bodies of data.

Grading

:Essay with presentation: 70%
:Essay with no presentation: 85%
:Presentation: 15%
:Class Participation 15%

'''Draft Schedule'''

:Venue: Room A23

'''Program'''

==Monday, May 4 (13:30-16:15) AI and Philosophy: An Introduction==

Part 1: An introduction to the course

Part 2: Outline of the theory of complex systems documented in our book: ''[https://www.amazon.com/Machines-Will-Never-Rule-World/dp/1032941405/ Why machines will never rule the world]''. Summary [https://philpapers.org/rec/LANWMW-3 here].

:In the course of the next 2 weeks we will show why AI cannot model complex systems adequately and synoptically, and why they therefore cannot reach a level of intelligence equal to that of human beings
:Note the difference between 'complex' and 'complicated'

Part 3: Booming interest in ontology unleashed by the idea of 'neurosymbolic AI'

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-1-Video Video]

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture1-Slides Slides]

'''Background'''
The classical psychological definitions of intelligence are:
:A. the ability to adapt to new situations (applies both to humans and to animals)
:B. a very general mental capability (possessed only by humans) that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly, and learn from experience
:Can a machine be intelligent in either of these senses?

'''Readings'''
:[Capabilities: An ontology]

:Linda S. Gottfredson. Mainstream Science on Intelligence. In: Intelligence 24 (1997), pp. 13–23.
:Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith: There is no Artificial General Intelligence
:Jobst Landgrebe: Deep reasoning, abstraction and planning


:Ersatz Definitions, Anthropomorphisms, and Pareidolia

There's no 'I' in 'AI', Steven Pemberton, Amsterdam, December 12, 2024
:1. Esatz definitions: using words like 'thinks' as in 'the machine is thinking', but with meanings quite different from those we use when talking about human beings. As when we define 'flying' as moving through the air, and then jumping up and down and saying "look, I'm flying!"
:2. Pareidolia: a psychological phenomenon that causes people to see patterns, objects, or meaning in ambiguous or unrelated stimuli
:3. If you can't spot irony, you're not intelligent

'''Background'''

Will AI Destroy Humanity? A Soho Forum Debate (Spoiler: Jobst won)

R.V. Yampolskii, AI: Unexplainable, Unpredictable, Uncontrollable

Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor, AI Snake Oil

Arnold Schelsky, The Hype Book, especially Chapter 1.

==Tuesday May 5 (09:30-12:15) Transhumanism: The Ultimate Stage of Cartesianism ==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Video Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Slides Slides]

1. Surveys the full spectrum of transhumanism and its cultural origins.

2. Debunk the feasibility of radically improving human beings via technology.

Background:

TESCREALISM, or: why AI gods are so passionate about creating Artificial General Intelligence
Considering the existential risk of Artificial Superintelligence
Thursday, February 20 (9:30 - 12:15) Can a machine be conscious?
The machine will

Computers cannot have a will, because computers don't give a damn. Therefore there can be no machine ethics

The lack of the giving-a-damn-factor is taken by Yann LeCun as a reason to reject the idea that AI might pose an existential risk to humanity – an AI will have no desire for self-preservation “Almost half of CEOs fear A.I. could destroy humanity five to 10 years from now — but ‘A.I. godfather' says an existential threat is ‘preposterously ridiculous’” Fortune, June 15, 2023. See also here.
Implications of the absence of a machine will:

The problem of the singularity (when machines will take over from humans) will not arise
The idea of digital immortality will never be realized Slides
The idea that human beings are simulations can be rejected
There can be no AI ethics (only: ethics governing human beings when they use AI)
Fermi's paradox is solved
Background:

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Video Video]

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Slides Slides]

Searle's Chinese Room Argument
Machines cannot have intentionality; they cannot have experiences which are about something.

Searle: Minds, Brains, and Programs

==Wednesday May 6 (09:30-12:15) AI and the Theory of Complex and Dynamic Systems==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Video Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Slides Slides]

Provides an introduction to the theory of complex and dynamic systems. Examples include: population growth

== Thursday, May 7 (13:30 - 16:15) 1. Capabilities and Skills; 2. AI and History and Geography==

Part 0: How to give a good powerpoint presentation

Part 1: Functions, Capabilities, Skills

Part 2: Maps

[https://buffalo.box.com/s/8d1h9yidtxw0994m8rakyvxq1t41mtvj Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-4 Slides]

== Friday, May 8 (13:30 - 16:15) Part 1. David Chalmers. Part 2. Animal, Human and Machine Intelligence: A Territorial Perspective==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2025-Lecture-5-Part-1 Slides Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5-Part-2 Slides Part 2]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-6-Part-1 Video: Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5-Part-2 Video: Part 2]

==Tuesday (May 12, 9:30 - 12:15) 1. Why LLMs must Hallucinate. 2. Planning, Creativity, and Entrepreneurial Perception==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5-Part-1 Video: Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/s/vgd92r9mv2ynw38sqgc07e5uy4uxd2tz Slides: Part 2]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-6-Part-2 Video: Part 2]

From Speech Acts to Document Acts: An Ontology of Institutions [https://buffalo.box.com/s/85h3u1nvjtbnm5krs0tr7rfkys2p48qc Slides]

Massively Planned Social Agency [https://buffalo.box.com/s/v6huywh7gs09jsosfxo7ox62ap7wiccd Slides]

AI Creativity and Entrepreneurial Perception Slides

==Wednesday, May 13 (09:30 - 12:15) David Chalmers=

==Friday May 15 (09:30-12:15) Student Presentations, followed by: On AI, Jobs, and Economics ==



==Background Material==

'''An Introduction to AI for Philosophers'''
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmiY8_XVvzs Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Why-not-robot-cops Slides]
(AI experts are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''An Introduction to Philosophy for Computer Scientists'''
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/What-is-philosophy Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Crash-Course-Introduction Slides]
(Philosophers are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''[https://www.cp.eng.chula.ac.th/~prabhas/teaching/cbs-it-seminar/2012/aiphil-mccarthy.pdf John McCarthy, "What has AI in common with philosophy?"]

Main Page

2026-05-15T12:34:02Z

Phismith: /* News */

The goal of the [https://ubwp.buffalo.edu/ncor/ National Center for Ontological Research] is to advance ontological investigation within the United States. NCOR serves as a vehicle to coordinate, to enhance, to publicize, and to seek funding for ontological research activities. It lays a special focus on ontology training and on the establishment of tools and measures for quality assurance of ontologies. NCOR provides ontology services to multiple organizations, including the US Department of Defense.

== Events ==

See '''[http://ncorwiki.buffalo.edu/index.php/Newsevents here]'''

For '''past events''' see [http://ncorwiki.buffalo.edu/index.php/Past_Events here]

For Buffalo Toronto Ontology Alliance (BoaT) see [https://urbandatacentre.ca/boat]

==News==

[https://arts-sciences.buffalo.edu/news-and-events/recent-news/2026/ontology-phd.html UB to offer the world’s first doctorate in applied ontology], University at Buffalo, May 11, 2026

[https://www.buffalo.edu/content/shared/university/news/news-center-releases/2026/01/TMD-NIH-grant.html UB is part of $17 million NIH grant to study temporomandibular disorders], January 5, 2026

[https://www.buffalo.edu/ubnow/stories/2025/10/ontology-ms.html UB to offer a fully online graduate degree in ontology], October 31, 2025

[https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7386854194780983297/ Are we witnessing the long-awaited alignment between DOLCE and BFO?], Jérémy Ravenel (naas.ai), October 16, 2025

[https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/standing-giants-shoulders-what-happens-when-formal-ontology-truman-iefkc/ Tavi Truman: Standing on Giants' Shoulders: What Happens When Formal Ontology Meets Modern Verification?]

[https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jeremyravenel_why-is-bfo-so-powerful-bfo-basic-formal-activity-7250607560976732163-d7tZ/ Jérémy Ravenel (naas.ai): Why is BFO so powerful?]

[https://buffalo.box.com/s/k6kl09zg8idud2jg1gkkv86mao7i8l34 BFO mandated by DOD-IC Joint Enterprise Standards Committee (JESC)], November 7, 2024

[http://www.techguide.org/barry-smith Techguide Podcast], Careers in Tech for non-STEM students, October 30, 2024

[https://apablog.substack.com/p/commercializing-ontology-lucrative APA Blog interview with Barry Smith and John Beverley], October 4, 2024.

[https://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2024/02/department-of-defense-ontology.html DOD, Intelligence Community adopt resource developed by UB ontologists], Bert Gambini, UBNow, February 29, 2024.

[https://bnnbreaking.com/world/us/us-defense-and-intelligence-to-adopt-bfo-and-cco-standards-for-enhanced-data-management U.S. Defense and Intelligence to Adopt BFO and CCO Standards for Enhanced Data Management],Shivani Chauhan, 28 Feb 2024.

[https://buffalo.app.box.com/v/KI-und-Philosophie Article on BFO in the ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung'', September 28, 2022, p. N3]. Translation of opening paragraph:

:Industry standards are not usually associated with philosophy or the humanities. That is why the new ISO/IEC 21838 standard conceals a minor scientific-historical sensation. Because for the first time, a philosophical theory has now been declared an industry standard, namely: the "Basic Formal Ontology", BFO for short. When you try to pronounce this acronym, it sounds a lot like "Buffalo," and that's no coincidence. Because Barry Smith, the main brain behind this norm, is the Julian Park Professor of Philosophy at the University of Buffalo in northern New York State, not far from Niagara Falls ...

:For full text see [https://buffalo.box.com/v/KI-und-Philosophie here].

[https://blog.apaonline.org/2022/09/15/careers-in-ontology-an-interview-with-professor-barry-smith/ Interview with Barry Smith on '''Careers in Ontology'''], September 15, 2022

[[Interviews and podcasts on ''Why Machines Will Never Rule the World'']]

[https://www.routledge.com/9781032309934 New book on limits of AI published], August 12, 2022.

[https://www.dpaonthenet.net/article/192369/Machines-ruling-the-world--Impossible--say-researchers.aspx Machines ruling the world? Impossible, say researchers]

[https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R35NHUZZQN8226?ref=pf_vv_at_pdctrvw_srp This will totally blow your mind]

[https://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2022/04/0290.html UB professor’s ontology work recognized in an international standard], April 29, 2022.

[https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/oagi-and-iof-agree-to-produce-industrial-ontologies-301231565.html Press release on launch of Industrial Ontologies Foundry], February 19, 2021.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0giPMMoKR9s Video recording of talk by Barry Smith on "Defining Intelligence"], February 17, 2021

[https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/oagi-and-iof-agree-to-produce-industrial-ontologies-301231565.html Press-release launching the new Industrial Ontologies Foundry], February 19, 2021

[https://ncor-brasil.org/about/ NCOR-Brasil] established, December 1, 2020

[http://medicine.buffalo.edu/news_and_events/news/2020/07/smith-ontology-covid-11561.html Using Ontology as Powerful Weapon in COVID-19 Fight], July 14, 2020

[http://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2020/06/016.html Leveraging a powerful weapon in the fight against COVID-19 — ontology], June 10, 2020

[http://www.buffalo.edu/ubnow/campus.host.html/content/shared/university/news/ub-reporter-articles/stories/2018/04/smith-capabilities-workshop.detail.html UB workshop to address human and machine capabilities], April 20, 2018

[https://www.buffalo.edu/ctsi/ctsi-news.host.html/content/shared/www/ctsi/articles/academic_articles/working-group-seeks-to-extend-the-depth-and-functionality-of-bio.detail.html Working group seeks to extend the depth and functionality of biomedical ontologies], October 14, 2017

[http://www.buffalo.edu/cas/philosophy/news/latestnews/2016-win-ontology.html Barry Smith wins 2016 IAOA Ontology Competition], August 18, 2016

[https://medicine.buffalo.edu/news_and_events/news.host.html/content/shared/smbs/news/2016/01/jensen-doctoral-un-5573.detail.html Doctoral Candidate Invited to Work on United Nations Project], January 4, 2016

[http://xbrl.squarespace.com/journal/2013/2/23/advantages-of-financial-report-ontology-in-accounting-resear.html Advantages of the Financial Report Ontology in Accounting Research], February 23, 2013

[http://ontology.buffalo.edu/IMMPORT/UB-Press-Release-2013.pdf UB Ontologists Win Bioinformatics Integration Award to Support National Institutes of Health]

[[Announcing Clinical and Translational Science Ontology Affinity Group]]

[http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/08/120820161058.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+(ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News) Information Overload in the Era of Big Data]

[http://www.kurzweilai.net/botanists-building-ontologies-to-cope-with-information-overload Botanists building ontologies to cope with information overload]

[[UB Applied Informatics Portal]] unveiled.

==Advertising MS program==
:UBNow
:https://www.buffalo.edu/grad/programs/philosophy-ma.html <-- needs counterpart for phd program
:dept webpage

==[https://ncorwiki.buffalo.edu/index.php/ Courses]==

==[https://ncorwiki.buffalo.edu/index.php/Education Education]==
[[Ontology 101]]

==[https://ncorwiki.buffalo.edu/index.php/Education Courses]==

==[https://ncorwiki.buffalo.edu/index.php/Education Courses]==

[http://ncorwiki.buffalo.edu/index.php/Education Barry Smith]

[http://www.referent-tracking.com/RTU/ceusters_vita.html#teaching Werner Ceusters]

==Defining 'Ontology'==

An ontology is a representation of some part of reality, (e.g. medicine, social reality, physics, etc.). Smith states that: “Ontology is the science of what is, of the kinds and structures of objects, properties, events, processes and relations in every area of reality…Ontology seeks to provide a definitive and exhaustive classification of entities in all spheres of being.” To be an accurate representation of reality an ontology includes the types of entities and events in a given domain (along with their definitions) arranged in a hierarchical structure, along with relations (such as part-of, depends-on, caused-by, etc. where necessary). Ontologies enable the formulation of robust and shareable descriptions of a given domain by providing a common controlled vocabulary for doctrine writers, IT Developers, and war-fighters alike, thereby allowing these disparate communities to communicate with each other. An ontology should be a shared resource between communities, and its continued collaborative development should support the integration of information and facilitate knowledge discovery. These two goals are realized by ensuring wide dissemination of the ontology, so that it will be used by many stakeholders, and its terms will be correspondingly familiar and readily used for search.

== Basic Formal Ontology 2.0 ==

[http://ncorwiki.buffalo.edu/index.php/Basic_Formal_Ontology_2.0 Basic Formal Ontology 2.0]

== Basic Formal Ontology 2020 ==

[http://ncorwiki.buffalo.edu/index.php/BFO_2020 BFO 2020]

==Buffalo Toronto Ontology Alliance (BoaT)==

*[https://urbandatacentre.ca/boat BoaT Home Page]

*[https://ncorwiki.buffalo.edu/index.php/Ontology_Day_(with_visitors_from_Toronto),_October_24,_2022 Inaugural meeting, October 24, 2022]

*[https://ncorwiki.buffalo.edu/index.php/List_of_Toronto_ontology_contributions_(as_of_November_1,_2022 University of Toronto ontologies]

*[https://ncorwiki.buffalo.edu/index.php/Basic_Formal_Ontology_Summit_Meeting BFO Summit Meeting, May 23-25, 2023] Includes UB-Toronto-DHS session on government ontologies]

==Why Machines Will Never Rule the World==

See [https://ncorwiki.buffalo.edu/index.php/Why_Machines here]

'''Press Items and Notices'''

[https://www.futurity.org/artificial-intelligence-ai-2789642-2/ '''AI is cool, but will never reach human capability'''], Bert Gambini, August 25, 2022

[https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/why-ai-will-never-rule-the-world/ Why AI will never rule the world] '''Interview by Luke Dormehl on Digital Trends''', September 25, 2022 [https://buffalo.box.com/v/Digital-trends-revised (Recording)]

[https://calendar.buffalo.edu/event/iad-distinguished-speaker-series--why-machines-will-never-rule-the-world/ UB Lecture], September 20, 2022

[https://philpapers.org/rec/SOLLAN L’intelligenza artificiale non dominerà il mondo], interview with Barry Smith, ''Il sole de 24 ore'', April 27, 2024.

==The Philosophome==

[http://ontology.buffalo.edu/philosophome/index_files/philosophome.html Philosophome Website]

[[Philosophome | Philosophome Wiki]]

==Semantics of Biodiversity==

Paper: [https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0089606 Semantics in Support of Biodiversity Knowledge Discovery (PLoS ONE, 2013)]

Video Presentations from: [http://biocodecommons.org/workshops/sob.html Semantics of Biodiversity Workshop (2012)]

::[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrHYi7mgF9g Ontologies as a method of viewing data]

::[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fot1dOPLv_c Basic Formal Ontology (BFO)]

::[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWy3C0WmpZM How to build an ontology with BFO]

::[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaG92j0WqmI Tracking referents with Instance Unique Identifiers (IUIs)]

::[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHP0Dlk5wuo Tracking Changes in Our Understanding of Reality: Reality vs. Beliefs]

::[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Of6bj28MQhY Darwin Core (DwC) and Basic Formal Ontology: Putting it All Together]

:::Building Darwin Core top-down in BFO
:::Organisms, photographs, media
:::How to re-use ontologies
:::Principles of singular nouns, secondary use, understandability
:::Writing good definitions (DwC Examples)
:::Management strategies
:::Ontologies for reuse (BFO, EnvO, IDO, OBI, Plant Ontology , Uberon, IAO)
:::Educational resources (OBI, Protege, BFO)

==Finance and Economics==

[http://www.slideshare.net/BarrySmith3/an-application-of-bfo-to-services An Application of Basic Formal Ontology to the Ontology of Services and Commodities], Institute for Business Informatics, University of Koblenz, Germany July 23, 2013

Barry Smith, [http://www.slideshare.net/BarrySmith3/2012-fima-talk Reference Data Integration: A Strategy for the Future], Financial Reference Data Management Conference (FIMA), New York, March 2012

''The Wernicke Ontology Principle''

Wernicke is an ontology-dependent AI system used to automate recurring business processes. Wernicke is based on formal logic developed by Jobst Landgrebe and co-workers at Cognotekt. Its ontologies do not have an Aristotelian taxonomic structure, but are fully axiomatised and logically describe the syntactic structure of recurring language patterns in the Prolog-subset of first order logic. The use of terms in two or more axiomatic definitions of ontological entities creates an implicit network structure within the ontology.

Examples (in German)

1. Implication relations for verbs and verb phrases. (There are hundreds of examples of such formulae in each Wernicke ontology.)

((zahlung(Y) AND nachkommen(Z) AND verb(Z,X,Y)) IMPL zahlen(Z))
((geld(Y) AND schicken(Z) AND (verb(Z,X) OR verb(Z,X,Y1))) IMPL zahlen(Z))
((kosten(Y) AND tragen(Z) AND verb(Z,X,Y)) IMPL zahlen(Z))
((überweisungsträger(Y) AND einwerfen(Z) AND verb(Z,X,Y)) IMPL zahlen(Z))
((bringen(Z) AND ausgleich(A) AND zum(B) AND mod(B,A,Z) AND verb(Z,X,Y)) IMPL zahlen(Z))
((möglich(A) AND mod(A,Z) AND sein(Z) AND (verb(Z,X) OR verb(Z,X,Y))) IMPL möglichsein(Z))
((bitten(Z) AND mod(B,A,Z) AND möglichkeit(A) AND verb(Z,X,Y)) IMPL möglichsein(Z))

2. Temporal structures

((übermorgen(W) AND (Y=2)) IMPL zeitabstand(W,in,Y,tagen))
((morgen(W) AND (Y=1)) IMPL zeitabstand(W,in,Y,tagen))
((heute(W) AND (Y=0)) IMPL zeitabstand(W,in,Y,tagen))
((gestern(W) AND (Y=1)) IMPL zeitabstand(W,vor,Y,tagen))
((vorgestern(W) AND (Y=2)) IMPL zeitabstand(W,vor,Y,tagen))

3. Domain pattern formulae (ontologic entities)

past payment a: ((zahlung(X) OR geld(X)) AND rausgehen(Z) AND (I=vergangen) AND verb(Z,X) AND vergangentemp(Z))
past payment b: ((zahlung(Y) AND tätigen(Z) AND verb(Z,X,Y) AND (I=vergangen) AND vergangentemp(Z))
past payment c: ((sein(Z) AND (betrag(X) OR forderung(X)) AND zahlen(A) AND mod(A,Z) AND (I=vergangen)
AND verb(Z,X) AND NOT temp_mod(Z, praet, konj2)

== Information Ontology==

[http://ncorwiki.buffalo.edu/index.php/BFO-Based_Data_and_Information_Ontologies BFO-based data and information ontologies]

==Military and Intelligence Ontology==

[[Common Core Ontologies]]

JFCOM: [[Semantic Web and Joint Training]] (2010)

I2WD: Semantic Enhancement for DSGS-A: [[Distributed Development of a Shared Semantic Resource]] (2012-13)

I2WD: [http://proceedings.spiedigitallibrary.org/proceeding.aspx?articleid=2298761 PED Fusion via Enterprise Ontology]

[http://ncor.buffalo.edu/ontologies/AIRS_Ontologies.pdf Common Core Ontologies (preliminary statement)]

[[Joint Doctrine Ontology]]

[http://ncorwiki.buffalo.edu/index.php/Ontology_and_the_Navy_SYSCOMs_Systems_Engineering_Transformation_Process Ontology for Navy Systems Engineering]

== Ontology of Planning ==

[[Ontology of Planning]]

== Ontology of Engineering ==

[[BFO-Based Engineering Ontologies]]

[https://s3.amazonaws.com/ontologforum/OntologySummit2016/2016-03-17_Engineering/Reference-Ontology-for-Manufacturing--BobYoung_20160317.pdf Bob Young: Towards a Reference Ontology for Manufacturing] (2016)

[http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/sUe6G9RNtb7tgjQtgtkC/full Interoperable Manufacturing Knowledge Systems] (2017)

[[Ontology of Engineering]]

[http://ncorwiki.buffalo.edu/index.php/Ontology_and_the_Navy_SYSCOMs_Systems_Engineering_Transformation_Process Ontology for Navy Systems Engineering]

[[Product Life Cycle Ontologies]]

[[Modeling and Simulation]]

[[Systems Engineering Bootcamp]]

== Materials Ontology ==

'''[http://datascience.codata.org/articles/abstract/10.2481/dsj.5.52/ Toshihiro Ashino and Mitsutane Fujita: Definition of a Web Ontology for Design-Oriented Material Selection] (2006)'''

:[http://ontorule-project.eu/resources/steel.html Steel Industry Ontology] / [http://ontorule-project.eu/resources/steel.owl .owl file]

:[http://ceur-ws.org/Vol-886/paper_1.pdf A Systematic Approach to Developing Ontologies for Manufacturing Service Modeling]

----

[[Buffalo Engineering Ontology]]

== Ontology for Clinical and Translational Science ==

[[Clinical and Translational Science Ontology Group]]

[[Infectious Disease Ontology]]

[http://ncorwiki.buffalo.edu/index.php/Immunology_Ontologies Immunology Ontologies]

== Microbiome Ontology ==

'''Ontology'''

[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3535841/ Improved Gene Ontology Annotation for Biofilm Formation, Filamentous Growth, and Phenotypic Switching in Candida albicans]

[http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199382514.001.0001/acprof-9780199382514-chapter-7 What Biofilms Can Teach Us about Individuality]

[https://ac.els-cdn.com/S1532046415000507/1-s2.0-S1532046415000507-main.pdf?_tid=ca8ad71a-c168-11e7-b687-00000aacb35f&acdnat=1509804327_c9962782780a7f2935bfc9140684d5c0 MorphoCol: An ontology-based knowledgebase for the characterisation of clinically significant bacterial colony morphologies]

[http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.1024.59&rep=rep1&type=pdf Designing an Ontology Tool for the Unification of Biofilms Data]

[http://press.igsb.anl.gov/earthmicrobiome/protocols-and-standards/empo/ Eearth Microbiome Project Ontlogy EMPO]

'''The Human Microbiome'''

[http://www.cell.com/trends/microbiology/fulltext/S0966-842X(14)00023-7 Functional and phylogenetic assembly of microbial communities in the human microbiome]

[http://www.cmaj.ca/content/187/11/825.short#sec-2 The human microbiome], including as appendix: [http://www.cmaj.ca/content/suppl/2015/05/19/cmaj.141072.DC1/14-1072-1-at.pdf A microbiome glossary]

[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3426293/ Defining the Human Microbiome]

[https://www.biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/08/16/176784 MicrobiomeDB: a systems biology platform for integrating, mining and analyzing microbiome experiments]

[https://hmpdacc.org Human Microbiome Project]

[http://muse.jhu.edu/article/564608/pdf Parts and Wholes: The Human Microbiome, Ecological Ontology, and the Challenges of Community]

'''Microbiomes and the external environment'''

[http://www.earthmicrobiome.org/ The Earth Microbiome]
:[http://www.earthmicrobiome.org/protocols-and-standards/empo/ Earth Microbiome Project Ontology:EMPO]

[https://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature24621.html A communal catalogue reveals Earth’s multiscale microbial diversity]

[http://metasub.org/ MetaSUB: Metagenomics and Metadesign of Subways & Urban Biome]

[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24305737/ Tracking human sewage microbiome in a municipal wastewater treatment plant]

http://metasub.org/

'''Varia'''

[http://www.frontiersinai.com/turingfiles/July/12.pdf#page=9 Collective bio-molecular processes: The hidden ontology of systems biology]

[https://academic.oup.com/bib/article/doi/10.1093/bib/bbx120/4210288/A-review-of-methods-and-databases-for-metagenomic A review of methods and databases for metagenomic classification and assembly]

== Suggested Reading ==

[http://ontology.buffalo.edu/smith/articles/ontologies.htm Ontology: An Introduction]

[http://www.nature.com/nbt/journal/v25/n11/pdf/nbt1346.pdf Coordinated Evolution of Biomedical Ontologies]

[[Avoiding Perspective-Relative Silos]]

[http://ceur-ws.org/Vol-555/paper5.pdf Universal Core Semantic Layer]

== Training Videos ==

[http://ncorwiki.buffalo.edu/index.php/Ontology_for_Intelligence,_Defense_and_Security Ontology for Intelligence, Defense and Security]

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fB6BjF4lAQ4&feature=related A Repeatable Process for Ontology Development]

[http://www.youtube.com/v/Z5o1SpPqNrA Avoiding Semantic Stovepipes: Five Ontological Principles for Interoperability]

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkQG1_gsXtc War-Fighter Ontology]

==Studying Ontology in Buffalo==

[http://www.philosophy.buffalo.edu/graduate/areas_of_study/phd/ Areas of Study]

[http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_magazine/previous_issues/articles/2011_02_11/caredit.a1100012 Careers in ontology]

Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026

2026-05-14T17:45:39Z

Phismith: /* Friday, May 8 (13:30 - 16:15) Part 1. Introduction to LLMs. Part 2. Animal, Human and Machine Intelligence: A Territorial Perspective */

'''Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026'''

Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith

MAP, USI, Lugano, Spring 2026

Venue: Room A23

'''[https://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2026/05/ontology-phd.html University at Buffalo to offer world’s first doctorate in applied ontology]'''

[https://buffalo.zoom.us/j/92039377770?pwd=pL6MALdTb5mB1QnqlwYPwAoNaYeEp4.1 Zoom link]

'''Introduction'''

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the subfield of Computer Science devoted to developing programs that enable computers to display behavior that can (broadly) be characterized as intelligent. On the strong version, the ultimate goal of AI is to create what is called General Artificial Intelligence (AGI), by which is meant an artificial system that is at least as intelligent as a human being.

Since its inception in the middle of the last century AI has enjoyed repeated cycles of enthusiasm and disappointment (AI summers and winters). Recent successes of ChatGPT and other Large Language Models (LLMs) have opened a new era of popularization of AI. For the first time, AI tools have been created which are immediately available to the wider population, who for the first time can have real hands-on experience of what AI can do.

These developments in AI open up a series of questions such as:

:Will the powers of AI continue to grow in the future, and if so will they ever reach the point where they can be said to have intelligence equivalent to or greater than that of a human being?
:Could we ever reach the point where we can accept the thesis that an AI system could have something like consciousness or sentience?
:Could we reach the point where an AI system could be said to behave ethically, or to have responsibility for its actions?
:Can quantum computers enable a stronger AI than what we have today?
:Can a computer have desires, a will, and emotions?
:Can a computer have responsibility for its behavior?
:Could a machine have something like a personal identity? Would I really survive if the contents of my brain were uploaded to the cloud?

We will describe in detail how stochastic AI works, and consider these and a series of other questions at the borderlines of philosophy and AI. The class will close with presentations of papers on relevant topics given by students.

Some of the material for this class is derived from our book

''Why Machines Will Never Rule the World: Artificial Intelligence without Fear'' (2nd edition, Routledge 2025).
and from the companion volume:

''Symposium on Why Machines Will Never Rule the World'' — Guest editor, Janna Hastings, University of Zurich
which appeared as a special issue of the public access journal Cosmos + Taxis in early 2024.

'''Faculty'''

Jobst Landgrebe is the founder and CEO of Cognotekt, GmBH, an AI company based in Cologne specialised in the design and implementation of holistic AI solutions. He has 20 years experience in the AI field, 8 years as a management consultant and software architect. He has also worked as a physician and mathematician, and he views AI itself -- to the extent that it is not an elaborate hype -- as a branch of applied mathematics. CUrrently his primary focus is in the biomathematics of cancer.

Barry Smith is one of the world's most widely [https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=icGNWj4AAAAJ cited philosophers]. He has contributed primarily to the field of applied ontology, which means applying philosophical ideas derived from analytical metaphysics to the concrete practical problems which arise where attempts are made to compare or combine heterogeneous bodies of data.

Grading

:Essay with presentation: 70%
:Essay with no presentation: 85%
:Presentation: 15%
:Class Participation 15%

'''Draft Schedule'''

:Venue: Room A23

'''Program'''

==Monday, May 4 (13:30-16:15) AI and Philosophy: An Introduction==

Part 1: An introduction to the course

Part 2: Outline of the theory of complex systems documented in our book: ''[https://www.amazon.com/Machines-Will-Never-Rule-World/dp/1032941405/ Why machines will never rule the world]''. Summary [https://philpapers.org/rec/LANWMW-3 here].

:In the course of the next 2 weeks we will show why AI cannot model complex systems adequately and synoptically, and why they therefore cannot reach a level of intelligence equal to that of human beings
:Note the difference between 'complex' and 'complicated'

Part 3: Booming interest in ontology unleashed by the idea of 'neurosymbolic AI'

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-1-Video Video]

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture1-Slides Slides]

'''Background'''
The classical psychological definitions of intelligence are:
:A. the ability to adapt to new situations (applies both to humans and to animals)
:B. a very general mental capability (possessed only by humans) that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly, and learn from experience
:Can a machine be intelligent in either of these senses?

'''Readings'''
:[Capabilities: An ontology]

:Linda S. Gottfredson. Mainstream Science on Intelligence. In: Intelligence 24 (1997), pp. 13–23.
:Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith: There is no Artificial General Intelligence
:Jobst Landgrebe: Deep reasoning, abstraction and planning


:Ersatz Definitions, Anthropomorphisms, and Pareidolia

There's no 'I' in 'AI', Steven Pemberton, Amsterdam, December 12, 2024
:1. Esatz definitions: using words like 'thinks' as in 'the machine is thinking', but with meanings quite different from those we use when talking about human beings. As when we define 'flying' as moving through the air, and then jumping up and down and saying "look, I'm flying!"
:2. Pareidolia: a psychological phenomenon that causes people to see patterns, objects, or meaning in ambiguous or unrelated stimuli
:3. If you can't spot irony, you're not intelligent

'''Background'''

Will AI Destroy Humanity? A Soho Forum Debate (Spoiler: Jobst won)

R.V. Yampolskii, AI: Unexplainable, Unpredictable, Uncontrollable

Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor, AI Snake Oil

Arnold Schelsky, The Hype Book, especially Chapter 1.

==Tuesday May 5 (09:30-12:15) Transhumanism: The Ultimate Stage of Cartesianism ==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Video Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Slides Slides]

1. Surveys the full spectrum of transhumanism and its cultural origins.

2. Debunk the feasibility of radically improving human beings via technology.

Background:

TESCREALISM, or: why AI gods are so passionate about creating Artificial General Intelligence
Considering the existential risk of Artificial Superintelligence
Thursday, February 20 (9:30 - 12:15) Can a machine be conscious?
The machine will

Computers cannot have a will, because computers don't give a damn. Therefore there can be no machine ethics

The lack of the giving-a-damn-factor is taken by Yann LeCun as a reason to reject the idea that AI might pose an existential risk to humanity – an AI will have no desire for self-preservation “Almost half of CEOs fear A.I. could destroy humanity five to 10 years from now — but ‘A.I. godfather' says an existential threat is ‘preposterously ridiculous’” Fortune, June 15, 2023. See also here.
Implications of the absence of a machine will:

The problem of the singularity (when machines will take over from humans) will not arise
The idea of digital immortality will never be realized Slides
The idea that human beings are simulations can be rejected
There can be no AI ethics (only: ethics governing human beings when they use AI)
Fermi's paradox is solved
Background:

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Video Video]

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Slides Slides]

Searle's Chinese Room Argument
Machines cannot have intentionality; they cannot have experiences which are about something.

Searle: Minds, Brains, and Programs

==Wednesday May 6 (09:30-12:15) AI and the Theory of Complex and Dynamic Systems==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Video Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Slides Slides]

Provides an introduction to the theory of complex and dynamic systems. Examples include: population growth

== Thursday, May 7 (13:30 - 16:15) 1. Capabilities and Skills; 2. AI and History and Geography==

Part 0: How to give a good powerpoint presentation

Part 1: Functions, Capabilities, Skills

Part 2: Maps

[https://buffalo.box.com/s/8d1h9yidtxw0994m8rakyvxq1t41mtvj Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-4 Slides]

== Friday, May 8 (13:30 - 16:15) Part 1. David Chalmers. Part 2. Animal, Human and Machine Intelligence: A Territorial Perspective==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2025-Lecture-5-Part-1 Slides Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5-Part-2 Slides Part 2]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-6-Part-1 Video: Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5-Part-2 Video: Part 2]

==Tuesday (May 12, 9:30 - 12:15) 1. Why LLMs must Hallucinate. 2. Planning, Creativity, and Entrepreneurial Perception==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5-Part-1 Video: Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/s/vgd92r9mv2ynw38sqgc07e5uy4uxd2tz Slides: Part 2]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-6-Part-2 Video: Part 2]

From Speech Acts to Document Acts: An Ontology of Institutions [https://buffalo.box.com/s/85h3u1nvjtbnm5krs0tr7rfkys2p48qc Slides]

Massively Planned Social Agency [https://buffalo.box.com/s/v6huywh7gs09jsosfxo7ox62ap7wiccd Slides]

AI Creativity and Entrepreneurial Perception Slides

==Wednesday, May 13 (09:30 - 12:15) The Limits of AI and the Limits of Physics==

==Friday May 15 (09:30-12:15) Student Presentations, followed by: On AI, Jobs, and Economics ==



==Background Material==

'''An Introduction to AI for Philosophers'''
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmiY8_XVvzs Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Why-not-robot-cops Slides]
(AI experts are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''An Introduction to Philosophy for Computer Scientists'''
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/What-is-philosophy Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Crash-Course-Introduction Slides]
(Philosophers are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''[https://www.cp.eng.chula.ac.th/~prabhas/teaching/cbs-it-seminar/2012/aiphil-mccarthy.pdf John McCarthy, "What has AI in common with philosophy?"]

Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026

2026-05-14T17:34:46Z

Phismith: /* Tuesday (May 12, 9:30 - 12:15) 1. Why LLMs must Hallucinate. 2. Planning, Creativity, and Entrepreneurial Perception */

'''Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026'''

Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith

MAP, USI, Lugano, Spring 2026

Venue: Room A23

'''[https://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2026/05/ontology-phd.html University at Buffalo to offer world’s first doctorate in applied ontology]'''

[https://buffalo.zoom.us/j/92039377770?pwd=pL6MALdTb5mB1QnqlwYPwAoNaYeEp4.1 Zoom link]

'''Introduction'''

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the subfield of Computer Science devoted to developing programs that enable computers to display behavior that can (broadly) be characterized as intelligent. On the strong version, the ultimate goal of AI is to create what is called General Artificial Intelligence (AGI), by which is meant an artificial system that is at least as intelligent as a human being.

Since its inception in the middle of the last century AI has enjoyed repeated cycles of enthusiasm and disappointment (AI summers and winters). Recent successes of ChatGPT and other Large Language Models (LLMs) have opened a new era of popularization of AI. For the first time, AI tools have been created which are immediately available to the wider population, who for the first time can have real hands-on experience of what AI can do.

These developments in AI open up a series of questions such as:

:Will the powers of AI continue to grow in the future, and if so will they ever reach the point where they can be said to have intelligence equivalent to or greater than that of a human being?
:Could we ever reach the point where we can accept the thesis that an AI system could have something like consciousness or sentience?
:Could we reach the point where an AI system could be said to behave ethically, or to have responsibility for its actions?
:Can quantum computers enable a stronger AI than what we have today?
:Can a computer have desires, a will, and emotions?
:Can a computer have responsibility for its behavior?
:Could a machine have something like a personal identity? Would I really survive if the contents of my brain were uploaded to the cloud?

We will describe in detail how stochastic AI works, and consider these and a series of other questions at the borderlines of philosophy and AI. The class will close with presentations of papers on relevant topics given by students.

Some of the material for this class is derived from our book

''Why Machines Will Never Rule the World: Artificial Intelligence without Fear'' (2nd edition, Routledge 2025).
and from the companion volume:

''Symposium on Why Machines Will Never Rule the World'' — Guest editor, Janna Hastings, University of Zurich
which appeared as a special issue of the public access journal Cosmos + Taxis in early 2024.

'''Faculty'''

Jobst Landgrebe is the founder and CEO of Cognotekt, GmBH, an AI company based in Cologne specialised in the design and implementation of holistic AI solutions. He has 20 years experience in the AI field, 8 years as a management consultant and software architect. He has also worked as a physician and mathematician, and he views AI itself -- to the extent that it is not an elaborate hype -- as a branch of applied mathematics. CUrrently his primary focus is in the biomathematics of cancer.

Barry Smith is one of the world's most widely [https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=icGNWj4AAAAJ cited philosophers]. He has contributed primarily to the field of applied ontology, which means applying philosophical ideas derived from analytical metaphysics to the concrete practical problems which arise where attempts are made to compare or combine heterogeneous bodies of data.

Grading

:Essay with presentation: 70%
:Essay with no presentation: 85%
:Presentation: 15%
:Class Participation 15%

'''Draft Schedule'''

:Venue: Room A23

'''Program'''

==Monday, May 4 (13:30-16:15) AI and Philosophy: An Introduction==

Part 1: An introduction to the course

Part 2: Outline of the theory of complex systems documented in our book: ''[https://www.amazon.com/Machines-Will-Never-Rule-World/dp/1032941405/ Why machines will never rule the world]''. Summary [https://philpapers.org/rec/LANWMW-3 here].

:In the course of the next 2 weeks we will show why AI cannot model complex systems adequately and synoptically, and why they therefore cannot reach a level of intelligence equal to that of human beings
:Note the difference between 'complex' and 'complicated'

Part 3: Booming interest in ontology unleashed by the idea of 'neurosymbolic AI'

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-1-Video Video]

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture1-Slides Slides]

'''Background'''
The classical psychological definitions of intelligence are:
:A. the ability to adapt to new situations (applies both to humans and to animals)
:B. a very general mental capability (possessed only by humans) that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly, and learn from experience
:Can a machine be intelligent in either of these senses?

'''Readings'''
:[Capabilities: An ontology]

:Linda S. Gottfredson. Mainstream Science on Intelligence. In: Intelligence 24 (1997), pp. 13–23.
:Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith: There is no Artificial General Intelligence
:Jobst Landgrebe: Deep reasoning, abstraction and planning


:Ersatz Definitions, Anthropomorphisms, and Pareidolia

There's no 'I' in 'AI', Steven Pemberton, Amsterdam, December 12, 2024
:1. Esatz definitions: using words like 'thinks' as in 'the machine is thinking', but with meanings quite different from those we use when talking about human beings. As when we define 'flying' as moving through the air, and then jumping up and down and saying "look, I'm flying!"
:2. Pareidolia: a psychological phenomenon that causes people to see patterns, objects, or meaning in ambiguous or unrelated stimuli
:3. If you can't spot irony, you're not intelligent

'''Background'''

Will AI Destroy Humanity? A Soho Forum Debate (Spoiler: Jobst won)

R.V. Yampolskii, AI: Unexplainable, Unpredictable, Uncontrollable

Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor, AI Snake Oil

Arnold Schelsky, The Hype Book, especially Chapter 1.

==Tuesday May 5 (09:30-12:15) Transhumanism: The Ultimate Stage of Cartesianism ==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Video Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Slides Slides]

1. Surveys the full spectrum of transhumanism and its cultural origins.

2. Debunk the feasibility of radically improving human beings via technology.

Background:

TESCREALISM, or: why AI gods are so passionate about creating Artificial General Intelligence
Considering the existential risk of Artificial Superintelligence
Thursday, February 20 (9:30 - 12:15) Can a machine be conscious?
The machine will

Computers cannot have a will, because computers don't give a damn. Therefore there can be no machine ethics

The lack of the giving-a-damn-factor is taken by Yann LeCun as a reason to reject the idea that AI might pose an existential risk to humanity – an AI will have no desire for self-preservation “Almost half of CEOs fear A.I. could destroy humanity five to 10 years from now — but ‘A.I. godfather' says an existential threat is ‘preposterously ridiculous’” Fortune, June 15, 2023. See also here.
Implications of the absence of a machine will:

The problem of the singularity (when machines will take over from humans) will not arise
The idea of digital immortality will never be realized Slides
The idea that human beings are simulations can be rejected
There can be no AI ethics (only: ethics governing human beings when they use AI)
Fermi's paradox is solved
Background:

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Video Video]

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Slides Slides]

Searle's Chinese Room Argument
Machines cannot have intentionality; they cannot have experiences which are about something.

Searle: Minds, Brains, and Programs

==Wednesday May 6 (09:30-12:15) AI and the Theory of Complex and Dynamic Systems==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Video Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Slides Slides]

Provides an introduction to the theory of complex and dynamic systems. Examples include: population growth

== Thursday, May 7 (13:30 - 16:15) 1. Capabilities and Skills; 2. AI and History and Geography==

Part 0: How to give a good powerpoint presentation

Part 1: Functions, Capabilities, Skills

Part 2: Maps

[https://buffalo.box.com/s/8d1h9yidtxw0994m8rakyvxq1t41mtvj Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-4 Slides]

== Friday, May 8 (13:30 - 16:15) Part 1. Introduction to LLMs. Part 2. Animal, Human and Machine Intelligence: A Territorial Perspective==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2025-Lecture-5-Part-1 Slides Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5-Part-2 Slides Part 2]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-6-Part-1 Video: Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5-Part-2 Video: Part 2]

==Tuesday (May 12, 9:30 - 12:15) 1. Why LLMs must Hallucinate. 2. Planning, Creativity, and Entrepreneurial Perception==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5-Part-1 Video: Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/s/vgd92r9mv2ynw38sqgc07e5uy4uxd2tz Slides: Part 2]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-6-Part-2 Video: Part 2]

From Speech Acts to Document Acts: An Ontology of Institutions [https://buffalo.box.com/s/85h3u1nvjtbnm5krs0tr7rfkys2p48qc Slides]

Massively Planned Social Agency [https://buffalo.box.com/s/v6huywh7gs09jsosfxo7ox62ap7wiccd Slides]

AI Creativity and Entrepreneurial Perception Slides

==Wednesday, May 13 (09:30 - 12:15) The Limits of AI and the Limits of Physics==

==Friday May 15 (09:30-12:15) Student Presentations, followed by: On AI, Jobs, and Economics ==



==Background Material==

'''An Introduction to AI for Philosophers'''
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmiY8_XVvzs Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Why-not-robot-cops Slides]
(AI experts are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''An Introduction to Philosophy for Computer Scientists'''
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/What-is-philosophy Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Crash-Course-Introduction Slides]
(Philosophers are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''[https://www.cp.eng.chula.ac.th/~prabhas/teaching/cbs-it-seminar/2012/aiphil-mccarthy.pdf John McCarthy, "What has AI in common with philosophy?"]

Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026

2026-05-14T17:33:27Z

Phismith: /* Tuesday (May 12, 9:30 - 12:15) 1. David Chalmers, and Why LLMs must Hallucinate. 2. Planning, Creativity, and Entrepreneurial Perception */

'''Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026'''

Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith

MAP, USI, Lugano, Spring 2026

Venue: Room A23

'''[https://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2026/05/ontology-phd.html University at Buffalo to offer world’s first doctorate in applied ontology]'''

[https://buffalo.zoom.us/j/92039377770?pwd=pL6MALdTb5mB1QnqlwYPwAoNaYeEp4.1 Zoom link]

'''Introduction'''

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the subfield of Computer Science devoted to developing programs that enable computers to display behavior that can (broadly) be characterized as intelligent. On the strong version, the ultimate goal of AI is to create what is called General Artificial Intelligence (AGI), by which is meant an artificial system that is at least as intelligent as a human being.

Since its inception in the middle of the last century AI has enjoyed repeated cycles of enthusiasm and disappointment (AI summers and winters). Recent successes of ChatGPT and other Large Language Models (LLMs) have opened a new era of popularization of AI. For the first time, AI tools have been created which are immediately available to the wider population, who for the first time can have real hands-on experience of what AI can do.

These developments in AI open up a series of questions such as:

:Will the powers of AI continue to grow in the future, and if so will they ever reach the point where they can be said to have intelligence equivalent to or greater than that of a human being?
:Could we ever reach the point where we can accept the thesis that an AI system could have something like consciousness or sentience?
:Could we reach the point where an AI system could be said to behave ethically, or to have responsibility for its actions?
:Can quantum computers enable a stronger AI than what we have today?
:Can a computer have desires, a will, and emotions?
:Can a computer have responsibility for its behavior?
:Could a machine have something like a personal identity? Would I really survive if the contents of my brain were uploaded to the cloud?

We will describe in detail how stochastic AI works, and consider these and a series of other questions at the borderlines of philosophy and AI. The class will close with presentations of papers on relevant topics given by students.

Some of the material for this class is derived from our book

''Why Machines Will Never Rule the World: Artificial Intelligence without Fear'' (2nd edition, Routledge 2025).
and from the companion volume:

''Symposium on Why Machines Will Never Rule the World'' — Guest editor, Janna Hastings, University of Zurich
which appeared as a special issue of the public access journal Cosmos + Taxis in early 2024.

'''Faculty'''

Jobst Landgrebe is the founder and CEO of Cognotekt, GmBH, an AI company based in Cologne specialised in the design and implementation of holistic AI solutions. He has 20 years experience in the AI field, 8 years as a management consultant and software architect. He has also worked as a physician and mathematician, and he views AI itself -- to the extent that it is not an elaborate hype -- as a branch of applied mathematics. CUrrently his primary focus is in the biomathematics of cancer.

Barry Smith is one of the world's most widely [https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=icGNWj4AAAAJ cited philosophers]. He has contributed primarily to the field of applied ontology, which means applying philosophical ideas derived from analytical metaphysics to the concrete practical problems which arise where attempts are made to compare or combine heterogeneous bodies of data.

Grading

:Essay with presentation: 70%
:Essay with no presentation: 85%
:Presentation: 15%
:Class Participation 15%

'''Draft Schedule'''

:Venue: Room A23

'''Program'''

==Monday, May 4 (13:30-16:15) AI and Philosophy: An Introduction==

Part 1: An introduction to the course

Part 2: Outline of the theory of complex systems documented in our book: ''[https://www.amazon.com/Machines-Will-Never-Rule-World/dp/1032941405/ Why machines will never rule the world]''. Summary [https://philpapers.org/rec/LANWMW-3 here].

:In the course of the next 2 weeks we will show why AI cannot model complex systems adequately and synoptically, and why they therefore cannot reach a level of intelligence equal to that of human beings
:Note the difference between 'complex' and 'complicated'

Part 3: Booming interest in ontology unleashed by the idea of 'neurosymbolic AI'

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-1-Video Video]

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture1-Slides Slides]

'''Background'''
The classical psychological definitions of intelligence are:
:A. the ability to adapt to new situations (applies both to humans and to animals)
:B. a very general mental capability (possessed only by humans) that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly, and learn from experience
:Can a machine be intelligent in either of these senses?

'''Readings'''
:[Capabilities: An ontology]

:Linda S. Gottfredson. Mainstream Science on Intelligence. In: Intelligence 24 (1997), pp. 13–23.
:Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith: There is no Artificial General Intelligence
:Jobst Landgrebe: Deep reasoning, abstraction and planning


:Ersatz Definitions, Anthropomorphisms, and Pareidolia

There's no 'I' in 'AI', Steven Pemberton, Amsterdam, December 12, 2024
:1. Esatz definitions: using words like 'thinks' as in 'the machine is thinking', but with meanings quite different from those we use when talking about human beings. As when we define 'flying' as moving through the air, and then jumping up and down and saying "look, I'm flying!"
:2. Pareidolia: a psychological phenomenon that causes people to see patterns, objects, or meaning in ambiguous or unrelated stimuli
:3. If you can't spot irony, you're not intelligent

'''Background'''

Will AI Destroy Humanity? A Soho Forum Debate (Spoiler: Jobst won)

R.V. Yampolskii, AI: Unexplainable, Unpredictable, Uncontrollable

Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor, AI Snake Oil

Arnold Schelsky, The Hype Book, especially Chapter 1.

==Tuesday May 5 (09:30-12:15) Transhumanism: The Ultimate Stage of Cartesianism ==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Video Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Slides Slides]

1. Surveys the full spectrum of transhumanism and its cultural origins.

2. Debunk the feasibility of radically improving human beings via technology.

Background:

TESCREALISM, or: why AI gods are so passionate about creating Artificial General Intelligence
Considering the existential risk of Artificial Superintelligence
Thursday, February 20 (9:30 - 12:15) Can a machine be conscious?
The machine will

Computers cannot have a will, because computers don't give a damn. Therefore there can be no machine ethics

The lack of the giving-a-damn-factor is taken by Yann LeCun as a reason to reject the idea that AI might pose an existential risk to humanity – an AI will have no desire for self-preservation “Almost half of CEOs fear A.I. could destroy humanity five to 10 years from now — but ‘A.I. godfather' says an existential threat is ‘preposterously ridiculous’” Fortune, June 15, 2023. See also here.
Implications of the absence of a machine will:

The problem of the singularity (when machines will take over from humans) will not arise
The idea of digital immortality will never be realized Slides
The idea that human beings are simulations can be rejected
There can be no AI ethics (only: ethics governing human beings when they use AI)
Fermi's paradox is solved
Background:

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Video Video]

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Slides Slides]

Searle's Chinese Room Argument
Machines cannot have intentionality; they cannot have experiences which are about something.

Searle: Minds, Brains, and Programs

==Wednesday May 6 (09:30-12:15) AI and the Theory of Complex and Dynamic Systems==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Video Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Slides Slides]

Provides an introduction to the theory of complex and dynamic systems. Examples include: population growth

== Thursday, May 7 (13:30 - 16:15) 1. Capabilities and Skills; 2. AI and History and Geography==

Part 0: How to give a good powerpoint presentation

Part 1: Functions, Capabilities, Skills

Part 2: Maps

[https://buffalo.box.com/s/8d1h9yidtxw0994m8rakyvxq1t41mtvj Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-4 Slides]

== Friday, May 8 (13:30 - 16:15) Part 1. Introduction to LLMs. Part 2. Animal, Human and Machine Intelligence: A Territorial Perspective==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2025-Lecture-5-Part-1 Slides Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5-Part-2 Slides Part 2]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-6-Part-1 Video: Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5-Part-2 Video: Part 2]

==Tuesday (May 12, 9:30 - 12:15) 1. Why LLMs must Hallucinate. 2. Planning, Creativity, and Entrepreneurial Perception==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5-Part-1 Video: Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/s/vgd92r9mv2ynw38sqgc07e5uy4uxd2tz Slides: Part 2]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-6-Part-2 Video: Part 2]

From Speech Acts to Document Acts: An Ontology of Institutions [https://buffalo.box.com/s/85h3u1nvjtbnm5krs0tr7rfkys2p48qc Slides]

Massively Planned Social Agency [https://buffalo.box.com/s/v6huywh7gs09jsosfxo7ox62ap7wiccd Slides]

AI Creativity and Entrepreneurial Perception Slides

==Wednesday, May 13 (09:30 - 12:15) The Limits of AI and the Limits of Physics==

==Friday May 15 (09:30-12:15) Student Presentations, followed by: On AI, Jobs, and Economics ==



==Background Material==

'''An Introduction to AI for Philosophers'''
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmiY8_XVvzs Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Why-not-robot-cops Slides]
(AI experts are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''An Introduction to Philosophy for Computer Scientists'''
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/What-is-philosophy Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Crash-Course-Introduction Slides]
(Philosophers are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''[https://www.cp.eng.chula.ac.th/~prabhas/teaching/cbs-it-seminar/2012/aiphil-mccarthy.pdf John McCarthy, "What has AI in common with philosophy?"]

Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026

2026-05-14T17:21:15Z

Phismith: /* Tuesday (May 12, 9:30 - 12:15) 1. David Chalmers, and Why LLMs must Hallucinate. 2. Planning, Creativity, and Entrepreneurial Perception */

'''Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026'''

Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith

MAP, USI, Lugano, Spring 2026

Venue: Room A23

'''[https://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2026/05/ontology-phd.html University at Buffalo to offer world’s first doctorate in applied ontology]'''

[https://buffalo.zoom.us/j/92039377770?pwd=pL6MALdTb5mB1QnqlwYPwAoNaYeEp4.1 Zoom link]

'''Introduction'''

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the subfield of Computer Science devoted to developing programs that enable computers to display behavior that can (broadly) be characterized as intelligent. On the strong version, the ultimate goal of AI is to create what is called General Artificial Intelligence (AGI), by which is meant an artificial system that is at least as intelligent as a human being.

Since its inception in the middle of the last century AI has enjoyed repeated cycles of enthusiasm and disappointment (AI summers and winters). Recent successes of ChatGPT and other Large Language Models (LLMs) have opened a new era of popularization of AI. For the first time, AI tools have been created which are immediately available to the wider population, who for the first time can have real hands-on experience of what AI can do.

These developments in AI open up a series of questions such as:

:Will the powers of AI continue to grow in the future, and if so will they ever reach the point where they can be said to have intelligence equivalent to or greater than that of a human being?
:Could we ever reach the point where we can accept the thesis that an AI system could have something like consciousness or sentience?
:Could we reach the point where an AI system could be said to behave ethically, or to have responsibility for its actions?
:Can quantum computers enable a stronger AI than what we have today?
:Can a computer have desires, a will, and emotions?
:Can a computer have responsibility for its behavior?
:Could a machine have something like a personal identity? Would I really survive if the contents of my brain were uploaded to the cloud?

We will describe in detail how stochastic AI works, and consider these and a series of other questions at the borderlines of philosophy and AI. The class will close with presentations of papers on relevant topics given by students.

Some of the material for this class is derived from our book

''Why Machines Will Never Rule the World: Artificial Intelligence without Fear'' (2nd edition, Routledge 2025).
and from the companion volume:

''Symposium on Why Machines Will Never Rule the World'' — Guest editor, Janna Hastings, University of Zurich
which appeared as a special issue of the public access journal Cosmos + Taxis in early 2024.

'''Faculty'''

Jobst Landgrebe is the founder and CEO of Cognotekt, GmBH, an AI company based in Cologne specialised in the design and implementation of holistic AI solutions. He has 20 years experience in the AI field, 8 years as a management consultant and software architect. He has also worked as a physician and mathematician, and he views AI itself -- to the extent that it is not an elaborate hype -- as a branch of applied mathematics. CUrrently his primary focus is in the biomathematics of cancer.

Barry Smith is one of the world's most widely [https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=icGNWj4AAAAJ cited philosophers]. He has contributed primarily to the field of applied ontology, which means applying philosophical ideas derived from analytical metaphysics to the concrete practical problems which arise where attempts are made to compare or combine heterogeneous bodies of data.

Grading

:Essay with presentation: 70%
:Essay with no presentation: 85%
:Presentation: 15%
:Class Participation 15%

'''Draft Schedule'''

:Venue: Room A23

'''Program'''

==Monday, May 4 (13:30-16:15) AI and Philosophy: An Introduction==

Part 1: An introduction to the course

Part 2: Outline of the theory of complex systems documented in our book: ''[https://www.amazon.com/Machines-Will-Never-Rule-World/dp/1032941405/ Why machines will never rule the world]''. Summary [https://philpapers.org/rec/LANWMW-3 here].

:In the course of the next 2 weeks we will show why AI cannot model complex systems adequately and synoptically, and why they therefore cannot reach a level of intelligence equal to that of human beings
:Note the difference between 'complex' and 'complicated'

Part 3: Booming interest in ontology unleashed by the idea of 'neurosymbolic AI'

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-1-Video Video]

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture1-Slides Slides]

'''Background'''
The classical psychological definitions of intelligence are:
:A. the ability to adapt to new situations (applies both to humans and to animals)
:B. a very general mental capability (possessed only by humans) that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly, and learn from experience
:Can a machine be intelligent in either of these senses?

'''Readings'''
:[Capabilities: An ontology]

:Linda S. Gottfredson. Mainstream Science on Intelligence. In: Intelligence 24 (1997), pp. 13–23.
:Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith: There is no Artificial General Intelligence
:Jobst Landgrebe: Deep reasoning, abstraction and planning


:Ersatz Definitions, Anthropomorphisms, and Pareidolia

There's no 'I' in 'AI', Steven Pemberton, Amsterdam, December 12, 2024
:1. Esatz definitions: using words like 'thinks' as in 'the machine is thinking', but with meanings quite different from those we use when talking about human beings. As when we define 'flying' as moving through the air, and then jumping up and down and saying "look, I'm flying!"
:2. Pareidolia: a psychological phenomenon that causes people to see patterns, objects, or meaning in ambiguous or unrelated stimuli
:3. If you can't spot irony, you're not intelligent

'''Background'''

Will AI Destroy Humanity? A Soho Forum Debate (Spoiler: Jobst won)

R.V. Yampolskii, AI: Unexplainable, Unpredictable, Uncontrollable

Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor, AI Snake Oil

Arnold Schelsky, The Hype Book, especially Chapter 1.

==Tuesday May 5 (09:30-12:15) Transhumanism: The Ultimate Stage of Cartesianism ==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Video Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Slides Slides]

1. Surveys the full spectrum of transhumanism and its cultural origins.

2. Debunk the feasibility of radically improving human beings via technology.

Background:

TESCREALISM, or: why AI gods are so passionate about creating Artificial General Intelligence
Considering the existential risk of Artificial Superintelligence
Thursday, February 20 (9:30 - 12:15) Can a machine be conscious?
The machine will

Computers cannot have a will, because computers don't give a damn. Therefore there can be no machine ethics

The lack of the giving-a-damn-factor is taken by Yann LeCun as a reason to reject the idea that AI might pose an existential risk to humanity – an AI will have no desire for self-preservation “Almost half of CEOs fear A.I. could destroy humanity five to 10 years from now — but ‘A.I. godfather' says an existential threat is ‘preposterously ridiculous’” Fortune, June 15, 2023. See also here.
Implications of the absence of a machine will:

The problem of the singularity (when machines will take over from humans) will not arise
The idea of digital immortality will never be realized Slides
The idea that human beings are simulations can be rejected
There can be no AI ethics (only: ethics governing human beings when they use AI)
Fermi's paradox is solved
Background:

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Video Video]

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Slides Slides]

Searle's Chinese Room Argument
Machines cannot have intentionality; they cannot have experiences which are about something.

Searle: Minds, Brains, and Programs

==Wednesday May 6 (09:30-12:15) AI and the Theory of Complex and Dynamic Systems==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Video Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Slides Slides]

Provides an introduction to the theory of complex and dynamic systems. Examples include: population growth

== Thursday, May 7 (13:30 - 16:15) 1. Capabilities and Skills; 2. AI and History and Geography==

Part 0: How to give a good powerpoint presentation

Part 1: Functions, Capabilities, Skills

Part 2: Maps

[https://buffalo.box.com/s/8d1h9yidtxw0994m8rakyvxq1t41mtvj Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-4 Slides]

== Friday, May 8 (13:30 - 16:15) Part 1. Introduction to LLMs. Part 2. Animal, Human and Machine Intelligence: A Territorial Perspective==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2025-Lecture-5-Part-1 Slides Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5-Part-2 Slides Part 2]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-6-Part-1 Video: Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5-Part-2 Video: Part 2]

==Tuesday (May 12, 9:30 - 12:15) 1. David Chalmers, and Why LLMs must Hallucinate. 2. Planning, Creativity, and Entrepreneurial Perception==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5-Part-1 Video: Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/s/vgd92r9mv2ynw38sqgc07e5uy4uxd2tz Slides: Part 2]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-6-Part-2 Video: Part 2]

From Speech Acts to Document Acts: An Ontology of Institutions [https://buffalo.box.com/s/85h3u1nvjtbnm5krs0tr7rfkys2p48qc Slides]

Massively Planned Social Agency [https://buffalo.box.com/s/v6huywh7gs09jsosfxo7ox62ap7wiccd Slides]

AI Creativity and Entrepreneurial Perception Slides

==Wednesday, May 13 (09:30 - 12:15) The Limits of AI and the Limits of Physics==

==Friday May 15 (09:30-12:15) Student Presentations, followed by: On AI, Jobs, and Economics ==



==Background Material==

'''An Introduction to AI for Philosophers'''
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmiY8_XVvzs Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Why-not-robot-cops Slides]
(AI experts are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''An Introduction to Philosophy for Computer Scientists'''
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/What-is-philosophy Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Crash-Course-Introduction Slides]
(Philosophers are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''[https://www.cp.eng.chula.ac.th/~prabhas/teaching/cbs-it-seminar/2012/aiphil-mccarthy.pdf John McCarthy, "What has AI in common with philosophy?"]

Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026

2026-05-14T17:18:44Z

Phismith:

'''Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026'''

Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith

MAP, USI, Lugano, Spring 2026

Venue: Room A23

'''[https://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2026/05/ontology-phd.html University at Buffalo to offer world’s first doctorate in applied ontology]'''

[https://buffalo.zoom.us/j/92039377770?pwd=pL6MALdTb5mB1QnqlwYPwAoNaYeEp4.1 Zoom link]

'''Introduction'''

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the subfield of Computer Science devoted to developing programs that enable computers to display behavior that can (broadly) be characterized as intelligent. On the strong version, the ultimate goal of AI is to create what is called General Artificial Intelligence (AGI), by which is meant an artificial system that is at least as intelligent as a human being.

Since its inception in the middle of the last century AI has enjoyed repeated cycles of enthusiasm and disappointment (AI summers and winters). Recent successes of ChatGPT and other Large Language Models (LLMs) have opened a new era of popularization of AI. For the first time, AI tools have been created which are immediately available to the wider population, who for the first time can have real hands-on experience of what AI can do.

These developments in AI open up a series of questions such as:

:Will the powers of AI continue to grow in the future, and if so will they ever reach the point where they can be said to have intelligence equivalent to or greater than that of a human being?
:Could we ever reach the point where we can accept the thesis that an AI system could have something like consciousness or sentience?
:Could we reach the point where an AI system could be said to behave ethically, or to have responsibility for its actions?
:Can quantum computers enable a stronger AI than what we have today?
:Can a computer have desires, a will, and emotions?
:Can a computer have responsibility for its behavior?
:Could a machine have something like a personal identity? Would I really survive if the contents of my brain were uploaded to the cloud?

We will describe in detail how stochastic AI works, and consider these and a series of other questions at the borderlines of philosophy and AI. The class will close with presentations of papers on relevant topics given by students.

Some of the material for this class is derived from our book

''Why Machines Will Never Rule the World: Artificial Intelligence without Fear'' (2nd edition, Routledge 2025).
and from the companion volume:

''Symposium on Why Machines Will Never Rule the World'' — Guest editor, Janna Hastings, University of Zurich
which appeared as a special issue of the public access journal Cosmos + Taxis in early 2024.

'''Faculty'''

Jobst Landgrebe is the founder and CEO of Cognotekt, GmBH, an AI company based in Cologne specialised in the design and implementation of holistic AI solutions. He has 20 years experience in the AI field, 8 years as a management consultant and software architect. He has also worked as a physician and mathematician, and he views AI itself -- to the extent that it is not an elaborate hype -- as a branch of applied mathematics. CUrrently his primary focus is in the biomathematics of cancer.

Barry Smith is one of the world's most widely [https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=icGNWj4AAAAJ cited philosophers]. He has contributed primarily to the field of applied ontology, which means applying philosophical ideas derived from analytical metaphysics to the concrete practical problems which arise where attempts are made to compare or combine heterogeneous bodies of data.

Grading

:Essay with presentation: 70%
:Essay with no presentation: 85%
:Presentation: 15%
:Class Participation 15%

'''Draft Schedule'''

:Venue: Room A23

'''Program'''

==Monday, May 4 (13:30-16:15) AI and Philosophy: An Introduction==

Part 1: An introduction to the course

Part 2: Outline of the theory of complex systems documented in our book: ''[https://www.amazon.com/Machines-Will-Never-Rule-World/dp/1032941405/ Why machines will never rule the world]''. Summary [https://philpapers.org/rec/LANWMW-3 here].

:In the course of the next 2 weeks we will show why AI cannot model complex systems adequately and synoptically, and why they therefore cannot reach a level of intelligence equal to that of human beings
:Note the difference between 'complex' and 'complicated'

Part 3: Booming interest in ontology unleashed by the idea of 'neurosymbolic AI'

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-1-Video Video]

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture1-Slides Slides]

'''Background'''
The classical psychological definitions of intelligence are:
:A. the ability to adapt to new situations (applies both to humans and to animals)
:B. a very general mental capability (possessed only by humans) that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly, and learn from experience
:Can a machine be intelligent in either of these senses?

'''Readings'''
:[Capabilities: An ontology]

:Linda S. Gottfredson. Mainstream Science on Intelligence. In: Intelligence 24 (1997), pp. 13–23.
:Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith: There is no Artificial General Intelligence
:Jobst Landgrebe: Deep reasoning, abstraction and planning


:Ersatz Definitions, Anthropomorphisms, and Pareidolia

There's no 'I' in 'AI', Steven Pemberton, Amsterdam, December 12, 2024
:1. Esatz definitions: using words like 'thinks' as in 'the machine is thinking', but with meanings quite different from those we use when talking about human beings. As when we define 'flying' as moving through the air, and then jumping up and down and saying "look, I'm flying!"
:2. Pareidolia: a psychological phenomenon that causes people to see patterns, objects, or meaning in ambiguous or unrelated stimuli
:3. If you can't spot irony, you're not intelligent

'''Background'''

Will AI Destroy Humanity? A Soho Forum Debate (Spoiler: Jobst won)

R.V. Yampolskii, AI: Unexplainable, Unpredictable, Uncontrollable

Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor, AI Snake Oil

Arnold Schelsky, The Hype Book, especially Chapter 1.

==Tuesday May 5 (09:30-12:15) Transhumanism: The Ultimate Stage of Cartesianism ==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Video Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Slides Slides]

1. Surveys the full spectrum of transhumanism and its cultural origins.

2. Debunk the feasibility of radically improving human beings via technology.

Background:

TESCREALISM, or: why AI gods are so passionate about creating Artificial General Intelligence
Considering the existential risk of Artificial Superintelligence
Thursday, February 20 (9:30 - 12:15) Can a machine be conscious?
The machine will

Computers cannot have a will, because computers don't give a damn. Therefore there can be no machine ethics

The lack of the giving-a-damn-factor is taken by Yann LeCun as a reason to reject the idea that AI might pose an existential risk to humanity – an AI will have no desire for self-preservation “Almost half of CEOs fear A.I. could destroy humanity five to 10 years from now — but ‘A.I. godfather' says an existential threat is ‘preposterously ridiculous’” Fortune, June 15, 2023. See also here.
Implications of the absence of a machine will:

The problem of the singularity (when machines will take over from humans) will not arise
The idea of digital immortality will never be realized Slides
The idea that human beings are simulations can be rejected
There can be no AI ethics (only: ethics governing human beings when they use AI)
Fermi's paradox is solved
Background:

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Video Video]

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Slides Slides]

Searle's Chinese Room Argument
Machines cannot have intentionality; they cannot have experiences which are about something.

Searle: Minds, Brains, and Programs

==Wednesday May 6 (09:30-12:15) AI and the Theory of Complex and Dynamic Systems==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Video Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Slides Slides]

Provides an introduction to the theory of complex and dynamic systems. Examples include: population growth

== Thursday, May 7 (13:30 - 16:15) 1. Capabilities and Skills; 2. AI and History and Geography==

Part 0: How to give a good powerpoint presentation

Part 1: Functions, Capabilities, Skills

Part 2: Maps

[https://buffalo.box.com/s/8d1h9yidtxw0994m8rakyvxq1t41mtvj Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-4 Slides]

== Friday, May 8 (13:30 - 16:15) Part 1. Introduction to LLMs. Part 2. Animal, Human and Machine Intelligence: A Territorial Perspective==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2025-Lecture-5-Part-1 Slides Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5-Part-2 Slides Part 2]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-6-Part-1 Video: Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5-Part-2 Video: Part 2]

==Tuesday (May 12, 9:30 - 12:15) 1. David Chalmers, and Why LLMs must Hallucinate. 2. Planning, Creativity, and Entrepreneurial Perception==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5-Part-1 Video: Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/s/vgd92r9mv2ynw38sqgc07e5uy4uxd2tz Slides: Part 2]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-6-Part-1 Video: Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-6-Part-2 Video: Part 2]

From Speech Acts to Document Acts: An Ontology of Institutions [https://buffalo.box.com/s/85h3u1nvjtbnm5krs0tr7rfkys2p48qc Slides]

Massively Planned Social Agency [https://buffalo.box.com/s/v6huywh7gs09jsosfxo7ox62ap7wiccd Slides]

AI Creativity and Entrepreneurial Perception Slides

==Wednesday, May 13 (09:30 - 12:15) The Limits of AI and the Limits of Physics==

==Friday May 15 (09:30-12:15) Student Presentations, followed by: On AI, Jobs, and Economics ==



==Background Material==

'''An Introduction to AI for Philosophers'''
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmiY8_XVvzs Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Why-not-robot-cops Slides]
(AI experts are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''An Introduction to Philosophy for Computer Scientists'''
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/What-is-philosophy Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Crash-Course-Introduction Slides]
(Philosophers are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''[https://www.cp.eng.chula.ac.th/~prabhas/teaching/cbs-it-seminar/2012/aiphil-mccarthy.pdf John McCarthy, "What has AI in common with philosophy?"]

Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026

2026-05-14T17:14:40Z

Phismith: /* Thursday, May 7 (13:30 - 16:15) 1. Capabilities and Skills; 2. AI and History and Geography */

'''Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026'''

Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith

MAP, USI, Lugano, Spring 2026

Venue: Room A23

'''[https://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2026/05/ontology-phd.html University at Buffalo to offer world’s first doctorate in applied ontology]'''

[https://buffalo.zoom.us/j/92039377770?pwd=pL6MALdTb5mB1QnqlwYPwAoNaYeEp4.1 Zoom link]

'''Introduction'''

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the subfield of Computer Science devoted to developing programs that enable computers to display behavior that can (broadly) be characterized as intelligent. On the strong version, the ultimate goal of AI is to create what is called General Artificial Intelligence (AGI), by which is meant an artificial system that is at least as intelligent as a human being.

Since its inception in the middle of the last century AI has enjoyed repeated cycles of enthusiasm and disappointment (AI summers and winters). Recent successes of ChatGPT and other Large Language Models (LLMs) have opened a new era of popularization of AI. For the first time, AI tools have been created which are immediately available to the wider population, who for the first time can have real hands-on experience of what AI can do.

These developments in AI open up a series of questions such as:

:Will the powers of AI continue to grow in the future, and if so will they ever reach the point where they can be said to have intelligence equivalent to or greater than that of a human being?
:Could we ever reach the point where we can accept the thesis that an AI system could have something like consciousness or sentience?
:Could we reach the point where an AI system could be said to behave ethically, or to have responsibility for its actions?
:Can quantum computers enable a stronger AI than what we have today?
:Can a computer have desires, a will, and emotions?
:Can a computer have responsibility for its behavior?
:Could a machine have something like a personal identity? Would I really survive if the contents of my brain were uploaded to the cloud?

We will describe in detail how stochastic AI works, and consider these and a series of other questions at the borderlines of philosophy and AI. The class will close with presentations of papers on relevant topics given by students.

Some of the material for this class is derived from our book

''Why Machines Will Never Rule the World: Artificial Intelligence without Fear'' (2nd edition, Routledge 2025).
and from the companion volume:

''Symposium on Why Machines Will Never Rule the World'' — Guest editor, Janna Hastings, University of Zurich
which appeared as a special issue of the public access journal Cosmos + Taxis in early 2024.

'''Faculty'''

Jobst Landgrebe is the founder and CEO of Cognotekt, GmBH, an AI company based in Cologne specialised in the design and implementation of holistic AI solutions. He has 20 years experience in the AI field, 8 years as a management consultant and software architect. He has also worked as a physician and mathematician, and he views AI itself -- to the extent that it is not an elaborate hype -- as a branch of applied mathematics. CUrrently his primary focus is in the biomathematics of cancer.

Barry Smith is one of the world's most widely [https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=icGNWj4AAAAJ cited philosophers]. He has contributed primarily to the field of applied ontology, which means applying philosophical ideas derived from analytical metaphysics to the concrete practical problems which arise where attempts are made to compare or combine heterogeneous bodies of data.

Grading

:Essay with presentation: 70%
:Essay with no presentation: 85%
:Presentation: 15%
:Class Participation 15%

'''Draft Schedule'''

:Venue: Room A23

'''Program'''

==Monday, May 4 (13:30-16:15) AI and Philosophy: An Introduction==

Part 1: An introduction to the course

Part 2: Outline of the theory of complex systems documented in our book: ''[https://www.amazon.com/Machines-Will-Never-Rule-World/dp/1032941405/ Why machines will never rule the world]''. Summary [https://philpapers.org/rec/LANWMW-3 here].

:In the course of the next 2 weeks we will show why AI cannot model complex systems adequately and synoptically, and why they therefore cannot reach a level of intelligence equal to that of human beings
:Note the difference between 'complex' and 'complicated'

Part 3: Booming interest in ontology unleashed by the idea of 'neurosymbolic AI'

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-1-Video Video]

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture1-Slides Slides]

'''Background'''
The classical psychological definitions of intelligence are:
:A. the ability to adapt to new situations (applies both to humans and to animals)
:B. a very general mental capability (possessed only by humans) that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly, and learn from experience
:Can a machine be intelligent in either of these senses?

'''Readings'''
:[Capabilities: An ontology]

:Linda S. Gottfredson. Mainstream Science on Intelligence. In: Intelligence 24 (1997), pp. 13–23.
:Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith: There is no Artificial General Intelligence
:Jobst Landgrebe: Deep reasoning, abstraction and planning


:Ersatz Definitions, Anthropomorphisms, and Pareidolia

There's no 'I' in 'AI', Steven Pemberton, Amsterdam, December 12, 2024
:1. Esatz definitions: using words like 'thinks' as in 'the machine is thinking', but with meanings quite different from those we use when talking about human beings. As when we define 'flying' as moving through the air, and then jumping up and down and saying "look, I'm flying!"
:2. Pareidolia: a psychological phenomenon that causes people to see patterns, objects, or meaning in ambiguous or unrelated stimuli
:3. If you can't spot irony, you're not intelligent

'''Background'''

Will AI Destroy Humanity? A Soho Forum Debate (Spoiler: Jobst won)

R.V. Yampolskii, AI: Unexplainable, Unpredictable, Uncontrollable

Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor, AI Snake Oil

Arnold Schelsky, The Hype Book, especially Chapter 1.

==Tuesday May 5 (09:30-12:15) Transhumanism: The Ultimate Stage of Cartesianism ==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Video Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Slides Slides]

1. Surveys the full spectrum of transhumanism and its cultural origins.

2. Debunk the feasibility of radically improving human beings via technology.

Background:

TESCREALISM, or: why AI gods are so passionate about creating Artificial General Intelligence
Considering the existential risk of Artificial Superintelligence
Thursday, February 20 (9:30 - 12:15) Can a machine be conscious?
The machine will

Computers cannot have a will, because computers don't give a damn. Therefore there can be no machine ethics

The lack of the giving-a-damn-factor is taken by Yann LeCun as a reason to reject the idea that AI might pose an existential risk to humanity – an AI will have no desire for self-preservation “Almost half of CEOs fear A.I. could destroy humanity five to 10 years from now — but ‘A.I. godfather' says an existential threat is ‘preposterously ridiculous’” Fortune, June 15, 2023. See also here.
Implications of the absence of a machine will:

The problem of the singularity (when machines will take over from humans) will not arise
The idea of digital immortality will never be realized Slides
The idea that human beings are simulations can be rejected
There can be no AI ethics (only: ethics governing human beings when they use AI)
Fermi's paradox is solved
Background:

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Video Video]

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Slides Slides]

Searle's Chinese Room Argument
Machines cannot have intentionality; they cannot have experiences which are about something.

Searle: Minds, Brains, and Programs

==Wednesday May 6 (09:30-12:15) AI and the Theory of Complex and Dynamic Systems==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Video Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Slides Slides]

Provides an introduction to the theory of complex and dynamic systems. Examples include: population growth

== Thursday, May 7 (13:30 - 16:15) 1. Capabilities and Skills; 2. AI and History and Geography==

Part 0: How to give a good powerpoint presentation

Part 1: Functions, Capabilities, Skills

Part 2: Maps

[https://buffalo.box.com/s/8d1h9yidtxw0994m8rakyvxq1t41mtvj Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-4 Slides]

== Friday, May 8 (13:30 - 16:15) Part 1. Introduction to LLMs. Part 2. Animal, Human and Machine Intelligence: A Territorial Perspective==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2025-Lecture-5-Part-1 Slides Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5-Part-2 Slides Part 2]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5-Part-2 Video: Part 2]

==Tuesday (May 12, 9:30 - 12:15) 1. David Chalmers, and Why LLMs must Hallucinate. 2. Planning, Creativity, and Entrepreneurial Perception==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5-Part-1 Video: Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/s/vgd92r9mv2ynw38sqgc07e5uy4uxd2tz Slides: Part 2]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-6-Part-1 Video: Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-6-Part-2 Video: Part 2]

From Speech Acts to Document Acts: An Ontology of Institutions [https://buffalo.box.com/s/85h3u1nvjtbnm5krs0tr7rfkys2p48qc Slides]

Massively Planned Social Agency [https://buffalo.box.com/s/v6huywh7gs09jsosfxo7ox62ap7wiccd Slides]

AI Creativity and Entrepreneurial Perception Slides

==Wednesday, May 13 (09:30 - 12:15) The Limits of AI and the Limits of Physics==

==Friday May 15 (09:30-12:15) Student Presentations, followed by: On AI, Jobs, and Economics ==



==Background Material==

'''An Introduction to AI for Philosophers'''
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmiY8_XVvzs Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Why-not-robot-cops Slides]
(AI experts are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''An Introduction to Philosophy for Computer Scientists'''
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/What-is-philosophy Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Crash-Course-Introduction Slides]
(Philosophers are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''[https://www.cp.eng.chula.ac.th/~prabhas/teaching/cbs-it-seminar/2012/aiphil-mccarthy.pdf John McCarthy, "What has AI in common with philosophy?"]

Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026

2026-05-14T17:14:19Z

Phismith: /* Tuesday May 5 (09:30-12:15) Transhumanism: The Ultimate Stage of Cartesianism */

'''Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026'''

Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith

MAP, USI, Lugano, Spring 2026

Venue: Room A23

'''[https://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2026/05/ontology-phd.html University at Buffalo to offer world’s first doctorate in applied ontology]'''

[https://buffalo.zoom.us/j/92039377770?pwd=pL6MALdTb5mB1QnqlwYPwAoNaYeEp4.1 Zoom link]

'''Introduction'''

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the subfield of Computer Science devoted to developing programs that enable computers to display behavior that can (broadly) be characterized as intelligent. On the strong version, the ultimate goal of AI is to create what is called General Artificial Intelligence (AGI), by which is meant an artificial system that is at least as intelligent as a human being.

Since its inception in the middle of the last century AI has enjoyed repeated cycles of enthusiasm and disappointment (AI summers and winters). Recent successes of ChatGPT and other Large Language Models (LLMs) have opened a new era of popularization of AI. For the first time, AI tools have been created which are immediately available to the wider population, who for the first time can have real hands-on experience of what AI can do.

These developments in AI open up a series of questions such as:

:Will the powers of AI continue to grow in the future, and if so will they ever reach the point where they can be said to have intelligence equivalent to or greater than that of a human being?
:Could we ever reach the point where we can accept the thesis that an AI system could have something like consciousness or sentience?
:Could we reach the point where an AI system could be said to behave ethically, or to have responsibility for its actions?
:Can quantum computers enable a stronger AI than what we have today?
:Can a computer have desires, a will, and emotions?
:Can a computer have responsibility for its behavior?
:Could a machine have something like a personal identity? Would I really survive if the contents of my brain were uploaded to the cloud?

We will describe in detail how stochastic AI works, and consider these and a series of other questions at the borderlines of philosophy and AI. The class will close with presentations of papers on relevant topics given by students.

Some of the material for this class is derived from our book

''Why Machines Will Never Rule the World: Artificial Intelligence without Fear'' (2nd edition, Routledge 2025).
and from the companion volume:

''Symposium on Why Machines Will Never Rule the World'' — Guest editor, Janna Hastings, University of Zurich
which appeared as a special issue of the public access journal Cosmos + Taxis in early 2024.

'''Faculty'''

Jobst Landgrebe is the founder and CEO of Cognotekt, GmBH, an AI company based in Cologne specialised in the design and implementation of holistic AI solutions. He has 20 years experience in the AI field, 8 years as a management consultant and software architect. He has also worked as a physician and mathematician, and he views AI itself -- to the extent that it is not an elaborate hype -- as a branch of applied mathematics. CUrrently his primary focus is in the biomathematics of cancer.

Barry Smith is one of the world's most widely [https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=icGNWj4AAAAJ cited philosophers]. He has contributed primarily to the field of applied ontology, which means applying philosophical ideas derived from analytical metaphysics to the concrete practical problems which arise where attempts are made to compare or combine heterogeneous bodies of data.

Grading

:Essay with presentation: 70%
:Essay with no presentation: 85%
:Presentation: 15%
:Class Participation 15%

'''Draft Schedule'''

:Venue: Room A23

'''Program'''

==Monday, May 4 (13:30-16:15) AI and Philosophy: An Introduction==

Part 1: An introduction to the course

Part 2: Outline of the theory of complex systems documented in our book: ''[https://www.amazon.com/Machines-Will-Never-Rule-World/dp/1032941405/ Why machines will never rule the world]''. Summary [https://philpapers.org/rec/LANWMW-3 here].

:In the course of the next 2 weeks we will show why AI cannot model complex systems adequately and synoptically, and why they therefore cannot reach a level of intelligence equal to that of human beings
:Note the difference between 'complex' and 'complicated'

Part 3: Booming interest in ontology unleashed by the idea of 'neurosymbolic AI'

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-1-Video Video]

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture1-Slides Slides]

'''Background'''
The classical psychological definitions of intelligence are:
:A. the ability to adapt to new situations (applies both to humans and to animals)
:B. a very general mental capability (possessed only by humans) that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly, and learn from experience
:Can a machine be intelligent in either of these senses?

'''Readings'''
:[Capabilities: An ontology]

:Linda S. Gottfredson. Mainstream Science on Intelligence. In: Intelligence 24 (1997), pp. 13–23.
:Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith: There is no Artificial General Intelligence
:Jobst Landgrebe: Deep reasoning, abstraction and planning


:Ersatz Definitions, Anthropomorphisms, and Pareidolia

There's no 'I' in 'AI', Steven Pemberton, Amsterdam, December 12, 2024
:1. Esatz definitions: using words like 'thinks' as in 'the machine is thinking', but with meanings quite different from those we use when talking about human beings. As when we define 'flying' as moving through the air, and then jumping up and down and saying "look, I'm flying!"
:2. Pareidolia: a psychological phenomenon that causes people to see patterns, objects, or meaning in ambiguous or unrelated stimuli
:3. If you can't spot irony, you're not intelligent

'''Background'''

Will AI Destroy Humanity? A Soho Forum Debate (Spoiler: Jobst won)

R.V. Yampolskii, AI: Unexplainable, Unpredictable, Uncontrollable

Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor, AI Snake Oil

Arnold Schelsky, The Hype Book, especially Chapter 1.

==Tuesday May 5 (09:30-12:15) Transhumanism: The Ultimate Stage of Cartesianism ==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Video Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Slides Slides]

1. Surveys the full spectrum of transhumanism and its cultural origins.

2. Debunk the feasibility of radically improving human beings via technology.

Background:

TESCREALISM, or: why AI gods are so passionate about creating Artificial General Intelligence
Considering the existential risk of Artificial Superintelligence
Thursday, February 20 (9:30 - 12:15) Can a machine be conscious?
The machine will

Computers cannot have a will, because computers don't give a damn. Therefore there can be no machine ethics

The lack of the giving-a-damn-factor is taken by Yann LeCun as a reason to reject the idea that AI might pose an existential risk to humanity – an AI will have no desire for self-preservation “Almost half of CEOs fear A.I. could destroy humanity five to 10 years from now — but ‘A.I. godfather' says an existential threat is ‘preposterously ridiculous’” Fortune, June 15, 2023. See also here.
Implications of the absence of a machine will:

The problem of the singularity (when machines will take over from humans) will not arise
The idea of digital immortality will never be realized Slides
The idea that human beings are simulations can be rejected
There can be no AI ethics (only: ethics governing human beings when they use AI)
Fermi's paradox is solved
Background:

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Video Video]

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Slides Slides]

Searle's Chinese Room Argument
Machines cannot have intentionality; they cannot have experiences which are about something.

Searle: Minds, Brains, and Programs

==Wednesday May 6 (09:30-12:15) AI and the Theory of Complex and Dynamic Systems==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Video Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Slides Slides]

Provides an introduction to the theory of complex and dynamic systems. Examples include: population growth

== Thursday, May 7 (13:30 - 16:15) 1. Capabilities and Skills; 2. AI and History and Geography==

Part 0: How to give a good powerpoint presentation

Part 1: Functions, Capabilities, Skills

Part 2: Maps

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-4 Slides]

[https://buffalo.box.com/s/8d1h9yidtxw0994m8rakyvxq1t41mtvj Video]

== Friday, May 8 (13:30 - 16:15) Part 1. Introduction to LLMs. Part 2. Animal, Human and Machine Intelligence: A Territorial Perspective==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2025-Lecture-5-Part-1 Slides Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5-Part-2 Slides Part 2]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5-Part-2 Video: Part 2]

==Tuesday (May 12, 9:30 - 12:15) 1. David Chalmers, and Why LLMs must Hallucinate. 2. Planning, Creativity, and Entrepreneurial Perception==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5-Part-1 Video: Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/s/vgd92r9mv2ynw38sqgc07e5uy4uxd2tz Slides: Part 2]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-6-Part-1 Video: Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-6-Part-2 Video: Part 2]

From Speech Acts to Document Acts: An Ontology of Institutions [https://buffalo.box.com/s/85h3u1nvjtbnm5krs0tr7rfkys2p48qc Slides]

Massively Planned Social Agency [https://buffalo.box.com/s/v6huywh7gs09jsosfxo7ox62ap7wiccd Slides]

AI Creativity and Entrepreneurial Perception Slides

==Wednesday, May 13 (09:30 - 12:15) The Limits of AI and the Limits of Physics==

==Friday May 15 (09:30-12:15) Student Presentations, followed by: On AI, Jobs, and Economics ==



==Background Material==

'''An Introduction to AI for Philosophers'''
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmiY8_XVvzs Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Why-not-robot-cops Slides]
(AI experts are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''An Introduction to Philosophy for Computer Scientists'''
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/What-is-philosophy Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Crash-Course-Introduction Slides]
(Philosophers are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''[https://www.cp.eng.chula.ac.th/~prabhas/teaching/cbs-it-seminar/2012/aiphil-mccarthy.pdf John McCarthy, "What has AI in common with philosophy?"]

Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026

2026-05-14T17:13:45Z

Phismith:

'''Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026'''

Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith

MAP, USI, Lugano, Spring 2026

Venue: Room A23

'''[https://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2026/05/ontology-phd.html University at Buffalo to offer world’s first doctorate in applied ontology]'''

[https://buffalo.zoom.us/j/92039377770?pwd=pL6MALdTb5mB1QnqlwYPwAoNaYeEp4.1 Zoom link]

'''Introduction'''

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the subfield of Computer Science devoted to developing programs that enable computers to display behavior that can (broadly) be characterized as intelligent. On the strong version, the ultimate goal of AI is to create what is called General Artificial Intelligence (AGI), by which is meant an artificial system that is at least as intelligent as a human being.

Since its inception in the middle of the last century AI has enjoyed repeated cycles of enthusiasm and disappointment (AI summers and winters). Recent successes of ChatGPT and other Large Language Models (LLMs) have opened a new era of popularization of AI. For the first time, AI tools have been created which are immediately available to the wider population, who for the first time can have real hands-on experience of what AI can do.

These developments in AI open up a series of questions such as:

:Will the powers of AI continue to grow in the future, and if so will they ever reach the point where they can be said to have intelligence equivalent to or greater than that of a human being?
:Could we ever reach the point where we can accept the thesis that an AI system could have something like consciousness or sentience?
:Could we reach the point where an AI system could be said to behave ethically, or to have responsibility for its actions?
:Can quantum computers enable a stronger AI than what we have today?
:Can a computer have desires, a will, and emotions?
:Can a computer have responsibility for its behavior?
:Could a machine have something like a personal identity? Would I really survive if the contents of my brain were uploaded to the cloud?

We will describe in detail how stochastic AI works, and consider these and a series of other questions at the borderlines of philosophy and AI. The class will close with presentations of papers on relevant topics given by students.

Some of the material for this class is derived from our book

''Why Machines Will Never Rule the World: Artificial Intelligence without Fear'' (2nd edition, Routledge 2025).
and from the companion volume:

''Symposium on Why Machines Will Never Rule the World'' — Guest editor, Janna Hastings, University of Zurich
which appeared as a special issue of the public access journal Cosmos + Taxis in early 2024.

'''Faculty'''

Jobst Landgrebe is the founder and CEO of Cognotekt, GmBH, an AI company based in Cologne specialised in the design and implementation of holistic AI solutions. He has 20 years experience in the AI field, 8 years as a management consultant and software architect. He has also worked as a physician and mathematician, and he views AI itself -- to the extent that it is not an elaborate hype -- as a branch of applied mathematics. CUrrently his primary focus is in the biomathematics of cancer.

Barry Smith is one of the world's most widely [https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=icGNWj4AAAAJ cited philosophers]. He has contributed primarily to the field of applied ontology, which means applying philosophical ideas derived from analytical metaphysics to the concrete practical problems which arise where attempts are made to compare or combine heterogeneous bodies of data.

Grading

:Essay with presentation: 70%
:Essay with no presentation: 85%
:Presentation: 15%
:Class Participation 15%

'''Draft Schedule'''

:Venue: Room A23

'''Program'''

==Monday, May 4 (13:30-16:15) AI and Philosophy: An Introduction==

Part 1: An introduction to the course

Part 2: Outline of the theory of complex systems documented in our book: ''[https://www.amazon.com/Machines-Will-Never-Rule-World/dp/1032941405/ Why machines will never rule the world]''. Summary [https://philpapers.org/rec/LANWMW-3 here].

:In the course of the next 2 weeks we will show why AI cannot model complex systems adequately and synoptically, and why they therefore cannot reach a level of intelligence equal to that of human beings
:Note the difference between 'complex' and 'complicated'

Part 3: Booming interest in ontology unleashed by the idea of 'neurosymbolic AI'

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-1-Video Video]

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture1-Slides Slides]

'''Background'''
The classical psychological definitions of intelligence are:
:A. the ability to adapt to new situations (applies both to humans and to animals)
:B. a very general mental capability (possessed only by humans) that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly, and learn from experience
:Can a machine be intelligent in either of these senses?

'''Readings'''
:[Capabilities: An ontology]

:Linda S. Gottfredson. Mainstream Science on Intelligence. In: Intelligence 24 (1997), pp. 13–23.
:Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith: There is no Artificial General Intelligence
:Jobst Landgrebe: Deep reasoning, abstraction and planning


:Ersatz Definitions, Anthropomorphisms, and Pareidolia

There's no 'I' in 'AI', Steven Pemberton, Amsterdam, December 12, 2024
:1. Esatz definitions: using words like 'thinks' as in 'the machine is thinking', but with meanings quite different from those we use when talking about human beings. As when we define 'flying' as moving through the air, and then jumping up and down and saying "look, I'm flying!"
:2. Pareidolia: a psychological phenomenon that causes people to see patterns, objects, or meaning in ambiguous or unrelated stimuli
:3. If you can't spot irony, you're not intelligent

'''Background'''

Will AI Destroy Humanity? A Soho Forum Debate (Spoiler: Jobst won)

R.V. Yampolskii, AI: Unexplainable, Unpredictable, Uncontrollable

Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor, AI Snake Oil

Arnold Schelsky, The Hype Book, especially Chapter 1.

==Tuesday May 5 (09:30-12:15) Transhumanism: The Ultimate Stage of Cartesianism ==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Video Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Slides Slides]

1. Surveys the full spectrum of transhumanism and its cultural origins.

2. Debunk the feasibility of radically improving human beings via technology.

Background:

TESCREALISM, or: why AI gods are so passionate about creating Artificial General Intelligence
Considering the existential risk of Artificial Superintelligence
Thursday, February 20 (9:30 - 12:15) Can a machine be conscious?
The machine will

Computers cannot have a will, because computers don't give a damn. Therefore there can be no machine ethics

The lack of the giving-a-damn-factor is taken by Yann LeCun as a reason to reject the idea that AI might pose an existential risk to humanity – an AI will have no desire for self-preservation “Almost half of CEOs fear A.I. could destroy humanity five to 10 years from now — but ‘A.I. godfather' says an existential threat is ‘preposterously ridiculous’” Fortune, June 15, 2023. See also here.
Implications of the absence of a machine will:

The problem of the singularity (when machines will take over from humans) will not arise
The idea of digital immortality will never be realized Slides
The idea that human beings are simulations can be rejected
There can be no AI ethics (only: ethics governing human beings when they use AI)
Fermi's paradox is solved
Background:

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Slides Slides]

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Video Video]

Searle's Chinese Room Argument
Machines cannot have intentionality; they cannot have experiences which are about something.

Searle: Minds, Brains, and Programs

==Wednesday May 6 (09:30-12:15) AI and the Theory of Complex and Dynamic Systems==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Video Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Slides Slides]

Provides an introduction to the theory of complex and dynamic systems. Examples include: population growth

== Thursday, May 7 (13:30 - 16:15) 1. Capabilities and Skills; 2. AI and History and Geography==

Part 0: How to give a good powerpoint presentation

Part 1: Functions, Capabilities, Skills

Part 2: Maps

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-4 Slides]

[https://buffalo.box.com/s/8d1h9yidtxw0994m8rakyvxq1t41mtvj Video]

== Friday, May 8 (13:30 - 16:15) Part 1. Introduction to LLMs. Part 2. Animal, Human and Machine Intelligence: A Territorial Perspective==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2025-Lecture-5-Part-1 Slides Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5-Part-2 Slides Part 2]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5-Part-2 Video: Part 2]

==Tuesday (May 12, 9:30 - 12:15) 1. David Chalmers, and Why LLMs must Hallucinate. 2. Planning, Creativity, and Entrepreneurial Perception==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5-Part-1 Video: Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/s/vgd92r9mv2ynw38sqgc07e5uy4uxd2tz Slides: Part 2]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-6-Part-1 Video: Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-6-Part-2 Video: Part 2]

From Speech Acts to Document Acts: An Ontology of Institutions [https://buffalo.box.com/s/85h3u1nvjtbnm5krs0tr7rfkys2p48qc Slides]

Massively Planned Social Agency [https://buffalo.box.com/s/v6huywh7gs09jsosfxo7ox62ap7wiccd Slides]

AI Creativity and Entrepreneurial Perception Slides

==Wednesday, May 13 (09:30 - 12:15) The Limits of AI and the Limits of Physics==

==Friday May 15 (09:30-12:15) Student Presentations, followed by: On AI, Jobs, and Economics ==



==Background Material==

'''An Introduction to AI for Philosophers'''
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmiY8_XVvzs Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Why-not-robot-cops Slides]
(AI experts are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''An Introduction to Philosophy for Computer Scientists'''
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/What-is-philosophy Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Crash-Course-Introduction Slides]
(Philosophers are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''[https://www.cp.eng.chula.ac.th/~prabhas/teaching/cbs-it-seminar/2012/aiphil-mccarthy.pdf John McCarthy, "What has AI in common with philosophy?"]

Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026

2026-05-14T17:08:34Z

Phismith: /* Tuesday (May 12, 9:30 - 12:15) 1. Why LLMs must Hallucinate. 2. Planning, Creativity, and Entrepreneurial Perception */

'''Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026'''

Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith

MAP, USI, Lugano, Spring 2026

Venue: Room A23

'''[https://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2026/05/ontology-phd.html University at Buffalo to offer world’s first doctorate in applied ontology]'''

[https://buffalo.zoom.us/j/92039377770?pwd=pL6MALdTb5mB1QnqlwYPwAoNaYeEp4.1 Zoom link]

'''Introduction'''

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the subfield of Computer Science devoted to developing programs that enable computers to display behavior that can (broadly) be characterized as intelligent. On the strong version, the ultimate goal of AI is to create what is called General Artificial Intelligence (AGI), by which is meant an artificial system that is at least as intelligent as a human being.

Since its inception in the middle of the last century AI has enjoyed repeated cycles of enthusiasm and disappointment (AI summers and winters). Recent successes of ChatGPT and other Large Language Models (LLMs) have opened a new era of popularization of AI. For the first time, AI tools have been created which are immediately available to the wider population, who for the first time can have real hands-on experience of what AI can do.

These developments in AI open up a series of questions such as:

:Will the powers of AI continue to grow in the future, and if so will they ever reach the point where they can be said to have intelligence equivalent to or greater than that of a human being?
:Could we ever reach the point where we can accept the thesis that an AI system could have something like consciousness or sentience?
:Could we reach the point where an AI system could be said to behave ethically, or to have responsibility for its actions?
:Can quantum computers enable a stronger AI than what we have today?
:Can a computer have desires, a will, and emotions?
:Can a computer have responsibility for its behavior?
:Could a machine have something like a personal identity? Would I really survive if the contents of my brain were uploaded to the cloud?

We will describe in detail how stochastic AI works, and consider these and a series of other questions at the borderlines of philosophy and AI. The class will close with presentations of papers on relevant topics given by students.

Some of the material for this class is derived from our book

''Why Machines Will Never Rule the World: Artificial Intelligence without Fear'' (2nd edition, Routledge 2025).
and from the companion volume:

''Symposium on Why Machines Will Never Rule the World'' — Guest editor, Janna Hastings, University of Zurich
which appeared as a special issue of the public access journal Cosmos + Taxis in early 2024.

'''Faculty'''

Jobst Landgrebe is the founder and CEO of Cognotekt, GmBH, an AI company based in Cologne specialised in the design and implementation of holistic AI solutions. He has 20 years experience in the AI field, 8 years as a management consultant and software architect. He has also worked as a physician and mathematician, and he views AI itself -- to the extent that it is not an elaborate hype -- as a branch of applied mathematics. CUrrently his primary focus is in the biomathematics of cancer.

Barry Smith is one of the world's most widely [https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=icGNWj4AAAAJ cited philosophers]. He has contributed primarily to the field of applied ontology, which means applying philosophical ideas derived from analytical metaphysics to the concrete practical problems which arise where attempts are made to compare or combine heterogeneous bodies of data.

Grading

:Essay with presentation: 70%
:Essay with no presentation: 85%
:Presentation: 15%
:Class Participation 15%

'''Draft Schedule'''

:Venue: Room A23

'''Program'''

==Monday, May 4 (13:30-16:15) AI and Philosophy: An Introduction==

Part 1: An introduction to the course

Part 2: Outline of the theory of complex systems documented in our book: ''[https://www.amazon.com/Machines-Will-Never-Rule-World/dp/1032941405/ Why machines will never rule the world]''. Summary [https://philpapers.org/rec/LANWMW-3 here].

:In the course of the next 2 weeks we will show why AI cannot model complex systems adequately and synoptically, and why they therefore cannot reach a level of intelligence equal to that of human beings
:Note the difference between 'complex' and 'complicated'

Part 3: Booming interest in ontology unleashed by the idea of 'neurosymbolic AI'

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-1-Video Video]

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture1-Slides Slides]

'''Background'''
The classical psychological definitions of intelligence are:
:A. the ability to adapt to new situations (applies both to humans and to animals)
:B. a very general mental capability (possessed only by humans) that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly, and learn from experience
:Can a machine be intelligent in either of these senses?

'''Readings'''
:[Capabilities: An ontology]

:Linda S. Gottfredson. Mainstream Science on Intelligence. In: Intelligence 24 (1997), pp. 13–23.
:Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith: There is no Artificial General Intelligence
:Jobst Landgrebe: Deep reasoning, abstraction and planning


:Ersatz Definitions, Anthropomorphisms, and Pareidolia

There's no 'I' in 'AI', Steven Pemberton, Amsterdam, December 12, 2024
:1. Esatz definitions: using words like 'thinks' as in 'the machine is thinking', but with meanings quite different from those we use when talking about human beings. As when we define 'flying' as moving through the air, and then jumping up and down and saying "look, I'm flying!"
:2. Pareidolia: a psychological phenomenon that causes people to see patterns, objects, or meaning in ambiguous or unrelated stimuli
:3. If you can't spot irony, you're not intelligent

'''Background'''

Will AI Destroy Humanity? A Soho Forum Debate (Spoiler: Jobst won)

R.V. Yampolskii, AI: Unexplainable, Unpredictable, Uncontrollable

Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor, AI Snake Oil

Arnold Schelsky, The Hype Book, especially Chapter 1.

==Tuesday May 5 (09:30-12:15) Transhumanism: The Ultimate Stage of Cartesianism ==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Video Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Slides Slides]

1. Surveys the full spectrum of transhumanism and its cultural origins.

2. Debunk the feasibility of radically improving human beings via technology.

Background:

TESCREALISM, or: why AI gods are so passionate about creating Artificial General Intelligence
Considering the existential risk of Artificial Superintelligence
Thursday, February 20 (9:30 - 12:15) Can a machine be conscious?
The machine will

Computers cannot have a will, because computers don't give a damn. Therefore there can be no machine ethics

The lack of the giving-a-damn-factor is taken by Yann LeCun as a reason to reject the idea that AI might pose an existential risk to humanity – an AI will have no desire for self-preservation “Almost half of CEOs fear A.I. could destroy humanity five to 10 years from now — but ‘A.I. godfather' says an existential threat is ‘preposterously ridiculous’” Fortune, June 15, 2023. See also here.
Implications of the absence of a machine will:

The problem of the singularity (when machines will take over from humans) will not arise
The idea of digital immortality will never be realized Slides
The idea that human beings are simulations can be rejected
There can be no AI ethics (only: ethics governing human beings when they use AI)
Fermi's paradox is solved
Background:

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Slides Slides]

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Video Video]

Searle's Chinese Room Argument
Machines cannot have intentionality; they cannot have experiences which are about something.

Searle: Minds, Brains, and Programs

==Wednesday May 6 (09:30-12:15) AI and the Theory of Complex and Dynamic Systems==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Video Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Slides Slides]

Provides an introduction to the theory of complex and dynamic systems. Examples include: population growth

== Thursday, May 7 (13:30 - 16:15) 1. Capabilities and Skills; 2. AI and History and Geography==

Part 0: How to give a good powerpoint presentation

Part 1: Functions, Capabilities, Skills

Part 2: Maps

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-4 Slides]

[https://buffalo.box.com/s/8d1h9yidtxw0994m8rakyvxq1t41mtvj Video]

== Friday, May 8 (13:30 - 16:15) Part 1. Introduction to LLMs. Part 2. Animal, Human and Machine Intelligence: A Territorial Perspective==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2025-Lecture-5-Part-1 Slides Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5-Part-2 Slides Part 2]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5-Part-1 Video: Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5-Part-2 Video: Part 2]

==Tuesday (May 12, 9:30 - 12:15) 1. David Chalmers, and Why LLMs must Hallucinate. 2. Planning, Creativity, and Entrepreneurial Perception==

Slides; Part 1

[https://buffalo.box.com/s/vgd92r9mv2ynw38sqgc07e5uy4uxd2tz Slides: Part 2]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-6-Part-1 Video: Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-6-Part-2 Video: Part 2]

From Speech Acts to Document Acts: An Ontology of Institutions [https://buffalo.box.com/s/85h3u1nvjtbnm5krs0tr7rfkys2p48qc Slides]

Massively Planned Social Agency [https://buffalo.box.com/s/v6huywh7gs09jsosfxo7ox62ap7wiccd Slides]

AI Creativity and Entrepreneurial Perception Slides

==Wednesday, May 13 (09:30 - 12:15) The Limits of AI and the Limits of Physics==

==Friday May 15 (09:30-12:15) Student Presentations, followed by: On AI, Jobs, and Economics ==



==Background Material==

'''An Introduction to AI for Philosophers'''
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmiY8_XVvzs Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Why-not-robot-cops Slides]
(AI experts are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''An Introduction to Philosophy for Computer Scientists'''
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/What-is-philosophy Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Crash-Course-Introduction Slides]
(Philosophers are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''[https://www.cp.eng.chula.ac.th/~prabhas/teaching/cbs-it-seminar/2012/aiphil-mccarthy.pdf John McCarthy, "What has AI in common with philosophy?"]

Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026

2026-05-14T16:58:47Z

Phismith: /* Thursday, May 7 (13:30 - 16:15) 1. Capabilities and Skills; 2. AI and History and Geography */

'''Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026'''

Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith

MAP, USI, Lugano, Spring 2026

Venue: Room A23

'''[https://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2026/05/ontology-phd.html University at Buffalo to offer world’s first doctorate in applied ontology]'''

[https://buffalo.zoom.us/j/92039377770?pwd=pL6MALdTb5mB1QnqlwYPwAoNaYeEp4.1 Zoom link]

'''Introduction'''

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the subfield of Computer Science devoted to developing programs that enable computers to display behavior that can (broadly) be characterized as intelligent. On the strong version, the ultimate goal of AI is to create what is called General Artificial Intelligence (AGI), by which is meant an artificial system that is at least as intelligent as a human being.

Since its inception in the middle of the last century AI has enjoyed repeated cycles of enthusiasm and disappointment (AI summers and winters). Recent successes of ChatGPT and other Large Language Models (LLMs) have opened a new era of popularization of AI. For the first time, AI tools have been created which are immediately available to the wider population, who for the first time can have real hands-on experience of what AI can do.

These developments in AI open up a series of questions such as:

:Will the powers of AI continue to grow in the future, and if so will they ever reach the point where they can be said to have intelligence equivalent to or greater than that of a human being?
:Could we ever reach the point where we can accept the thesis that an AI system could have something like consciousness or sentience?
:Could we reach the point where an AI system could be said to behave ethically, or to have responsibility for its actions?
:Can quantum computers enable a stronger AI than what we have today?
:Can a computer have desires, a will, and emotions?
:Can a computer have responsibility for its behavior?
:Could a machine have something like a personal identity? Would I really survive if the contents of my brain were uploaded to the cloud?

We will describe in detail how stochastic AI works, and consider these and a series of other questions at the borderlines of philosophy and AI. The class will close with presentations of papers on relevant topics given by students.

Some of the material for this class is derived from our book

''Why Machines Will Never Rule the World: Artificial Intelligence without Fear'' (2nd edition, Routledge 2025).
and from the companion volume:

''Symposium on Why Machines Will Never Rule the World'' — Guest editor, Janna Hastings, University of Zurich
which appeared as a special issue of the public access journal Cosmos + Taxis in early 2024.

'''Faculty'''

Jobst Landgrebe is the founder and CEO of Cognotekt, GmBH, an AI company based in Cologne specialised in the design and implementation of holistic AI solutions. He has 20 years experience in the AI field, 8 years as a management consultant and software architect. He has also worked as a physician and mathematician, and he views AI itself -- to the extent that it is not an elaborate hype -- as a branch of applied mathematics. CUrrently his primary focus is in the biomathematics of cancer.

Barry Smith is one of the world's most widely [https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=icGNWj4AAAAJ cited philosophers]. He has contributed primarily to the field of applied ontology, which means applying philosophical ideas derived from analytical metaphysics to the concrete practical problems which arise where attempts are made to compare or combine heterogeneous bodies of data.

Grading

:Essay with presentation: 70%
:Essay with no presentation: 85%
:Presentation: 15%
:Class Participation 15%

'''Draft Schedule'''

:Venue: Room A23

'''Program'''

==Monday, May 4 (13:30-16:15) AI and Philosophy: An Introduction==

Part 1: An introduction to the course

Part 2: Outline of the theory of complex systems documented in our book: ''[https://www.amazon.com/Machines-Will-Never-Rule-World/dp/1032941405/ Why machines will never rule the world]''. Summary [https://philpapers.org/rec/LANWMW-3 here].

:In the course of the next 2 weeks we will show why AI cannot model complex systems adequately and synoptically, and why they therefore cannot reach a level of intelligence equal to that of human beings
:Note the difference between 'complex' and 'complicated'

Part 3: Booming interest in ontology unleashed by the idea of 'neurosymbolic AI'

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-1-Video Video]

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture1-Slides Slides]

'''Background'''
The classical psychological definitions of intelligence are:
:A. the ability to adapt to new situations (applies both to humans and to animals)
:B. a very general mental capability (possessed only by humans) that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly, and learn from experience
:Can a machine be intelligent in either of these senses?

'''Readings'''
:[Capabilities: An ontology]

:Linda S. Gottfredson. Mainstream Science on Intelligence. In: Intelligence 24 (1997), pp. 13–23.
:Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith: There is no Artificial General Intelligence
:Jobst Landgrebe: Deep reasoning, abstraction and planning


:Ersatz Definitions, Anthropomorphisms, and Pareidolia

There's no 'I' in 'AI', Steven Pemberton, Amsterdam, December 12, 2024
:1. Esatz definitions: using words like 'thinks' as in 'the machine is thinking', but with meanings quite different from those we use when talking about human beings. As when we define 'flying' as moving through the air, and then jumping up and down and saying "look, I'm flying!"
:2. Pareidolia: a psychological phenomenon that causes people to see patterns, objects, or meaning in ambiguous or unrelated stimuli
:3. If you can't spot irony, you're not intelligent

'''Background'''

Will AI Destroy Humanity? A Soho Forum Debate (Spoiler: Jobst won)

R.V. Yampolskii, AI: Unexplainable, Unpredictable, Uncontrollable

Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor, AI Snake Oil

Arnold Schelsky, The Hype Book, especially Chapter 1.

==Tuesday May 5 (09:30-12:15) Transhumanism: The Ultimate Stage of Cartesianism ==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Video Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Slides Slides]

1. Surveys the full spectrum of transhumanism and its cultural origins.

2. Debunk the feasibility of radically improving human beings via technology.

Background:

TESCREALISM, or: why AI gods are so passionate about creating Artificial General Intelligence
Considering the existential risk of Artificial Superintelligence
Thursday, February 20 (9:30 - 12:15) Can a machine be conscious?
The machine will

Computers cannot have a will, because computers don't give a damn. Therefore there can be no machine ethics

The lack of the giving-a-damn-factor is taken by Yann LeCun as a reason to reject the idea that AI might pose an existential risk to humanity – an AI will have no desire for self-preservation “Almost half of CEOs fear A.I. could destroy humanity five to 10 years from now — but ‘A.I. godfather' says an existential threat is ‘preposterously ridiculous’” Fortune, June 15, 2023. See also here.
Implications of the absence of a machine will:

The problem of the singularity (when machines will take over from humans) will not arise
The idea of digital immortality will never be realized Slides
The idea that human beings are simulations can be rejected
There can be no AI ethics (only: ethics governing human beings when they use AI)
Fermi's paradox is solved
Background:

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Slides Slides]

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Video Video]

Searle's Chinese Room Argument
Machines cannot have intentionality; they cannot have experiences which are about something.

Searle: Minds, Brains, and Programs

==Wednesday May 6 (09:30-12:15) AI and the Theory of Complex and Dynamic Systems==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Video Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Slides Slides]

Provides an introduction to the theory of complex and dynamic systems. Examples include: population growth

== Thursday, May 7 (13:30 - 16:15) 1. Capabilities and Skills; 2. AI and History and Geography==

Part 0: How to give a good powerpoint presentation

Part 1: Functions, Capabilities, Skills

Part 2: Maps

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-4 Slides]

[https://buffalo.box.com/s/8d1h9yidtxw0994m8rakyvxq1t41mtvj Video]

== Friday, May 8 (13:30 - 16:15) Part 1. Introduction to LLMs. Part 2. Animal, Human and Machine Intelligence: A Territorial Perspective==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2025-Lecture-5-Part-1 Slides Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5-Part-2 Slides Part 2]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5-Part-1 Video: Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5-Part-2 Video: Part 2]

==Tuesday (May 12, 9:30 - 12:15) 1. Why LLMs must Hallucinate. 2. Planning, Creativity, and Entrepreneurial Perception==

[https://buffalo.box.com/s/vgd92r9mv2ynw38sqgc07e5uy4uxd2tz Slides: Part 2]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-6-Part-1 Video: Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-6-Part-2 Video: Part 2]

From Speech Acts to Document Acts: An Ontology of Institutions [https://buffalo.box.com/s/85h3u1nvjtbnm5krs0tr7rfkys2p48qc Slides]

Massively Planned Social Agency [https://buffalo.box.com/s/v6huywh7gs09jsosfxo7ox62ap7wiccd Slides]

AI Creativity and Entrepreneurial Perception Slides

==Wednesday, May 13 (09:30 - 12:15) The Limits of AI and the Limits of Physics==

==Friday May 15 (09:30-12:15) Student Presentations, followed by: On AI, Jobs, and Economics ==



==Background Material==

'''An Introduction to AI for Philosophers'''
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmiY8_XVvzs Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Why-not-robot-cops Slides]
(AI experts are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''An Introduction to Philosophy for Computer Scientists'''
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/What-is-philosophy Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Crash-Course-Introduction Slides]
(Philosophers are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''[https://www.cp.eng.chula.ac.th/~prabhas/teaching/cbs-it-seminar/2012/aiphil-mccarthy.pdf John McCarthy, "What has AI in common with philosophy?"]

Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026

2026-05-14T16:57:37Z

Phismith: /* Tuesday May 5 (09:30-12:15) Transhumanism: The Ultimate Stage of Cartesianism */

'''Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026'''

Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith

MAP, USI, Lugano, Spring 2026

Venue: Room A23

'''[https://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2026/05/ontology-phd.html University at Buffalo to offer world’s first doctorate in applied ontology]'''

[https://buffalo.zoom.us/j/92039377770?pwd=pL6MALdTb5mB1QnqlwYPwAoNaYeEp4.1 Zoom link]

'''Introduction'''

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the subfield of Computer Science devoted to developing programs that enable computers to display behavior that can (broadly) be characterized as intelligent. On the strong version, the ultimate goal of AI is to create what is called General Artificial Intelligence (AGI), by which is meant an artificial system that is at least as intelligent as a human being.

Since its inception in the middle of the last century AI has enjoyed repeated cycles of enthusiasm and disappointment (AI summers and winters). Recent successes of ChatGPT and other Large Language Models (LLMs) have opened a new era of popularization of AI. For the first time, AI tools have been created which are immediately available to the wider population, who for the first time can have real hands-on experience of what AI can do.

These developments in AI open up a series of questions such as:

:Will the powers of AI continue to grow in the future, and if so will they ever reach the point where they can be said to have intelligence equivalent to or greater than that of a human being?
:Could we ever reach the point where we can accept the thesis that an AI system could have something like consciousness or sentience?
:Could we reach the point where an AI system could be said to behave ethically, or to have responsibility for its actions?
:Can quantum computers enable a stronger AI than what we have today?
:Can a computer have desires, a will, and emotions?
:Can a computer have responsibility for its behavior?
:Could a machine have something like a personal identity? Would I really survive if the contents of my brain were uploaded to the cloud?

We will describe in detail how stochastic AI works, and consider these and a series of other questions at the borderlines of philosophy and AI. The class will close with presentations of papers on relevant topics given by students.

Some of the material for this class is derived from our book

''Why Machines Will Never Rule the World: Artificial Intelligence without Fear'' (2nd edition, Routledge 2025).
and from the companion volume:

''Symposium on Why Machines Will Never Rule the World'' — Guest editor, Janna Hastings, University of Zurich
which appeared as a special issue of the public access journal Cosmos + Taxis in early 2024.

'''Faculty'''

Jobst Landgrebe is the founder and CEO of Cognotekt, GmBH, an AI company based in Cologne specialised in the design and implementation of holistic AI solutions. He has 20 years experience in the AI field, 8 years as a management consultant and software architect. He has also worked as a physician and mathematician, and he views AI itself -- to the extent that it is not an elaborate hype -- as a branch of applied mathematics. CUrrently his primary focus is in the biomathematics of cancer.

Barry Smith is one of the world's most widely [https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=icGNWj4AAAAJ cited philosophers]. He has contributed primarily to the field of applied ontology, which means applying philosophical ideas derived from analytical metaphysics to the concrete practical problems which arise where attempts are made to compare or combine heterogeneous bodies of data.

Grading

:Essay with presentation: 70%
:Essay with no presentation: 85%
:Presentation: 15%
:Class Participation 15%

'''Draft Schedule'''

:Venue: Room A23

'''Program'''

==Monday, May 4 (13:30-16:15) AI and Philosophy: An Introduction==

Part 1: An introduction to the course

Part 2: Outline of the theory of complex systems documented in our book: ''[https://www.amazon.com/Machines-Will-Never-Rule-World/dp/1032941405/ Why machines will never rule the world]''. Summary [https://philpapers.org/rec/LANWMW-3 here].

:In the course of the next 2 weeks we will show why AI cannot model complex systems adequately and synoptically, and why they therefore cannot reach a level of intelligence equal to that of human beings
:Note the difference between 'complex' and 'complicated'

Part 3: Booming interest in ontology unleashed by the idea of 'neurosymbolic AI'

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-1-Video Video]

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture1-Slides Slides]

'''Background'''
The classical psychological definitions of intelligence are:
:A. the ability to adapt to new situations (applies both to humans and to animals)
:B. a very general mental capability (possessed only by humans) that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly, and learn from experience
:Can a machine be intelligent in either of these senses?

'''Readings'''
:[Capabilities: An ontology]

:Linda S. Gottfredson. Mainstream Science on Intelligence. In: Intelligence 24 (1997), pp. 13–23.
:Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith: There is no Artificial General Intelligence
:Jobst Landgrebe: Deep reasoning, abstraction and planning


:Ersatz Definitions, Anthropomorphisms, and Pareidolia

There's no 'I' in 'AI', Steven Pemberton, Amsterdam, December 12, 2024
:1. Esatz definitions: using words like 'thinks' as in 'the machine is thinking', but with meanings quite different from those we use when talking about human beings. As when we define 'flying' as moving through the air, and then jumping up and down and saying "look, I'm flying!"
:2. Pareidolia: a psychological phenomenon that causes people to see patterns, objects, or meaning in ambiguous or unrelated stimuli
:3. If you can't spot irony, you're not intelligent

'''Background'''

Will AI Destroy Humanity? A Soho Forum Debate (Spoiler: Jobst won)

R.V. Yampolskii, AI: Unexplainable, Unpredictable, Uncontrollable

Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor, AI Snake Oil

Arnold Schelsky, The Hype Book, especially Chapter 1.

==Tuesday May 5 (09:30-12:15) Transhumanism: The Ultimate Stage of Cartesianism ==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Video Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Slides Slides]

1. Surveys the full spectrum of transhumanism and its cultural origins.

2. Debunk the feasibility of radically improving human beings via technology.

Background:

TESCREALISM, or: why AI gods are so passionate about creating Artificial General Intelligence
Considering the existential risk of Artificial Superintelligence
Thursday, February 20 (9:30 - 12:15) Can a machine be conscious?
The machine will

Computers cannot have a will, because computers don't give a damn. Therefore there can be no machine ethics

The lack of the giving-a-damn-factor is taken by Yann LeCun as a reason to reject the idea that AI might pose an existential risk to humanity – an AI will have no desire for self-preservation “Almost half of CEOs fear A.I. could destroy humanity five to 10 years from now — but ‘A.I. godfather' says an existential threat is ‘preposterously ridiculous’” Fortune, June 15, 2023. See also here.
Implications of the absence of a machine will:

The problem of the singularity (when machines will take over from humans) will not arise
The idea of digital immortality will never be realized Slides
The idea that human beings are simulations can be rejected
There can be no AI ethics (only: ethics governing human beings when they use AI)
Fermi's paradox is solved
Background:

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Slides Slides]

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Video Video]

Searle's Chinese Room Argument
Machines cannot have intentionality; they cannot have experiences which are about something.

Searle: Minds, Brains, and Programs

==Wednesday May 6 (09:30-12:15) AI and the Theory of Complex and Dynamic Systems==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Video Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Slides Slides]

Provides an introduction to the theory of complex and dynamic systems. Examples include: population growth

== Thursday, May 7 (13:30 - 16:15) 1. Capabilities and Skills; 2. AI and History and Geography==

Part 0: How to give a good powerpoint presentation

Part 1: Functions, Capabilities, Skills

Part 2: On territory

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-4 Slides]

[https://buffalo.box.com/s/8d1h9yidtxw0994m8rakyvxq1t41mtvj Video]

== Friday, May 8 (13:30 - 16:15) Part 1. Introduction to LLMs. Part 2. Animal, Human and Machine Intelligence: A Territorial Perspective==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2025-Lecture-5-Part-1 Slides Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5-Part-2 Slides Part 2]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5-Part-1 Video: Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5-Part-2 Video: Part 2]

==Tuesday (May 12, 9:30 - 12:15) 1. Why LLMs must Hallucinate. 2. Planning, Creativity, and Entrepreneurial Perception==

[https://buffalo.box.com/s/vgd92r9mv2ynw38sqgc07e5uy4uxd2tz Slides: Part 2]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-6-Part-1 Video: Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-6-Part-2 Video: Part 2]

From Speech Acts to Document Acts: An Ontology of Institutions [https://buffalo.box.com/s/85h3u1nvjtbnm5krs0tr7rfkys2p48qc Slides]

Massively Planned Social Agency [https://buffalo.box.com/s/v6huywh7gs09jsosfxo7ox62ap7wiccd Slides]

AI Creativity and Entrepreneurial Perception Slides

==Wednesday, May 13 (09:30 - 12:15) The Limits of AI and the Limits of Physics==

==Friday May 15 (09:30-12:15) Student Presentations, followed by: On AI, Jobs, and Economics ==



==Background Material==

'''An Introduction to AI for Philosophers'''
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmiY8_XVvzs Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Why-not-robot-cops Slides]
(AI experts are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''An Introduction to Philosophy for Computer Scientists'''
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/What-is-philosophy Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Crash-Course-Introduction Slides]
(Philosophers are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''[https://www.cp.eng.chula.ac.th/~prabhas/teaching/cbs-it-seminar/2012/aiphil-mccarthy.pdf John McCarthy, "What has AI in common with philosophy?"]

Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026

2026-05-14T16:54:51Z

Phismith: /* Friday, May 8 (13:30 - 16:15) Part 1. Introduction to LLMs. Part 2. Animal, Human and Machine Intelligence: A Territorial Perspective */

'''Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026'''

Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith

MAP, USI, Lugano, Spring 2026

Venue: Room A23

'''[https://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2026/05/ontology-phd.html University at Buffalo to offer world’s first doctorate in applied ontology]'''

[https://buffalo.zoom.us/j/92039377770?pwd=pL6MALdTb5mB1QnqlwYPwAoNaYeEp4.1 Zoom link]

'''Introduction'''

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the subfield of Computer Science devoted to developing programs that enable computers to display behavior that can (broadly) be characterized as intelligent. On the strong version, the ultimate goal of AI is to create what is called General Artificial Intelligence (AGI), by which is meant an artificial system that is at least as intelligent as a human being.

Since its inception in the middle of the last century AI has enjoyed repeated cycles of enthusiasm and disappointment (AI summers and winters). Recent successes of ChatGPT and other Large Language Models (LLMs) have opened a new era of popularization of AI. For the first time, AI tools have been created which are immediately available to the wider population, who for the first time can have real hands-on experience of what AI can do.

These developments in AI open up a series of questions such as:

:Will the powers of AI continue to grow in the future, and if so will they ever reach the point where they can be said to have intelligence equivalent to or greater than that of a human being?
:Could we ever reach the point where we can accept the thesis that an AI system could have something like consciousness or sentience?
:Could we reach the point where an AI system could be said to behave ethically, or to have responsibility for its actions?
:Can quantum computers enable a stronger AI than what we have today?
:Can a computer have desires, a will, and emotions?
:Can a computer have responsibility for its behavior?
:Could a machine have something like a personal identity? Would I really survive if the contents of my brain were uploaded to the cloud?

We will describe in detail how stochastic AI works, and consider these and a series of other questions at the borderlines of philosophy and AI. The class will close with presentations of papers on relevant topics given by students.

Some of the material for this class is derived from our book

''Why Machines Will Never Rule the World: Artificial Intelligence without Fear'' (2nd edition, Routledge 2025).
and from the companion volume:

''Symposium on Why Machines Will Never Rule the World'' — Guest editor, Janna Hastings, University of Zurich
which appeared as a special issue of the public access journal Cosmos + Taxis in early 2024.

'''Faculty'''

Jobst Landgrebe is the founder and CEO of Cognotekt, GmBH, an AI company based in Cologne specialised in the design and implementation of holistic AI solutions. He has 20 years experience in the AI field, 8 years as a management consultant and software architect. He has also worked as a physician and mathematician, and he views AI itself -- to the extent that it is not an elaborate hype -- as a branch of applied mathematics. CUrrently his primary focus is in the biomathematics of cancer.

Barry Smith is one of the world's most widely [https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=icGNWj4AAAAJ cited philosophers]. He has contributed primarily to the field of applied ontology, which means applying philosophical ideas derived from analytical metaphysics to the concrete practical problems which arise where attempts are made to compare or combine heterogeneous bodies of data.

Grading

:Essay with presentation: 70%
:Essay with no presentation: 85%
:Presentation: 15%
:Class Participation 15%

'''Draft Schedule'''

:Venue: Room A23

'''Program'''

==Monday, May 4 (13:30-16:15) AI and Philosophy: An Introduction==

Part 1: An introduction to the course

Part 2: Outline of the theory of complex systems documented in our book: ''[https://www.amazon.com/Machines-Will-Never-Rule-World/dp/1032941405/ Why machines will never rule the world]''. Summary [https://philpapers.org/rec/LANWMW-3 here].

:In the course of the next 2 weeks we will show why AI cannot model complex systems adequately and synoptically, and why they therefore cannot reach a level of intelligence equal to that of human beings
:Note the difference between 'complex' and 'complicated'

Part 3: Booming interest in ontology unleashed by the idea of 'neurosymbolic AI'

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-1-Video Video]

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture1-Slides Slides]

'''Background'''
The classical psychological definitions of intelligence are:
:A. the ability to adapt to new situations (applies both to humans and to animals)
:B. a very general mental capability (possessed only by humans) that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly, and learn from experience
:Can a machine be intelligent in either of these senses?

'''Readings'''
:[Capabilities: An ontology]

:Linda S. Gottfredson. Mainstream Science on Intelligence. In: Intelligence 24 (1997), pp. 13–23.
:Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith: There is no Artificial General Intelligence
:Jobst Landgrebe: Deep reasoning, abstraction and planning


:Ersatz Definitions, Anthropomorphisms, and Pareidolia

There's no 'I' in 'AI', Steven Pemberton, Amsterdam, December 12, 2024
:1. Esatz definitions: using words like 'thinks' as in 'the machine is thinking', but with meanings quite different from those we use when talking about human beings. As when we define 'flying' as moving through the air, and then jumping up and down and saying "look, I'm flying!"
:2. Pareidolia: a psychological phenomenon that causes people to see patterns, objects, or meaning in ambiguous or unrelated stimuli
:3. If you can't spot irony, you're not intelligent

'''Background'''

Will AI Destroy Humanity? A Soho Forum Debate (Spoiler: Jobst won)

R.V. Yampolskii, AI: Unexplainable, Unpredictable, Uncontrollable

Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor, AI Snake Oil

Arnold Schelsky, The Hype Book, especially Chapter 1.

==Tuesday May 5 (09:30-12:15) Transhumanism: The Ultimate Stage of Cartesianism ==

Video

Slides

1. Surveys the full spectrum of transhumanism and its cultural origins.

2. Debunk the feasibility of radically improving human beings via technology.

Background:

TESCREALISM, or: why AI gods are so passionate about creating Artificial General Intelligence
Considering the existential risk of Artificial Superintelligence
Thursday, February 20 (9:30 - 12:15) Can a machine be conscious?
The machine will

Computers cannot have a will, because computers don't give a damn. Therefore there can be no machine ethics

The lack of the giving-a-damn-factor is taken by Yann LeCun as a reason to reject the idea that AI might pose an existential risk to humanity – an AI will have no desire for self-preservation “Almost half of CEOs fear A.I. could destroy humanity five to 10 years from now — but ‘A.I. godfather' says an existential threat is ‘preposterously ridiculous’” Fortune, June 15, 2023. See also here.
Implications of the absence of a machine will:

The problem of the singularity (when machines will take over from humans) will not arise
The idea of digital immortality will never be realized Slides
The idea that human beings are simulations can be rejected
There can be no AI ethics (only: ethics governing human beings when they use AI)
Fermi's paradox is solved
Background:

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Slides Slides]

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Video Video]

Searle's Chinese Room Argument
Machines cannot have intentionality; they cannot have experiences which are about something.

Searle: Minds, Brains, and Programs

==Wednesday May 6 (09:30-12:15) AI and the Theory of Complex and Dynamic Systems==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Video Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Slides Slides]

Provides an introduction to the theory of complex and dynamic systems. Examples include: population growth

== Thursday, May 7 (13:30 - 16:15) 1. Capabilities and Skills; 2. AI and History and Geography==

Part 0: How to give a good powerpoint presentation

Part 1: Functions, Capabilities, Skills

Part 2: On territory

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-4 Slides]

[https://buffalo.box.com/s/8d1h9yidtxw0994m8rakyvxq1t41mtvj Video]

== Friday, May 8 (13:30 - 16:15) Part 1. Introduction to LLMs. Part 2. Animal, Human and Machine Intelligence: A Territorial Perspective==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2025-Lecture-5-Part-1 Slides Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5-Part-2 Slides Part 2]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5-Part-1 Video: Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5-Part-2 Video: Part 2]

==Tuesday (May 12, 9:30 - 12:15) 1. Why LLMs must Hallucinate. 2. Planning, Creativity, and Entrepreneurial Perception==

[https://buffalo.box.com/s/vgd92r9mv2ynw38sqgc07e5uy4uxd2tz Slides: Part 2]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-6-Part-1 Video: Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-6-Part-2 Video: Part 2]

From Speech Acts to Document Acts: An Ontology of Institutions [https://buffalo.box.com/s/85h3u1nvjtbnm5krs0tr7rfkys2p48qc Slides]

Massively Planned Social Agency [https://buffalo.box.com/s/v6huywh7gs09jsosfxo7ox62ap7wiccd Slides]

AI Creativity and Entrepreneurial Perception Slides

==Wednesday, May 13 (09:30 - 12:15) The Limits of AI and the Limits of Physics==

==Friday May 15 (09:30-12:15) Student Presentations, followed by: On AI, Jobs, and Economics ==



==Background Material==

'''An Introduction to AI for Philosophers'''
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmiY8_XVvzs Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Why-not-robot-cops Slides]
(AI experts are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''An Introduction to Philosophy for Computer Scientists'''
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/What-is-philosophy Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Crash-Course-Introduction Slides]
(Philosophers are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''[https://www.cp.eng.chula.ac.th/~prabhas/teaching/cbs-it-seminar/2012/aiphil-mccarthy.pdf John McCarthy, "What has AI in common with philosophy?"]

Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026

2026-05-14T16:54:27Z

Phismith: /* Friday May 15 (09:30-12:15) Student Presentations, followed by: On AI, Jobs, and Economics */

'''Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026'''

Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith

MAP, USI, Lugano, Spring 2026

Venue: Room A23

'''[https://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2026/05/ontology-phd.html University at Buffalo to offer world’s first doctorate in applied ontology]'''

[https://buffalo.zoom.us/j/92039377770?pwd=pL6MALdTb5mB1QnqlwYPwAoNaYeEp4.1 Zoom link]

'''Introduction'''

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the subfield of Computer Science devoted to developing programs that enable computers to display behavior that can (broadly) be characterized as intelligent. On the strong version, the ultimate goal of AI is to create what is called General Artificial Intelligence (AGI), by which is meant an artificial system that is at least as intelligent as a human being.

Since its inception in the middle of the last century AI has enjoyed repeated cycles of enthusiasm and disappointment (AI summers and winters). Recent successes of ChatGPT and other Large Language Models (LLMs) have opened a new era of popularization of AI. For the first time, AI tools have been created which are immediately available to the wider population, who for the first time can have real hands-on experience of what AI can do.

These developments in AI open up a series of questions such as:

:Will the powers of AI continue to grow in the future, and if so will they ever reach the point where they can be said to have intelligence equivalent to or greater than that of a human being?
:Could we ever reach the point where we can accept the thesis that an AI system could have something like consciousness or sentience?
:Could we reach the point where an AI system could be said to behave ethically, or to have responsibility for its actions?
:Can quantum computers enable a stronger AI than what we have today?
:Can a computer have desires, a will, and emotions?
:Can a computer have responsibility for its behavior?
:Could a machine have something like a personal identity? Would I really survive if the contents of my brain were uploaded to the cloud?

We will describe in detail how stochastic AI works, and consider these and a series of other questions at the borderlines of philosophy and AI. The class will close with presentations of papers on relevant topics given by students.

Some of the material for this class is derived from our book

''Why Machines Will Never Rule the World: Artificial Intelligence without Fear'' (2nd edition, Routledge 2025).
and from the companion volume:

''Symposium on Why Machines Will Never Rule the World'' — Guest editor, Janna Hastings, University of Zurich
which appeared as a special issue of the public access journal Cosmos + Taxis in early 2024.

'''Faculty'''

Jobst Landgrebe is the founder and CEO of Cognotekt, GmBH, an AI company based in Cologne specialised in the design and implementation of holistic AI solutions. He has 20 years experience in the AI field, 8 years as a management consultant and software architect. He has also worked as a physician and mathematician, and he views AI itself -- to the extent that it is not an elaborate hype -- as a branch of applied mathematics. CUrrently his primary focus is in the biomathematics of cancer.

Barry Smith is one of the world's most widely [https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=icGNWj4AAAAJ cited philosophers]. He has contributed primarily to the field of applied ontology, which means applying philosophical ideas derived from analytical metaphysics to the concrete practical problems which arise where attempts are made to compare or combine heterogeneous bodies of data.

Grading

:Essay with presentation: 70%
:Essay with no presentation: 85%
:Presentation: 15%
:Class Participation 15%

'''Draft Schedule'''

:Venue: Room A23

'''Program'''

==Monday, May 4 (13:30-16:15) AI and Philosophy: An Introduction==

Part 1: An introduction to the course

Part 2: Outline of the theory of complex systems documented in our book: ''[https://www.amazon.com/Machines-Will-Never-Rule-World/dp/1032941405/ Why machines will never rule the world]''. Summary [https://philpapers.org/rec/LANWMW-3 here].

:In the course of the next 2 weeks we will show why AI cannot model complex systems adequately and synoptically, and why they therefore cannot reach a level of intelligence equal to that of human beings
:Note the difference between 'complex' and 'complicated'

Part 3: Booming interest in ontology unleashed by the idea of 'neurosymbolic AI'

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-1-Video Video]

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture1-Slides Slides]

'''Background'''
The classical psychological definitions of intelligence are:
:A. the ability to adapt to new situations (applies both to humans and to animals)
:B. a very general mental capability (possessed only by humans) that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly, and learn from experience
:Can a machine be intelligent in either of these senses?

'''Readings'''
:[Capabilities: An ontology]

:Linda S. Gottfredson. Mainstream Science on Intelligence. In: Intelligence 24 (1997), pp. 13–23.
:Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith: There is no Artificial General Intelligence
:Jobst Landgrebe: Deep reasoning, abstraction and planning


:Ersatz Definitions, Anthropomorphisms, and Pareidolia

There's no 'I' in 'AI', Steven Pemberton, Amsterdam, December 12, 2024
:1. Esatz definitions: using words like 'thinks' as in 'the machine is thinking', but with meanings quite different from those we use when talking about human beings. As when we define 'flying' as moving through the air, and then jumping up and down and saying "look, I'm flying!"
:2. Pareidolia: a psychological phenomenon that causes people to see patterns, objects, or meaning in ambiguous or unrelated stimuli
:3. If you can't spot irony, you're not intelligent

'''Background'''

Will AI Destroy Humanity? A Soho Forum Debate (Spoiler: Jobst won)

R.V. Yampolskii, AI: Unexplainable, Unpredictable, Uncontrollable

Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor, AI Snake Oil

Arnold Schelsky, The Hype Book, especially Chapter 1.

==Tuesday May 5 (09:30-12:15) Transhumanism: The Ultimate Stage of Cartesianism ==

Video

Slides

1. Surveys the full spectrum of transhumanism and its cultural origins.

2. Debunk the feasibility of radically improving human beings via technology.

Background:

TESCREALISM, or: why AI gods are so passionate about creating Artificial General Intelligence
Considering the existential risk of Artificial Superintelligence
Thursday, February 20 (9:30 - 12:15) Can a machine be conscious?
The machine will

Computers cannot have a will, because computers don't give a damn. Therefore there can be no machine ethics

The lack of the giving-a-damn-factor is taken by Yann LeCun as a reason to reject the idea that AI might pose an existential risk to humanity – an AI will have no desire for self-preservation “Almost half of CEOs fear A.I. could destroy humanity five to 10 years from now — but ‘A.I. godfather' says an existential threat is ‘preposterously ridiculous’” Fortune, June 15, 2023. See also here.
Implications of the absence of a machine will:

The problem of the singularity (when machines will take over from humans) will not arise
The idea of digital immortality will never be realized Slides
The idea that human beings are simulations can be rejected
There can be no AI ethics (only: ethics governing human beings when they use AI)
Fermi's paradox is solved
Background:

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Slides Slides]

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Video Video]

Searle's Chinese Room Argument
Machines cannot have intentionality; they cannot have experiences which are about something.

Searle: Minds, Brains, and Programs

==Wednesday May 6 (09:30-12:15) AI and the Theory of Complex and Dynamic Systems==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Video Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Slides Slides]

Provides an introduction to the theory of complex and dynamic systems. Examples include: population growth

== Thursday, May 7 (13:30 - 16:15) 1. Capabilities and Skills; 2. AI and History and Geography==

Part 0: How to give a good powerpoint presentation

Part 1: Functions, Capabilities, Skills

Part 2: On territory

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-4 Slides]

[https://buffalo.box.com/s/8d1h9yidtxw0994m8rakyvxq1t41mtvj Video]

== Friday, May 8 (13:30 - 16:15) Part 1. Introduction to LLMs. Part 2. Animal, Human and Machine Intelligence: A Territorial Perspective==

https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2025-Lecture-5-Part-1 Slides Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5-Part-2 Slides Part 2]

==Tuesday (May 12, 9:30 - 12:15) 1. Why LLMs must Hallucinate. 2. Planning, Creativity, and Entrepreneurial Perception==

[https://buffalo.box.com/s/vgd92r9mv2ynw38sqgc07e5uy4uxd2tz Slides: Part 2]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-6-Part-1 Video: Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-6-Part-2 Video: Part 2]

From Speech Acts to Document Acts: An Ontology of Institutions [https://buffalo.box.com/s/85h3u1nvjtbnm5krs0tr7rfkys2p48qc Slides]

Massively Planned Social Agency [https://buffalo.box.com/s/v6huywh7gs09jsosfxo7ox62ap7wiccd Slides]

AI Creativity and Entrepreneurial Perception Slides

==Wednesday, May 13 (09:30 - 12:15) The Limits of AI and the Limits of Physics==

==Friday May 15 (09:30-12:15) Student Presentations, followed by: On AI, Jobs, and Economics ==



==Background Material==

'''An Introduction to AI for Philosophers'''
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmiY8_XVvzs Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Why-not-robot-cops Slides]
(AI experts are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''An Introduction to Philosophy for Computer Scientists'''
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/What-is-philosophy Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Crash-Course-Introduction Slides]
(Philosophers are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''[https://www.cp.eng.chula.ac.th/~prabhas/teaching/cbs-it-seminar/2012/aiphil-mccarthy.pdf John McCarthy, "What has AI in common with philosophy?"]

Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026

2026-05-14T16:52:38Z

Phismith: /* Friday May 15 (09:30-12:15) Student Presentations, followed by: On AI, Jobs, and Economics */

'''Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026'''

Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith

MAP, USI, Lugano, Spring 2026

Venue: Room A23

'''[https://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2026/05/ontology-phd.html University at Buffalo to offer world’s first doctorate in applied ontology]'''

[https://buffalo.zoom.us/j/92039377770?pwd=pL6MALdTb5mB1QnqlwYPwAoNaYeEp4.1 Zoom link]

'''Introduction'''

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the subfield of Computer Science devoted to developing programs that enable computers to display behavior that can (broadly) be characterized as intelligent. On the strong version, the ultimate goal of AI is to create what is called General Artificial Intelligence (AGI), by which is meant an artificial system that is at least as intelligent as a human being.

Since its inception in the middle of the last century AI has enjoyed repeated cycles of enthusiasm and disappointment (AI summers and winters). Recent successes of ChatGPT and other Large Language Models (LLMs) have opened a new era of popularization of AI. For the first time, AI tools have been created which are immediately available to the wider population, who for the first time can have real hands-on experience of what AI can do.

These developments in AI open up a series of questions such as:

:Will the powers of AI continue to grow in the future, and if so will they ever reach the point where they can be said to have intelligence equivalent to or greater than that of a human being?
:Could we ever reach the point where we can accept the thesis that an AI system could have something like consciousness or sentience?
:Could we reach the point where an AI system could be said to behave ethically, or to have responsibility for its actions?
:Can quantum computers enable a stronger AI than what we have today?
:Can a computer have desires, a will, and emotions?
:Can a computer have responsibility for its behavior?
:Could a machine have something like a personal identity? Would I really survive if the contents of my brain were uploaded to the cloud?

We will describe in detail how stochastic AI works, and consider these and a series of other questions at the borderlines of philosophy and AI. The class will close with presentations of papers on relevant topics given by students.

Some of the material for this class is derived from our book

''Why Machines Will Never Rule the World: Artificial Intelligence without Fear'' (2nd edition, Routledge 2025).
and from the companion volume:

''Symposium on Why Machines Will Never Rule the World'' — Guest editor, Janna Hastings, University of Zurich
which appeared as a special issue of the public access journal Cosmos + Taxis in early 2024.

'''Faculty'''

Jobst Landgrebe is the founder and CEO of Cognotekt, GmBH, an AI company based in Cologne specialised in the design and implementation of holistic AI solutions. He has 20 years experience in the AI field, 8 years as a management consultant and software architect. He has also worked as a physician and mathematician, and he views AI itself -- to the extent that it is not an elaborate hype -- as a branch of applied mathematics. CUrrently his primary focus is in the biomathematics of cancer.

Barry Smith is one of the world's most widely [https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=icGNWj4AAAAJ cited philosophers]. He has contributed primarily to the field of applied ontology, which means applying philosophical ideas derived from analytical metaphysics to the concrete practical problems which arise where attempts are made to compare or combine heterogeneous bodies of data.

Grading

:Essay with presentation: 70%
:Essay with no presentation: 85%
:Presentation: 15%
:Class Participation 15%

'''Draft Schedule'''

:Venue: Room A23

'''Program'''

==Monday, May 4 (13:30-16:15) AI and Philosophy: An Introduction==

Part 1: An introduction to the course

Part 2: Outline of the theory of complex systems documented in our book: ''[https://www.amazon.com/Machines-Will-Never-Rule-World/dp/1032941405/ Why machines will never rule the world]''. Summary [https://philpapers.org/rec/LANWMW-3 here].

:In the course of the next 2 weeks we will show why AI cannot model complex systems adequately and synoptically, and why they therefore cannot reach a level of intelligence equal to that of human beings
:Note the difference between 'complex' and 'complicated'

Part 3: Booming interest in ontology unleashed by the idea of 'neurosymbolic AI'

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-1-Video Video]

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture1-Slides Slides]

'''Background'''
The classical psychological definitions of intelligence are:
:A. the ability to adapt to new situations (applies both to humans and to animals)
:B. a very general mental capability (possessed only by humans) that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly, and learn from experience
:Can a machine be intelligent in either of these senses?

'''Readings'''
:[Capabilities: An ontology]

:Linda S. Gottfredson. Mainstream Science on Intelligence. In: Intelligence 24 (1997), pp. 13–23.
:Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith: There is no Artificial General Intelligence
:Jobst Landgrebe: Deep reasoning, abstraction and planning


:Ersatz Definitions, Anthropomorphisms, and Pareidolia

There's no 'I' in 'AI', Steven Pemberton, Amsterdam, December 12, 2024
:1. Esatz definitions: using words like 'thinks' as in 'the machine is thinking', but with meanings quite different from those we use when talking about human beings. As when we define 'flying' as moving through the air, and then jumping up and down and saying "look, I'm flying!"
:2. Pareidolia: a psychological phenomenon that causes people to see patterns, objects, or meaning in ambiguous or unrelated stimuli
:3. If you can't spot irony, you're not intelligent

'''Background'''

Will AI Destroy Humanity? A Soho Forum Debate (Spoiler: Jobst won)

R.V. Yampolskii, AI: Unexplainable, Unpredictable, Uncontrollable

Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor, AI Snake Oil

Arnold Schelsky, The Hype Book, especially Chapter 1.

==Tuesday May 5 (09:30-12:15) Transhumanism: The Ultimate Stage of Cartesianism ==

Video

Slides

1. Surveys the full spectrum of transhumanism and its cultural origins.

2. Debunk the feasibility of radically improving human beings via technology.

Background:

TESCREALISM, or: why AI gods are so passionate about creating Artificial General Intelligence
Considering the existential risk of Artificial Superintelligence
Thursday, February 20 (9:30 - 12:15) Can a machine be conscious?
The machine will

Computers cannot have a will, because computers don't give a damn. Therefore there can be no machine ethics

The lack of the giving-a-damn-factor is taken by Yann LeCun as a reason to reject the idea that AI might pose an existential risk to humanity – an AI will have no desire for self-preservation “Almost half of CEOs fear A.I. could destroy humanity five to 10 years from now — but ‘A.I. godfather' says an existential threat is ‘preposterously ridiculous’” Fortune, June 15, 2023. See also here.
Implications of the absence of a machine will:

The problem of the singularity (when machines will take over from humans) will not arise
The idea of digital immortality will never be realized Slides
The idea that human beings are simulations can be rejected
There can be no AI ethics (only: ethics governing human beings when they use AI)
Fermi's paradox is solved
Background:

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Slides Slides]

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Video Video]

Searle's Chinese Room Argument
Machines cannot have intentionality; they cannot have experiences which are about something.

Searle: Minds, Brains, and Programs

==Wednesday May 6 (09:30-12:15) AI and the Theory of Complex and Dynamic Systems==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Video Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Slides Slides]

Provides an introduction to the theory of complex and dynamic systems. Examples include: population growth

== Thursday, May 7 (13:30 - 16:15) 1. Capabilities and Skills; 2. AI and History and Geography==

Part 0: How to give a good powerpoint presentation

Part 1: Functions, Capabilities, Skills

Part 2: On territory

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-4 Slides]

[https://buffalo.box.com/s/8d1h9yidtxw0994m8rakyvxq1t41mtvj Video]

== Friday, May 8 (13:30 - 16:15) Part 1. Introduction to LLMs. Part 2. Animal, Human and Machine Intelligence: A Territorial Perspective==

https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2025-Lecture-5-Part-1 Slides Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5-Part-2 Slides Part 2]

==Tuesday (May 12, 9:30 - 12:15) 1. Why LLMs must Hallucinate. 2. Planning, Creativity, and Entrepreneurial Perception==

[https://buffalo.box.com/s/vgd92r9mv2ynw38sqgc07e5uy4uxd2tz Slides: Part 2]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-6-Part-1 Video: Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-6-Part-2 Video: Part 2]

From Speech Acts to Document Acts: An Ontology of Institutions [https://buffalo.box.com/s/85h3u1nvjtbnm5krs0tr7rfkys2p48qc Slides]

Massively Planned Social Agency [https://buffalo.box.com/s/v6huywh7gs09jsosfxo7ox62ap7wiccd Slides]

AI Creativity and Entrepreneurial Perception Slides

==Wednesday, May 13 (09:30 - 12:15) The Limits of AI and the Limits of Physics==

==Friday May 15 (09:30-12:15) Student Presentations, followed by: On AI, Jobs, and Economics ==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5-Part-1 Video: Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5-Part-2 Video: Part 2]



==Background Material==

'''An Introduction to AI for Philosophers'''
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmiY8_XVvzs Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Why-not-robot-cops Slides]
(AI experts are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''An Introduction to Philosophy for Computer Scientists'''
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/What-is-philosophy Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Crash-Course-Introduction Slides]
(Philosophers are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''[https://www.cp.eng.chula.ac.th/~prabhas/teaching/cbs-it-seminar/2012/aiphil-mccarthy.pdf John McCarthy, "What has AI in common with philosophy?"]

Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026

2026-05-14T16:46:18Z

Phismith: /* Friday, May 8 (13:30 - 16:15) Part 1. Introduction to LLMs. Part 2. Animal, Human and Machine Intelligence: A Territorial Perspective */

'''Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026'''

Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith

MAP, USI, Lugano, Spring 2026

Venue: Room A23

'''[https://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2026/05/ontology-phd.html University at Buffalo to offer world’s first doctorate in applied ontology]'''

[https://buffalo.zoom.us/j/92039377770?pwd=pL6MALdTb5mB1QnqlwYPwAoNaYeEp4.1 Zoom link]

'''Introduction'''

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the subfield of Computer Science devoted to developing programs that enable computers to display behavior that can (broadly) be characterized as intelligent. On the strong version, the ultimate goal of AI is to create what is called General Artificial Intelligence (AGI), by which is meant an artificial system that is at least as intelligent as a human being.

Since its inception in the middle of the last century AI has enjoyed repeated cycles of enthusiasm and disappointment (AI summers and winters). Recent successes of ChatGPT and other Large Language Models (LLMs) have opened a new era of popularization of AI. For the first time, AI tools have been created which are immediately available to the wider population, who for the first time can have real hands-on experience of what AI can do.

These developments in AI open up a series of questions such as:

:Will the powers of AI continue to grow in the future, and if so will they ever reach the point where they can be said to have intelligence equivalent to or greater than that of a human being?
:Could we ever reach the point where we can accept the thesis that an AI system could have something like consciousness or sentience?
:Could we reach the point where an AI system could be said to behave ethically, or to have responsibility for its actions?
:Can quantum computers enable a stronger AI than what we have today?
:Can a computer have desires, a will, and emotions?
:Can a computer have responsibility for its behavior?
:Could a machine have something like a personal identity? Would I really survive if the contents of my brain were uploaded to the cloud?

We will describe in detail how stochastic AI works, and consider these and a series of other questions at the borderlines of philosophy and AI. The class will close with presentations of papers on relevant topics given by students.

Some of the material for this class is derived from our book

''Why Machines Will Never Rule the World: Artificial Intelligence without Fear'' (2nd edition, Routledge 2025).
and from the companion volume:

''Symposium on Why Machines Will Never Rule the World'' — Guest editor, Janna Hastings, University of Zurich
which appeared as a special issue of the public access journal Cosmos + Taxis in early 2024.

'''Faculty'''

Jobst Landgrebe is the founder and CEO of Cognotekt, GmBH, an AI company based in Cologne specialised in the design and implementation of holistic AI solutions. He has 20 years experience in the AI field, 8 years as a management consultant and software architect. He has also worked as a physician and mathematician, and he views AI itself -- to the extent that it is not an elaborate hype -- as a branch of applied mathematics. CUrrently his primary focus is in the biomathematics of cancer.

Barry Smith is one of the world's most widely [https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=icGNWj4AAAAJ cited philosophers]. He has contributed primarily to the field of applied ontology, which means applying philosophical ideas derived from analytical metaphysics to the concrete practical problems which arise where attempts are made to compare or combine heterogeneous bodies of data.

Grading

:Essay with presentation: 70%
:Essay with no presentation: 85%
:Presentation: 15%
:Class Participation 15%

'''Draft Schedule'''

:Venue: Room A23

'''Program'''

==Monday, May 4 (13:30-16:15) AI and Philosophy: An Introduction==

Part 1: An introduction to the course

Part 2: Outline of the theory of complex systems documented in our book: ''[https://www.amazon.com/Machines-Will-Never-Rule-World/dp/1032941405/ Why machines will never rule the world]''. Summary [https://philpapers.org/rec/LANWMW-3 here].

:In the course of the next 2 weeks we will show why AI cannot model complex systems adequately and synoptically, and why they therefore cannot reach a level of intelligence equal to that of human beings
:Note the difference between 'complex' and 'complicated'

Part 3: Booming interest in ontology unleashed by the idea of 'neurosymbolic AI'

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-1-Video Video]

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture1-Slides Slides]

'''Background'''
The classical psychological definitions of intelligence are:
:A. the ability to adapt to new situations (applies both to humans and to animals)
:B. a very general mental capability (possessed only by humans) that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly, and learn from experience
:Can a machine be intelligent in either of these senses?

'''Readings'''
:[Capabilities: An ontology]

:Linda S. Gottfredson. Mainstream Science on Intelligence. In: Intelligence 24 (1997), pp. 13–23.
:Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith: There is no Artificial General Intelligence
:Jobst Landgrebe: Deep reasoning, abstraction and planning


:Ersatz Definitions, Anthropomorphisms, and Pareidolia

There's no 'I' in 'AI', Steven Pemberton, Amsterdam, December 12, 2024
:1. Esatz definitions: using words like 'thinks' as in 'the machine is thinking', but with meanings quite different from those we use when talking about human beings. As when we define 'flying' as moving through the air, and then jumping up and down and saying "look, I'm flying!"
:2. Pareidolia: a psychological phenomenon that causes people to see patterns, objects, or meaning in ambiguous or unrelated stimuli
:3. If you can't spot irony, you're not intelligent

'''Background'''

Will AI Destroy Humanity? A Soho Forum Debate (Spoiler: Jobst won)

R.V. Yampolskii, AI: Unexplainable, Unpredictable, Uncontrollable

Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor, AI Snake Oil

Arnold Schelsky, The Hype Book, especially Chapter 1.

==Tuesday May 5 (09:30-12:15) Transhumanism: The Ultimate Stage of Cartesianism ==

Video

Slides

1. Surveys the full spectrum of transhumanism and its cultural origins.

2. Debunk the feasibility of radically improving human beings via technology.

Background:

TESCREALISM, or: why AI gods are so passionate about creating Artificial General Intelligence
Considering the existential risk of Artificial Superintelligence
Thursday, February 20 (9:30 - 12:15) Can a machine be conscious?
The machine will

Computers cannot have a will, because computers don't give a damn. Therefore there can be no machine ethics

The lack of the giving-a-damn-factor is taken by Yann LeCun as a reason to reject the idea that AI might pose an existential risk to humanity – an AI will have no desire for self-preservation “Almost half of CEOs fear A.I. could destroy humanity five to 10 years from now — but ‘A.I. godfather' says an existential threat is ‘preposterously ridiculous’” Fortune, June 15, 2023. See also here.
Implications of the absence of a machine will:

The problem of the singularity (when machines will take over from humans) will not arise
The idea of digital immortality will never be realized Slides
The idea that human beings are simulations can be rejected
There can be no AI ethics (only: ethics governing human beings when they use AI)
Fermi's paradox is solved
Background:

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Slides Slides]

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Video Video]

Searle's Chinese Room Argument
Machines cannot have intentionality; they cannot have experiences which are about something.

Searle: Minds, Brains, and Programs

==Wednesday May 6 (09:30-12:15) AI and the Theory of Complex and Dynamic Systems==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Video Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Slides Slides]

Provides an introduction to the theory of complex and dynamic systems. Examples include: population growth

== Thursday, May 7 (13:30 - 16:15) 1. Capabilities and Skills; 2. AI and History and Geography==

Part 0: How to give a good powerpoint presentation

Part 1: Functions, Capabilities, Skills

Part 2: On territory

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-4 Slides]

[https://buffalo.box.com/s/8d1h9yidtxw0994m8rakyvxq1t41mtvj Video]

== Friday, May 8 (13:30 - 16:15) Part 1. Introduction to LLMs. Part 2. Animal, Human and Machine Intelligence: A Territorial Perspective==

https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2025-Lecture-5-Part-1 Slides Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5-Part-2 Slides Part 2]

==Tuesday (May 12, 9:30 - 12:15) 1. Why LLMs must Hallucinate. 2. Planning, Creativity, and Entrepreneurial Perception==

[https://buffalo.box.com/s/vgd92r9mv2ynw38sqgc07e5uy4uxd2tz Slides: Part 2]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-6-Part-1 Video: Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-6-Part-2 Video: Part 2]

From Speech Acts to Document Acts: An Ontology of Institutions [https://buffalo.box.com/s/85h3u1nvjtbnm5krs0tr7rfkys2p48qc Slides]

Massively Planned Social Agency [https://buffalo.box.com/s/v6huywh7gs09jsosfxo7ox62ap7wiccd Slides]

AI Creativity and Entrepreneurial Perception Slides

==Wednesday, May 13 (09:30 - 12:15) The Limits of AI and the Limits of Physics==

==Friday May 15 (09:30-12:15) Student Presentations, followed by: On AI, Jobs, and Economics ==



==Background Material==

'''An Introduction to AI for Philosophers'''
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmiY8_XVvzs Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Why-not-robot-cops Slides]
(AI experts are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''An Introduction to Philosophy for Computer Scientists'''
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/What-is-philosophy Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Crash-Course-Introduction Slides]
(Philosophers are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''[https://www.cp.eng.chula.ac.th/~prabhas/teaching/cbs-it-seminar/2012/aiphil-mccarthy.pdf John McCarthy, "What has AI in common with philosophy?"]

Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026

2026-05-14T16:31:29Z

Phismith: /* Tuesday (May 12, 9:30 - 12:15) 1. Why LLMs must Hallucinate. 2. Planning, Creativity, and Entrepreneurial Perception */

'''Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026'''

Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith

MAP, USI, Lugano, Spring 2026

Venue: Room A23

'''[https://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2026/05/ontology-phd.html University at Buffalo to offer world’s first doctorate in applied ontology]'''

[https://buffalo.zoom.us/j/92039377770?pwd=pL6MALdTb5mB1QnqlwYPwAoNaYeEp4.1 Zoom link]

'''Introduction'''

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the subfield of Computer Science devoted to developing programs that enable computers to display behavior that can (broadly) be characterized as intelligent. On the strong version, the ultimate goal of AI is to create what is called General Artificial Intelligence (AGI), by which is meant an artificial system that is at least as intelligent as a human being.

Since its inception in the middle of the last century AI has enjoyed repeated cycles of enthusiasm and disappointment (AI summers and winters). Recent successes of ChatGPT and other Large Language Models (LLMs) have opened a new era of popularization of AI. For the first time, AI tools have been created which are immediately available to the wider population, who for the first time can have real hands-on experience of what AI can do.

These developments in AI open up a series of questions such as:

:Will the powers of AI continue to grow in the future, and if so will they ever reach the point where they can be said to have intelligence equivalent to or greater than that of a human being?
:Could we ever reach the point where we can accept the thesis that an AI system could have something like consciousness or sentience?
:Could we reach the point where an AI system could be said to behave ethically, or to have responsibility for its actions?
:Can quantum computers enable a stronger AI than what we have today?
:Can a computer have desires, a will, and emotions?
:Can a computer have responsibility for its behavior?
:Could a machine have something like a personal identity? Would I really survive if the contents of my brain were uploaded to the cloud?

We will describe in detail how stochastic AI works, and consider these and a series of other questions at the borderlines of philosophy and AI. The class will close with presentations of papers on relevant topics given by students.

Some of the material for this class is derived from our book

''Why Machines Will Never Rule the World: Artificial Intelligence without Fear'' (2nd edition, Routledge 2025).
and from the companion volume:

''Symposium on Why Machines Will Never Rule the World'' — Guest editor, Janna Hastings, University of Zurich
which appeared as a special issue of the public access journal Cosmos + Taxis in early 2024.

'''Faculty'''

Jobst Landgrebe is the founder and CEO of Cognotekt, GmBH, an AI company based in Cologne specialised in the design and implementation of holistic AI solutions. He has 20 years experience in the AI field, 8 years as a management consultant and software architect. He has also worked as a physician and mathematician, and he views AI itself -- to the extent that it is not an elaborate hype -- as a branch of applied mathematics. CUrrently his primary focus is in the biomathematics of cancer.

Barry Smith is one of the world's most widely [https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=icGNWj4AAAAJ cited philosophers]. He has contributed primarily to the field of applied ontology, which means applying philosophical ideas derived from analytical metaphysics to the concrete practical problems which arise where attempts are made to compare or combine heterogeneous bodies of data.

Grading

:Essay with presentation: 70%
:Essay with no presentation: 85%
:Presentation: 15%
:Class Participation 15%

'''Draft Schedule'''

:Venue: Room A23

'''Program'''

==Monday, May 4 (13:30-16:15) AI and Philosophy: An Introduction==

Part 1: An introduction to the course

Part 2: Outline of the theory of complex systems documented in our book: ''[https://www.amazon.com/Machines-Will-Never-Rule-World/dp/1032941405/ Why machines will never rule the world]''. Summary [https://philpapers.org/rec/LANWMW-3 here].

:In the course of the next 2 weeks we will show why AI cannot model complex systems adequately and synoptically, and why they therefore cannot reach a level of intelligence equal to that of human beings
:Note the difference between 'complex' and 'complicated'

Part 3: Booming interest in ontology unleashed by the idea of 'neurosymbolic AI'

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-1-Video Video]

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture1-Slides Slides]

'''Background'''
The classical psychological definitions of intelligence are:
:A. the ability to adapt to new situations (applies both to humans and to animals)
:B. a very general mental capability (possessed only by humans) that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly, and learn from experience
:Can a machine be intelligent in either of these senses?

'''Readings'''
:[Capabilities: An ontology]

:Linda S. Gottfredson. Mainstream Science on Intelligence. In: Intelligence 24 (1997), pp. 13–23.
:Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith: There is no Artificial General Intelligence
:Jobst Landgrebe: Deep reasoning, abstraction and planning


:Ersatz Definitions, Anthropomorphisms, and Pareidolia

There's no 'I' in 'AI', Steven Pemberton, Amsterdam, December 12, 2024
:1. Esatz definitions: using words like 'thinks' as in 'the machine is thinking', but with meanings quite different from those we use when talking about human beings. As when we define 'flying' as moving through the air, and then jumping up and down and saying "look, I'm flying!"
:2. Pareidolia: a psychological phenomenon that causes people to see patterns, objects, or meaning in ambiguous or unrelated stimuli
:3. If you can't spot irony, you're not intelligent

'''Background'''

Will AI Destroy Humanity? A Soho Forum Debate (Spoiler: Jobst won)

R.V. Yampolskii, AI: Unexplainable, Unpredictable, Uncontrollable

Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor, AI Snake Oil

Arnold Schelsky, The Hype Book, especially Chapter 1.

==Tuesday May 5 (09:30-12:15) Transhumanism: The Ultimate Stage of Cartesianism ==

Video

Slides

1. Surveys the full spectrum of transhumanism and its cultural origins.

2. Debunk the feasibility of radically improving human beings via technology.

Background:

TESCREALISM, or: why AI gods are so passionate about creating Artificial General Intelligence
Considering the existential risk of Artificial Superintelligence
Thursday, February 20 (9:30 - 12:15) Can a machine be conscious?
The machine will

Computers cannot have a will, because computers don't give a damn. Therefore there can be no machine ethics

The lack of the giving-a-damn-factor is taken by Yann LeCun as a reason to reject the idea that AI might pose an existential risk to humanity – an AI will have no desire for self-preservation “Almost half of CEOs fear A.I. could destroy humanity five to 10 years from now — but ‘A.I. godfather' says an existential threat is ‘preposterously ridiculous’” Fortune, June 15, 2023. See also here.
Implications of the absence of a machine will:

The problem of the singularity (when machines will take over from humans) will not arise
The idea of digital immortality will never be realized Slides
The idea that human beings are simulations can be rejected
There can be no AI ethics (only: ethics governing human beings when they use AI)
Fermi's paradox is solved
Background:

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Slides Slides]

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Video Video]

Searle's Chinese Room Argument
Machines cannot have intentionality; they cannot have experiences which are about something.

Searle: Minds, Brains, and Programs

==Wednesday May 6 (09:30-12:15) AI and the Theory of Complex and Dynamic Systems==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Video Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Slides Slides]

Provides an introduction to the theory of complex and dynamic systems. Examples include: population growth

== Thursday, May 7 (13:30 - 16:15) 1. Capabilities and Skills; 2. AI and History and Geography==

Part 0: How to give a good powerpoint presentation

Part 1: Functions, Capabilities, Skills

Part 2: On territory

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-4 Slides]

[https://buffalo.box.com/s/8d1h9yidtxw0994m8rakyvxq1t41mtvj Video]

== Friday, May 8 (13:30 - 16:15) Part 1. Introduction to LLMs. Part 2. Animal, Human and Machine Intelligence: A Territorial Perspective==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5-Part-2 Slides Part 2]

==Tuesday (May 12, 9:30 - 12:15) 1. Why LLMs must Hallucinate. 2. Planning, Creativity, and Entrepreneurial Perception==

[https://buffalo.box.com/s/vgd92r9mv2ynw38sqgc07e5uy4uxd2tz Slides: Part 2]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-6-Part-1 Video: Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-6-Part-2 Video: Part 2]

From Speech Acts to Document Acts: An Ontology of Institutions [https://buffalo.box.com/s/85h3u1nvjtbnm5krs0tr7rfkys2p48qc Slides]

Massively Planned Social Agency [https://buffalo.box.com/s/v6huywh7gs09jsosfxo7ox62ap7wiccd Slides]

AI Creativity and Entrepreneurial Perception Slides

==Wednesday, May 13 (09:30 - 12:15) The Limits of AI and the Limits of Physics==

==Friday May 15 (09:30-12:15) Student Presentations, followed by: On AI, Jobs, and Economics ==



==Background Material==

'''An Introduction to AI for Philosophers'''
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmiY8_XVvzs Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Why-not-robot-cops Slides]
(AI experts are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''An Introduction to Philosophy for Computer Scientists'''
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/What-is-philosophy Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Crash-Course-Introduction Slides]
(Philosophers are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''[https://www.cp.eng.chula.ac.th/~prabhas/teaching/cbs-it-seminar/2012/aiphil-mccarthy.pdf John McCarthy, "What has AI in common with philosophy?"]

Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026

2026-05-14T15:59:37Z

Phismith: /* Tuesday (May 12, 9:30 - 12:15) 1. Why LLMs must Hallucinate. 2. Planning, Creativity, and Entrepreneurial Perception */

'''Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026'''

Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith

MAP, USI, Lugano, Spring 2026

Venue: Room A23

'''[https://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2026/05/ontology-phd.html University at Buffalo to offer world’s first doctorate in applied ontology]'''

[https://buffalo.zoom.us/j/92039377770?pwd=pL6MALdTb5mB1QnqlwYPwAoNaYeEp4.1 Zoom link]

'''Introduction'''

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the subfield of Computer Science devoted to developing programs that enable computers to display behavior that can (broadly) be characterized as intelligent. On the strong version, the ultimate goal of AI is to create what is called General Artificial Intelligence (AGI), by which is meant an artificial system that is at least as intelligent as a human being.

Since its inception in the middle of the last century AI has enjoyed repeated cycles of enthusiasm and disappointment (AI summers and winters). Recent successes of ChatGPT and other Large Language Models (LLMs) have opened a new era of popularization of AI. For the first time, AI tools have been created which are immediately available to the wider population, who for the first time can have real hands-on experience of what AI can do.

These developments in AI open up a series of questions such as:

:Will the powers of AI continue to grow in the future, and if so will they ever reach the point where they can be said to have intelligence equivalent to or greater than that of a human being?
:Could we ever reach the point where we can accept the thesis that an AI system could have something like consciousness or sentience?
:Could we reach the point where an AI system could be said to behave ethically, or to have responsibility for its actions?
:Can quantum computers enable a stronger AI than what we have today?
:Can a computer have desires, a will, and emotions?
:Can a computer have responsibility for its behavior?
:Could a machine have something like a personal identity? Would I really survive if the contents of my brain were uploaded to the cloud?

We will describe in detail how stochastic AI works, and consider these and a series of other questions at the borderlines of philosophy and AI. The class will close with presentations of papers on relevant topics given by students.

Some of the material for this class is derived from our book

''Why Machines Will Never Rule the World: Artificial Intelligence without Fear'' (2nd edition, Routledge 2025).
and from the companion volume:

''Symposium on Why Machines Will Never Rule the World'' — Guest editor, Janna Hastings, University of Zurich
which appeared as a special issue of the public access journal Cosmos + Taxis in early 2024.

'''Faculty'''

Jobst Landgrebe is the founder and CEO of Cognotekt, GmBH, an AI company based in Cologne specialised in the design and implementation of holistic AI solutions. He has 20 years experience in the AI field, 8 years as a management consultant and software architect. He has also worked as a physician and mathematician, and he views AI itself -- to the extent that it is not an elaborate hype -- as a branch of applied mathematics. CUrrently his primary focus is in the biomathematics of cancer.

Barry Smith is one of the world's most widely [https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=icGNWj4AAAAJ cited philosophers]. He has contributed primarily to the field of applied ontology, which means applying philosophical ideas derived from analytical metaphysics to the concrete practical problems which arise where attempts are made to compare or combine heterogeneous bodies of data.

Grading

:Essay with presentation: 70%
:Essay with no presentation: 85%
:Presentation: 15%
:Class Participation 15%

'''Draft Schedule'''

:Venue: Room A23

'''Program'''

==Monday, May 4 (13:30-16:15) AI and Philosophy: An Introduction==

Part 1: An introduction to the course

Part 2: Outline of the theory of complex systems documented in our book: ''[https://www.amazon.com/Machines-Will-Never-Rule-World/dp/1032941405/ Why machines will never rule the world]''. Summary [https://philpapers.org/rec/LANWMW-3 here].

:In the course of the next 2 weeks we will show why AI cannot model complex systems adequately and synoptically, and why they therefore cannot reach a level of intelligence equal to that of human beings
:Note the difference between 'complex' and 'complicated'

Part 3: Booming interest in ontology unleashed by the idea of 'neurosymbolic AI'

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-1-Video Video]

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture1-Slides Slides]

'''Background'''
The classical psychological definitions of intelligence are:
:A. the ability to adapt to new situations (applies both to humans and to animals)
:B. a very general mental capability (possessed only by humans) that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly, and learn from experience
:Can a machine be intelligent in either of these senses?

'''Readings'''
:[Capabilities: An ontology]

:Linda S. Gottfredson. Mainstream Science on Intelligence. In: Intelligence 24 (1997), pp. 13–23.
:Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith: There is no Artificial General Intelligence
:Jobst Landgrebe: Deep reasoning, abstraction and planning


:Ersatz Definitions, Anthropomorphisms, and Pareidolia

There's no 'I' in 'AI', Steven Pemberton, Amsterdam, December 12, 2024
:1. Esatz definitions: using words like 'thinks' as in 'the machine is thinking', but with meanings quite different from those we use when talking about human beings. As when we define 'flying' as moving through the air, and then jumping up and down and saying "look, I'm flying!"
:2. Pareidolia: a psychological phenomenon that causes people to see patterns, objects, or meaning in ambiguous or unrelated stimuli
:3. If you can't spot irony, you're not intelligent

'''Background'''

Will AI Destroy Humanity? A Soho Forum Debate (Spoiler: Jobst won)

R.V. Yampolskii, AI: Unexplainable, Unpredictable, Uncontrollable

Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor, AI Snake Oil

Arnold Schelsky, The Hype Book, especially Chapter 1.

==Tuesday May 5 (09:30-12:15) Transhumanism: The Ultimate Stage of Cartesianism ==

Video

Slides

1. Surveys the full spectrum of transhumanism and its cultural origins.

2. Debunk the feasibility of radically improving human beings via technology.

Background:

TESCREALISM, or: why AI gods are so passionate about creating Artificial General Intelligence
Considering the existential risk of Artificial Superintelligence
Thursday, February 20 (9:30 - 12:15) Can a machine be conscious?
The machine will

Computers cannot have a will, because computers don't give a damn. Therefore there can be no machine ethics

The lack of the giving-a-damn-factor is taken by Yann LeCun as a reason to reject the idea that AI might pose an existential risk to humanity – an AI will have no desire for self-preservation “Almost half of CEOs fear A.I. could destroy humanity five to 10 years from now — but ‘A.I. godfather' says an existential threat is ‘preposterously ridiculous’” Fortune, June 15, 2023. See also here.
Implications of the absence of a machine will:

The problem of the singularity (when machines will take over from humans) will not arise
The idea of digital immortality will never be realized Slides
The idea that human beings are simulations can be rejected
There can be no AI ethics (only: ethics governing human beings when they use AI)
Fermi's paradox is solved
Background:

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Slides Slides]

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Video Video]

Searle's Chinese Room Argument
Machines cannot have intentionality; they cannot have experiences which are about something.

Searle: Minds, Brains, and Programs

==Wednesday May 6 (09:30-12:15) AI and the Theory of Complex and Dynamic Systems==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Video Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Slides Slides]

Provides an introduction to the theory of complex and dynamic systems. Examples include: population growth

== Thursday, May 7 (13:30 - 16:15) 1. Capabilities and Skills; 2. AI and History and Geography==

Part 0: How to give a good powerpoint presentation

Part 1: Functions, Capabilities, Skills

Part 2: On territory

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-4 Slides]

[https://buffalo.box.com/s/8d1h9yidtxw0994m8rakyvxq1t41mtvj Video]

== Friday, May 8 (13:30 - 16:15) Part 1. Introduction to LLMs. Part 2. Animal, Human and Machine Intelligence: A Territorial Perspective==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5-Part-2 Slides Part 2]

==Tuesday (May 12, 9:30 - 12:15) 1. Why LLMs must Hallucinate. 2. Planning, Creativity, and Entrepreneurial Perception==

[https://buffalo.box.com/s/vgd92r9mv2ynw38sqgc07e5uy4uxd2tz Slides]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-6-Part-1 Video: Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-6-Part-2 Video: Part 2]

From Speech Acts to Document Acts: An Ontology of Institutions [https://buffalo.box.com/s/85h3u1nvjtbnm5krs0tr7rfkys2p48qc Slides]

Massively Planned Social Agency [https://buffalo.box.com/s/v6huywh7gs09jsosfxo7ox62ap7wiccd Slides]

AI Creativity and Entrepreneurial Perception Slides

==Wednesday, May 13 (09:30 - 12:15) The Limits of AI and the Limits of Physics==

==Friday May 15 (09:30-12:15) Student Presentations, followed by: On AI, Jobs, and Economics ==



==Background Material==

'''An Introduction to AI for Philosophers'''
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmiY8_XVvzs Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Why-not-robot-cops Slides]
(AI experts are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''An Introduction to Philosophy for Computer Scientists'''
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/What-is-philosophy Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Crash-Course-Introduction Slides]
(Philosophers are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''[https://www.cp.eng.chula.ac.th/~prabhas/teaching/cbs-it-seminar/2012/aiphil-mccarthy.pdf John McCarthy, "What has AI in common with philosophy?"]

Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026

2026-05-14T15:58:19Z

Phismith: /* Tuesday (May 12, 9:30 - 12:15) 1. Why LLMs must Hallucinate. 2. Planning, Creativity, and Entrepreneurial Perception */

'''Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026'''

Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith

MAP, USI, Lugano, Spring 2026

Venue: Room A23

'''[https://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2026/05/ontology-phd.html University at Buffalo to offer world’s first doctorate in applied ontology]'''

[https://buffalo.zoom.us/j/92039377770?pwd=pL6MALdTb5mB1QnqlwYPwAoNaYeEp4.1 Zoom link]

'''Introduction'''

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the subfield of Computer Science devoted to developing programs that enable computers to display behavior that can (broadly) be characterized as intelligent. On the strong version, the ultimate goal of AI is to create what is called General Artificial Intelligence (AGI), by which is meant an artificial system that is at least as intelligent as a human being.

Since its inception in the middle of the last century AI has enjoyed repeated cycles of enthusiasm and disappointment (AI summers and winters). Recent successes of ChatGPT and other Large Language Models (LLMs) have opened a new era of popularization of AI. For the first time, AI tools have been created which are immediately available to the wider population, who for the first time can have real hands-on experience of what AI can do.

These developments in AI open up a series of questions such as:

:Will the powers of AI continue to grow in the future, and if so will they ever reach the point where they can be said to have intelligence equivalent to or greater than that of a human being?
:Could we ever reach the point where we can accept the thesis that an AI system could have something like consciousness or sentience?
:Could we reach the point where an AI system could be said to behave ethically, or to have responsibility for its actions?
:Can quantum computers enable a stronger AI than what we have today?
:Can a computer have desires, a will, and emotions?
:Can a computer have responsibility for its behavior?
:Could a machine have something like a personal identity? Would I really survive if the contents of my brain were uploaded to the cloud?

We will describe in detail how stochastic AI works, and consider these and a series of other questions at the borderlines of philosophy and AI. The class will close with presentations of papers on relevant topics given by students.

Some of the material for this class is derived from our book

''Why Machines Will Never Rule the World: Artificial Intelligence without Fear'' (2nd edition, Routledge 2025).
and from the companion volume:

''Symposium on Why Machines Will Never Rule the World'' — Guest editor, Janna Hastings, University of Zurich
which appeared as a special issue of the public access journal Cosmos + Taxis in early 2024.

'''Faculty'''

Jobst Landgrebe is the founder and CEO of Cognotekt, GmBH, an AI company based in Cologne specialised in the design and implementation of holistic AI solutions. He has 20 years experience in the AI field, 8 years as a management consultant and software architect. He has also worked as a physician and mathematician, and he views AI itself -- to the extent that it is not an elaborate hype -- as a branch of applied mathematics. CUrrently his primary focus is in the biomathematics of cancer.

Barry Smith is one of the world's most widely [https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=icGNWj4AAAAJ cited philosophers]. He has contributed primarily to the field of applied ontology, which means applying philosophical ideas derived from analytical metaphysics to the concrete practical problems which arise where attempts are made to compare or combine heterogeneous bodies of data.

Grading

:Essay with presentation: 70%
:Essay with no presentation: 85%
:Presentation: 15%
:Class Participation 15%

'''Draft Schedule'''

:Venue: Room A23

'''Program'''

==Monday, May 4 (13:30-16:15) AI and Philosophy: An Introduction==

Part 1: An introduction to the course

Part 2: Outline of the theory of complex systems documented in our book: ''[https://www.amazon.com/Machines-Will-Never-Rule-World/dp/1032941405/ Why machines will never rule the world]''. Summary [https://philpapers.org/rec/LANWMW-3 here].

:In the course of the next 2 weeks we will show why AI cannot model complex systems adequately and synoptically, and why they therefore cannot reach a level of intelligence equal to that of human beings
:Note the difference between 'complex' and 'complicated'

Part 3: Booming interest in ontology unleashed by the idea of 'neurosymbolic AI'

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-1-Video Video]

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture1-Slides Slides]

'''Background'''
The classical psychological definitions of intelligence are:
:A. the ability to adapt to new situations (applies both to humans and to animals)
:B. a very general mental capability (possessed only by humans) that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly, and learn from experience
:Can a machine be intelligent in either of these senses?

'''Readings'''
:[Capabilities: An ontology]

:Linda S. Gottfredson. Mainstream Science on Intelligence. In: Intelligence 24 (1997), pp. 13–23.
:Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith: There is no Artificial General Intelligence
:Jobst Landgrebe: Deep reasoning, abstraction and planning


:Ersatz Definitions, Anthropomorphisms, and Pareidolia

There's no 'I' in 'AI', Steven Pemberton, Amsterdam, December 12, 2024
:1. Esatz definitions: using words like 'thinks' as in 'the machine is thinking', but with meanings quite different from those we use when talking about human beings. As when we define 'flying' as moving through the air, and then jumping up and down and saying "look, I'm flying!"
:2. Pareidolia: a psychological phenomenon that causes people to see patterns, objects, or meaning in ambiguous or unrelated stimuli
:3. If you can't spot irony, you're not intelligent

'''Background'''

Will AI Destroy Humanity? A Soho Forum Debate (Spoiler: Jobst won)

R.V. Yampolskii, AI: Unexplainable, Unpredictable, Uncontrollable

Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor, AI Snake Oil

Arnold Schelsky, The Hype Book, especially Chapter 1.

==Tuesday May 5 (09:30-12:15) Transhumanism: The Ultimate Stage of Cartesianism ==

Video

Slides

1. Surveys the full spectrum of transhumanism and its cultural origins.

2. Debunk the feasibility of radically improving human beings via technology.

Background:

TESCREALISM, or: why AI gods are so passionate about creating Artificial General Intelligence
Considering the existential risk of Artificial Superintelligence
Thursday, February 20 (9:30 - 12:15) Can a machine be conscious?
The machine will

Computers cannot have a will, because computers don't give a damn. Therefore there can be no machine ethics

The lack of the giving-a-damn-factor is taken by Yann LeCun as a reason to reject the idea that AI might pose an existential risk to humanity – an AI will have no desire for self-preservation “Almost half of CEOs fear A.I. could destroy humanity five to 10 years from now — but ‘A.I. godfather' says an existential threat is ‘preposterously ridiculous’” Fortune, June 15, 2023. See also here.
Implications of the absence of a machine will:

The problem of the singularity (when machines will take over from humans) will not arise
The idea of digital immortality will never be realized Slides
The idea that human beings are simulations can be rejected
There can be no AI ethics (only: ethics governing human beings when they use AI)
Fermi's paradox is solved
Background:

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Slides Slides]

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Video Video]

Searle's Chinese Room Argument
Machines cannot have intentionality; they cannot have experiences which are about something.

Searle: Minds, Brains, and Programs

==Wednesday May 6 (09:30-12:15) AI and the Theory of Complex and Dynamic Systems==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Video Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Slides Slides]

Provides an introduction to the theory of complex and dynamic systems. Examples include: population growth

== Thursday, May 7 (13:30 - 16:15) 1. Capabilities and Skills; 2. AI and History and Geography==

Part 0: How to give a good powerpoint presentation

Part 1: Functions, Capabilities, Skills

Part 2: On territory

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-4 Slides]

[https://buffalo.box.com/s/8d1h9yidtxw0994m8rakyvxq1t41mtvj Video]

== Friday, May 8 (13:30 - 16:15) Part 1. Introduction to LLMs. Part 2. Animal, Human and Machine Intelligence: A Territorial Perspective==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5-Part-2 Slides Part 2]

==Tuesday (May 12, 9:30 - 12:15) 1. Why LLMs must Hallucinate. 2. Planning, Creativity, and Entrepreneurial Perception==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-6-Part2 Slides]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-6-Part-1 Video: Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-6-Part-2 Video: Part 2]

From Speech Acts to Document Acts: An Ontology of Institutions [https://buffalo.box.com/s/85h3u1nvjtbnm5krs0tr7rfkys2p48qc Slides]

Massively Planned Social Agency [https://buffalo.box.com/s/v6huywh7gs09jsosfxo7ox62ap7wiccd Slides]

AI Creativity and Entrepreneurial Perception Slides

==Wednesday, May 13 (09:30 - 12:15) The Limits of AI and the Limits of Physics==

==Friday May 15 (09:30-12:15) Student Presentations, followed by: On AI, Jobs, and Economics ==



==Background Material==

'''An Introduction to AI for Philosophers'''
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmiY8_XVvzs Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Why-not-robot-cops Slides]
(AI experts are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''An Introduction to Philosophy for Computer Scientists'''
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/What-is-philosophy Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Crash-Course-Introduction Slides]
(Philosophers are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''[https://www.cp.eng.chula.ac.th/~prabhas/teaching/cbs-it-seminar/2012/aiphil-mccarthy.pdf John McCarthy, "What has AI in common with philosophy?"]

Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026

2026-05-14T15:37:03Z

Phismith: /* Friday, May 8 (13:30 - 16:15) Part 1. Introduction to LLMs. Part 2. Animal, Human and Machine Intelligence: A Territorial Perspective */

'''Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026'''

Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith

MAP, USI, Lugano, Spring 2026

Venue: Room A23

'''[https://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2026/05/ontology-phd.html University at Buffalo to offer world’s first doctorate in applied ontology]'''

[https://buffalo.zoom.us/j/92039377770?pwd=pL6MALdTb5mB1QnqlwYPwAoNaYeEp4.1 Zoom link]

'''Introduction'''

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the subfield of Computer Science devoted to developing programs that enable computers to display behavior that can (broadly) be characterized as intelligent. On the strong version, the ultimate goal of AI is to create what is called General Artificial Intelligence (AGI), by which is meant an artificial system that is at least as intelligent as a human being.

Since its inception in the middle of the last century AI has enjoyed repeated cycles of enthusiasm and disappointment (AI summers and winters). Recent successes of ChatGPT and other Large Language Models (LLMs) have opened a new era of popularization of AI. For the first time, AI tools have been created which are immediately available to the wider population, who for the first time can have real hands-on experience of what AI can do.

These developments in AI open up a series of questions such as:

:Will the powers of AI continue to grow in the future, and if so will they ever reach the point where they can be said to have intelligence equivalent to or greater than that of a human being?
:Could we ever reach the point where we can accept the thesis that an AI system could have something like consciousness or sentience?
:Could we reach the point where an AI system could be said to behave ethically, or to have responsibility for its actions?
:Can quantum computers enable a stronger AI than what we have today?
:Can a computer have desires, a will, and emotions?
:Can a computer have responsibility for its behavior?
:Could a machine have something like a personal identity? Would I really survive if the contents of my brain were uploaded to the cloud?

We will describe in detail how stochastic AI works, and consider these and a series of other questions at the borderlines of philosophy and AI. The class will close with presentations of papers on relevant topics given by students.

Some of the material for this class is derived from our book

''Why Machines Will Never Rule the World: Artificial Intelligence without Fear'' (2nd edition, Routledge 2025).
and from the companion volume:

''Symposium on Why Machines Will Never Rule the World'' — Guest editor, Janna Hastings, University of Zurich
which appeared as a special issue of the public access journal Cosmos + Taxis in early 2024.

'''Faculty'''

Jobst Landgrebe is the founder and CEO of Cognotekt, GmBH, an AI company based in Cologne specialised in the design and implementation of holistic AI solutions. He has 20 years experience in the AI field, 8 years as a management consultant and software architect. He has also worked as a physician and mathematician, and he views AI itself -- to the extent that it is not an elaborate hype -- as a branch of applied mathematics. CUrrently his primary focus is in the biomathematics of cancer.

Barry Smith is one of the world's most widely [https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=icGNWj4AAAAJ cited philosophers]. He has contributed primarily to the field of applied ontology, which means applying philosophical ideas derived from analytical metaphysics to the concrete practical problems which arise where attempts are made to compare or combine heterogeneous bodies of data.

Grading

:Essay with presentation: 70%
:Essay with no presentation: 85%
:Presentation: 15%
:Class Participation 15%

'''Draft Schedule'''

:Venue: Room A23

'''Program'''

==Monday, May 4 (13:30-16:15) AI and Philosophy: An Introduction==

Part 1: An introduction to the course

Part 2: Outline of the theory of complex systems documented in our book: ''[https://www.amazon.com/Machines-Will-Never-Rule-World/dp/1032941405/ Why machines will never rule the world]''. Summary [https://philpapers.org/rec/LANWMW-3 here].

:In the course of the next 2 weeks we will show why AI cannot model complex systems adequately and synoptically, and why they therefore cannot reach a level of intelligence equal to that of human beings
:Note the difference between 'complex' and 'complicated'

Part 3: Booming interest in ontology unleashed by the idea of 'neurosymbolic AI'

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-1-Video Video]

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture1-Slides Slides]

'''Background'''
The classical psychological definitions of intelligence are:
:A. the ability to adapt to new situations (applies both to humans and to animals)
:B. a very general mental capability (possessed only by humans) that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly, and learn from experience
:Can a machine be intelligent in either of these senses?

'''Readings'''
:[Capabilities: An ontology]

:Linda S. Gottfredson. Mainstream Science on Intelligence. In: Intelligence 24 (1997), pp. 13–23.
:Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith: There is no Artificial General Intelligence
:Jobst Landgrebe: Deep reasoning, abstraction and planning


:Ersatz Definitions, Anthropomorphisms, and Pareidolia

There's no 'I' in 'AI', Steven Pemberton, Amsterdam, December 12, 2024
:1. Esatz definitions: using words like 'thinks' as in 'the machine is thinking', but with meanings quite different from those we use when talking about human beings. As when we define 'flying' as moving through the air, and then jumping up and down and saying "look, I'm flying!"
:2. Pareidolia: a psychological phenomenon that causes people to see patterns, objects, or meaning in ambiguous or unrelated stimuli
:3. If you can't spot irony, you're not intelligent

'''Background'''

Will AI Destroy Humanity? A Soho Forum Debate (Spoiler: Jobst won)

R.V. Yampolskii, AI: Unexplainable, Unpredictable, Uncontrollable

Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor, AI Snake Oil

Arnold Schelsky, The Hype Book, especially Chapter 1.

==Tuesday May 5 (09:30-12:15) Transhumanism: The Ultimate Stage of Cartesianism ==

Video

Slides

1. Surveys the full spectrum of transhumanism and its cultural origins.

2. Debunk the feasibility of radically improving human beings via technology.

Background:

TESCREALISM, or: why AI gods are so passionate about creating Artificial General Intelligence
Considering the existential risk of Artificial Superintelligence
Thursday, February 20 (9:30 - 12:15) Can a machine be conscious?
The machine will

Computers cannot have a will, because computers don't give a damn. Therefore there can be no machine ethics

The lack of the giving-a-damn-factor is taken by Yann LeCun as a reason to reject the idea that AI might pose an existential risk to humanity – an AI will have no desire for self-preservation “Almost half of CEOs fear A.I. could destroy humanity five to 10 years from now — but ‘A.I. godfather' says an existential threat is ‘preposterously ridiculous’” Fortune, June 15, 2023. See also here.
Implications of the absence of a machine will:

The problem of the singularity (when machines will take over from humans) will not arise
The idea of digital immortality will never be realized Slides
The idea that human beings are simulations can be rejected
There can be no AI ethics (only: ethics governing human beings when they use AI)
Fermi's paradox is solved
Background:

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Slides Slides]

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Video Video]

Searle's Chinese Room Argument
Machines cannot have intentionality; they cannot have experiences which are about something.

Searle: Minds, Brains, and Programs

==Wednesday May 6 (09:30-12:15) AI and the Theory of Complex and Dynamic Systems==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Video Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Slides Slides]

Provides an introduction to the theory of complex and dynamic systems. Examples include: population growth

== Thursday, May 7 (13:30 - 16:15) 1. Capabilities and Skills; 2. AI and History and Geography==

Part 0: How to give a good powerpoint presentation

Part 1: Functions, Capabilities, Skills

Part 2: On territory

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-4 Slides]

[https://buffalo.box.com/s/8d1h9yidtxw0994m8rakyvxq1t41mtvj Video]

== Friday, May 8 (13:30 - 16:15) Part 1. Introduction to LLMs. Part 2. Animal, Human and Machine Intelligence: A Territorial Perspective==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5-Part-2 Slides Part 2]

==Tuesday (May 12, 9:30 - 12:15) 1. Why LLMs must Hallucinate. 2. Planning, Creativity, and Entrepreneurial Perception==

Slides

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-6-Part-1 Video: Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-6-Part-2 Video: Part 2]

From Speech Acts to Document Acts: An Ontology of Institutions [https://buffalo.box.com/s/85h3u1nvjtbnm5krs0tr7rfkys2p48qc Slides]

Massively Planned Social Agency [https://buffalo.box.com/s/v6huywh7gs09jsosfxo7ox62ap7wiccd Slides]

AI Creativity and Entrepreneurial Perception Slides

==Wednesday, May 13 (09:30 - 12:15) The Limits of AI and the Limits of Physics==

==Friday May 15 (09:30-12:15) Student Presentations, followed by: On AI, Jobs, and Economics ==



==Background Material==

'''An Introduction to AI for Philosophers'''
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmiY8_XVvzs Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Why-not-robot-cops Slides]
(AI experts are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''An Introduction to Philosophy for Computer Scientists'''
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/What-is-philosophy Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Crash-Course-Introduction Slides]
(Philosophers are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''[https://www.cp.eng.chula.ac.th/~prabhas/teaching/cbs-it-seminar/2012/aiphil-mccarthy.pdf John McCarthy, "What has AI in common with philosophy?"]

Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026

2026-05-14T06:18:04Z

Phismith: /* Friday May 15 (09:30-12:15) On AI, Jobs, and Economics, followed by Student Presentations */

'''Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026'''

Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith

MAP, USI, Lugano, Spring 2026

Venue: Room A23

'''[https://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2026/05/ontology-phd.html University at Buffalo to offer world’s first doctorate in applied ontology]'''

[https://buffalo.zoom.us/j/92039377770?pwd=pL6MALdTb5mB1QnqlwYPwAoNaYeEp4.1 Zoom link]

'''Introduction'''

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the subfield of Computer Science devoted to developing programs that enable computers to display behavior that can (broadly) be characterized as intelligent. On the strong version, the ultimate goal of AI is to create what is called General Artificial Intelligence (AGI), by which is meant an artificial system that is at least as intelligent as a human being.

Since its inception in the middle of the last century AI has enjoyed repeated cycles of enthusiasm and disappointment (AI summers and winters). Recent successes of ChatGPT and other Large Language Models (LLMs) have opened a new era of popularization of AI. For the first time, AI tools have been created which are immediately available to the wider population, who for the first time can have real hands-on experience of what AI can do.

These developments in AI open up a series of questions such as:

:Will the powers of AI continue to grow in the future, and if so will they ever reach the point where they can be said to have intelligence equivalent to or greater than that of a human being?
:Could we ever reach the point where we can accept the thesis that an AI system could have something like consciousness or sentience?
:Could we reach the point where an AI system could be said to behave ethically, or to have responsibility for its actions?
:Can quantum computers enable a stronger AI than what we have today?
:Can a computer have desires, a will, and emotions?
:Can a computer have responsibility for its behavior?
:Could a machine have something like a personal identity? Would I really survive if the contents of my brain were uploaded to the cloud?

We will describe in detail how stochastic AI works, and consider these and a series of other questions at the borderlines of philosophy and AI. The class will close with presentations of papers on relevant topics given by students.

Some of the material for this class is derived from our book

''Why Machines Will Never Rule the World: Artificial Intelligence without Fear'' (2nd edition, Routledge 2025).
and from the companion volume:

''Symposium on Why Machines Will Never Rule the World'' — Guest editor, Janna Hastings, University of Zurich
which appeared as a special issue of the public access journal Cosmos + Taxis in early 2024.

'''Faculty'''

Jobst Landgrebe is the founder and CEO of Cognotekt, GmBH, an AI company based in Cologne specialised in the design and implementation of holistic AI solutions. He has 20 years experience in the AI field, 8 years as a management consultant and software architect. He has also worked as a physician and mathematician, and he views AI itself -- to the extent that it is not an elaborate hype -- as a branch of applied mathematics. CUrrently his primary focus is in the biomathematics of cancer.

Barry Smith is one of the world's most widely [https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=icGNWj4AAAAJ cited philosophers]. He has contributed primarily to the field of applied ontology, which means applying philosophical ideas derived from analytical metaphysics to the concrete practical problems which arise where attempts are made to compare or combine heterogeneous bodies of data.

Grading

:Essay with presentation: 70%
:Essay with no presentation: 85%
:Presentation: 15%
:Class Participation 15%

'''Draft Schedule'''

:Venue: Room A23

'''Program'''

==Monday, May 4 (13:30-16:15) AI and Philosophy: An Introduction==

Part 1: An introduction to the course

Part 2: Outline of the theory of complex systems documented in our book: ''[https://www.amazon.com/Machines-Will-Never-Rule-World/dp/1032941405/ Why machines will never rule the world]''. Summary [https://philpapers.org/rec/LANWMW-3 here].

:In the course of the next 2 weeks we will show why AI cannot model complex systems adequately and synoptically, and why they therefore cannot reach a level of intelligence equal to that of human beings
:Note the difference between 'complex' and 'complicated'

Part 3: Booming interest in ontology unleashed by the idea of 'neurosymbolic AI'

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-1-Video Video]

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture1-Slides Slides]

'''Background'''
The classical psychological definitions of intelligence are:
:A. the ability to adapt to new situations (applies both to humans and to animals)
:B. a very general mental capability (possessed only by humans) that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly, and learn from experience
:Can a machine be intelligent in either of these senses?

'''Readings'''
:[Capabilities: An ontology]

:Linda S. Gottfredson. Mainstream Science on Intelligence. In: Intelligence 24 (1997), pp. 13–23.
:Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith: There is no Artificial General Intelligence
:Jobst Landgrebe: Deep reasoning, abstraction and planning


:Ersatz Definitions, Anthropomorphisms, and Pareidolia

There's no 'I' in 'AI', Steven Pemberton, Amsterdam, December 12, 2024
:1. Esatz definitions: using words like 'thinks' as in 'the machine is thinking', but with meanings quite different from those we use when talking about human beings. As when we define 'flying' as moving through the air, and then jumping up and down and saying "look, I'm flying!"
:2. Pareidolia: a psychological phenomenon that causes people to see patterns, objects, or meaning in ambiguous or unrelated stimuli
:3. If you can't spot irony, you're not intelligent

'''Background'''

Will AI Destroy Humanity? A Soho Forum Debate (Spoiler: Jobst won)

R.V. Yampolskii, AI: Unexplainable, Unpredictable, Uncontrollable

Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor, AI Snake Oil

Arnold Schelsky, The Hype Book, especially Chapter 1.

==Tuesday May 5 (09:30-12:15) Transhumanism: The Ultimate Stage of Cartesianism ==

Video

Slides

1. Surveys the full spectrum of transhumanism and its cultural origins.

2. Debunk the feasibility of radically improving human beings via technology.

Background:

TESCREALISM, or: why AI gods are so passionate about creating Artificial General Intelligence
Considering the existential risk of Artificial Superintelligence
Thursday, February 20 (9:30 - 12:15) Can a machine be conscious?
The machine will

Computers cannot have a will, because computers don't give a damn. Therefore there can be no machine ethics

The lack of the giving-a-damn-factor is taken by Yann LeCun as a reason to reject the idea that AI might pose an existential risk to humanity – an AI will have no desire for self-preservation “Almost half of CEOs fear A.I. could destroy humanity five to 10 years from now — but ‘A.I. godfather' says an existential threat is ‘preposterously ridiculous’” Fortune, June 15, 2023. See also here.
Implications of the absence of a machine will:

The problem of the singularity (when machines will take over from humans) will not arise
The idea of digital immortality will never be realized Slides
The idea that human beings are simulations can be rejected
There can be no AI ethics (only: ethics governing human beings when they use AI)
Fermi's paradox is solved
Background:

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Slides Slides]

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Video Video]

Searle's Chinese Room Argument
Machines cannot have intentionality; they cannot have experiences which are about something.

Searle: Minds, Brains, and Programs

==Wednesday May 6 (09:30-12:15) AI and the Theory of Complex and Dynamic Systems==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Video Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Slides Slides]

Provides an introduction to the theory of complex and dynamic systems. Examples include: population growth

== Thursday, May 7 (13:30 - 16:15) 1. Capabilities and Skills; 2. AI and History and Geography==

Part 0: How to give a good powerpoint presentation

Part 1: Functions, Capabilities, Skills

Part 2: On territory

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-4 Slides]

[https://buffalo.box.com/s/8d1h9yidtxw0994m8rakyvxq1t41mtvj Video]

== Friday, May 8 (13:30 - 16:15) Part 1. Introduction to LLMs. Part 2. Animal, Human and Machine Intelligence: A Territorial Perspective==

==Tuesday (May 12, 9:30 - 12:15) 1. Why LLMs must Hallucinate. 2. Planning, Creativity, and Entrepreneurial Perception==

Slides

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-6-Part-1 Video: Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-6-Part-2 Video: Part 2]

From Speech Acts to Document Acts: An Ontology of Institutions [https://buffalo.box.com/s/85h3u1nvjtbnm5krs0tr7rfkys2p48qc Slides]

Massively Planned Social Agency [https://buffalo.box.com/s/v6huywh7gs09jsosfxo7ox62ap7wiccd Slides]

AI Creativity and Entrepreneurial Perception Slides

==Wednesday, May 13 (09:30 - 12:15) The Limits of AI and the Limits of Physics==

==Friday May 15 (09:30-12:15) Student Presentations, followed by: On AI, Jobs, and Economics ==



==Background Material==

'''An Introduction to AI for Philosophers'''
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmiY8_XVvzs Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Why-not-robot-cops Slides]
(AI experts are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''An Introduction to Philosophy for Computer Scientists'''
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/What-is-philosophy Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Crash-Course-Introduction Slides]
(Philosophers are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''[https://www.cp.eng.chula.ac.th/~prabhas/teaching/cbs-it-seminar/2012/aiphil-mccarthy.pdf John McCarthy, "What has AI in common with philosophy?"]

Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026

2026-05-14T06:17:16Z

Phismith: /* Tuesday (May 12, 9:30 - 12:15) 1. Why LLMs must Hallucination. 2. Planning, Creativity, and Entrepreneurial Perception */

'''Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026'''

Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith

MAP, USI, Lugano, Spring 2026

Venue: Room A23

'''[https://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2026/05/ontology-phd.html University at Buffalo to offer world’s first doctorate in applied ontology]'''

[https://buffalo.zoom.us/j/92039377770?pwd=pL6MALdTb5mB1QnqlwYPwAoNaYeEp4.1 Zoom link]

'''Introduction'''

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the subfield of Computer Science devoted to developing programs that enable computers to display behavior that can (broadly) be characterized as intelligent. On the strong version, the ultimate goal of AI is to create what is called General Artificial Intelligence (AGI), by which is meant an artificial system that is at least as intelligent as a human being.

Since its inception in the middle of the last century AI has enjoyed repeated cycles of enthusiasm and disappointment (AI summers and winters). Recent successes of ChatGPT and other Large Language Models (LLMs) have opened a new era of popularization of AI. For the first time, AI tools have been created which are immediately available to the wider population, who for the first time can have real hands-on experience of what AI can do.

These developments in AI open up a series of questions such as:

:Will the powers of AI continue to grow in the future, and if so will they ever reach the point where they can be said to have intelligence equivalent to or greater than that of a human being?
:Could we ever reach the point where we can accept the thesis that an AI system could have something like consciousness or sentience?
:Could we reach the point where an AI system could be said to behave ethically, or to have responsibility for its actions?
:Can quantum computers enable a stronger AI than what we have today?
:Can a computer have desires, a will, and emotions?
:Can a computer have responsibility for its behavior?
:Could a machine have something like a personal identity? Would I really survive if the contents of my brain were uploaded to the cloud?

We will describe in detail how stochastic AI works, and consider these and a series of other questions at the borderlines of philosophy and AI. The class will close with presentations of papers on relevant topics given by students.

Some of the material for this class is derived from our book

''Why Machines Will Never Rule the World: Artificial Intelligence without Fear'' (2nd edition, Routledge 2025).
and from the companion volume:

''Symposium on Why Machines Will Never Rule the World'' — Guest editor, Janna Hastings, University of Zurich
which appeared as a special issue of the public access journal Cosmos + Taxis in early 2024.

'''Faculty'''

Jobst Landgrebe is the founder and CEO of Cognotekt, GmBH, an AI company based in Cologne specialised in the design and implementation of holistic AI solutions. He has 20 years experience in the AI field, 8 years as a management consultant and software architect. He has also worked as a physician and mathematician, and he views AI itself -- to the extent that it is not an elaborate hype -- as a branch of applied mathematics. CUrrently his primary focus is in the biomathematics of cancer.

Barry Smith is one of the world's most widely [https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=icGNWj4AAAAJ cited philosophers]. He has contributed primarily to the field of applied ontology, which means applying philosophical ideas derived from analytical metaphysics to the concrete practical problems which arise where attempts are made to compare or combine heterogeneous bodies of data.

Grading

:Essay with presentation: 70%
:Essay with no presentation: 85%
:Presentation: 15%
:Class Participation 15%

'''Draft Schedule'''

:Venue: Room A23

'''Program'''

==Monday, May 4 (13:30-16:15) AI and Philosophy: An Introduction==

Part 1: An introduction to the course

Part 2: Outline of the theory of complex systems documented in our book: ''[https://www.amazon.com/Machines-Will-Never-Rule-World/dp/1032941405/ Why machines will never rule the world]''. Summary [https://philpapers.org/rec/LANWMW-3 here].

:In the course of the next 2 weeks we will show why AI cannot model complex systems adequately and synoptically, and why they therefore cannot reach a level of intelligence equal to that of human beings
:Note the difference between 'complex' and 'complicated'

Part 3: Booming interest in ontology unleashed by the idea of 'neurosymbolic AI'

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-1-Video Video]

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture1-Slides Slides]

'''Background'''
The classical psychological definitions of intelligence are:
:A. the ability to adapt to new situations (applies both to humans and to animals)
:B. a very general mental capability (possessed only by humans) that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly, and learn from experience
:Can a machine be intelligent in either of these senses?

'''Readings'''
:[Capabilities: An ontology]

:Linda S. Gottfredson. Mainstream Science on Intelligence. In: Intelligence 24 (1997), pp. 13–23.
:Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith: There is no Artificial General Intelligence
:Jobst Landgrebe: Deep reasoning, abstraction and planning


:Ersatz Definitions, Anthropomorphisms, and Pareidolia

There's no 'I' in 'AI', Steven Pemberton, Amsterdam, December 12, 2024
:1. Esatz definitions: using words like 'thinks' as in 'the machine is thinking', but with meanings quite different from those we use when talking about human beings. As when we define 'flying' as moving through the air, and then jumping up and down and saying "look, I'm flying!"
:2. Pareidolia: a psychological phenomenon that causes people to see patterns, objects, or meaning in ambiguous or unrelated stimuli
:3. If you can't spot irony, you're not intelligent

'''Background'''

Will AI Destroy Humanity? A Soho Forum Debate (Spoiler: Jobst won)

R.V. Yampolskii, AI: Unexplainable, Unpredictable, Uncontrollable

Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor, AI Snake Oil

Arnold Schelsky, The Hype Book, especially Chapter 1.

==Tuesday May 5 (09:30-12:15) Transhumanism: The Ultimate Stage of Cartesianism ==

Video

Slides

1. Surveys the full spectrum of transhumanism and its cultural origins.

2. Debunk the feasibility of radically improving human beings via technology.

Background:

TESCREALISM, or: why AI gods are so passionate about creating Artificial General Intelligence
Considering the existential risk of Artificial Superintelligence
Thursday, February 20 (9:30 - 12:15) Can a machine be conscious?
The machine will

Computers cannot have a will, because computers don't give a damn. Therefore there can be no machine ethics

The lack of the giving-a-damn-factor is taken by Yann LeCun as a reason to reject the idea that AI might pose an existential risk to humanity – an AI will have no desire for self-preservation “Almost half of CEOs fear A.I. could destroy humanity five to 10 years from now — but ‘A.I. godfather' says an existential threat is ‘preposterously ridiculous’” Fortune, June 15, 2023. See also here.
Implications of the absence of a machine will:

The problem of the singularity (when machines will take over from humans) will not arise
The idea of digital immortality will never be realized Slides
The idea that human beings are simulations can be rejected
There can be no AI ethics (only: ethics governing human beings when they use AI)
Fermi's paradox is solved
Background:

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Slides Slides]

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Video Video]

Searle's Chinese Room Argument
Machines cannot have intentionality; they cannot have experiences which are about something.

Searle: Minds, Brains, and Programs

==Wednesday May 6 (09:30-12:15) AI and the Theory of Complex and Dynamic Systems==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Video Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Slides Slides]

Provides an introduction to the theory of complex and dynamic systems. Examples include: population growth

== Thursday, May 7 (13:30 - 16:15) 1. Capabilities and Skills; 2. AI and History and Geography==

Part 0: How to give a good powerpoint presentation

Part 1: Functions, Capabilities, Skills

Part 2: On territory

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-4 Slides]

[https://buffalo.box.com/s/8d1h9yidtxw0994m8rakyvxq1t41mtvj Video]

== Friday, May 8 (13:30 - 16:15) Part 1. Introduction to LLMs. Part 2. Animal, Human and Machine Intelligence: A Territorial Perspective==

==Tuesday (May 12, 9:30 - 12:15) 1. Why LLMs must Hallucinate. 2. Planning, Creativity, and Entrepreneurial Perception==

Slides

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-6-Part-1 Video: Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-6-Part-2 Video: Part 2]

From Speech Acts to Document Acts: An Ontology of Institutions [https://buffalo.box.com/s/85h3u1nvjtbnm5krs0tr7rfkys2p48qc Slides]

Massively Planned Social Agency [https://buffalo.box.com/s/v6huywh7gs09jsosfxo7ox62ap7wiccd Slides]

AI Creativity and Entrepreneurial Perception Slides

==Wednesday, May 13 (09:30 - 12:15) The Limits of AI and the Limits of Physics==

==Friday May 15 (09:30-12:15) On AI, Jobs, and Economics, followed by Student Presentations ==



==Background Material==

'''An Introduction to AI for Philosophers'''
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmiY8_XVvzs Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Why-not-robot-cops Slides]
(AI experts are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''An Introduction to Philosophy for Computer Scientists'''
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/What-is-philosophy Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Crash-Course-Introduction Slides]
(Philosophers are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''[https://www.cp.eng.chula.ac.th/~prabhas/teaching/cbs-it-seminar/2012/aiphil-mccarthy.pdf John McCarthy, "What has AI in common with philosophy?"]

Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026

2026-05-14T06:06:47Z

Phismith: /* Friday, May 8 (13:30 - 16:15) Animal, Human and Machine Intelligence: A Territorial Perspective */

'''Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026'''

Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith

MAP, USI, Lugano, Spring 2026

Venue: Room A23

'''[https://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2026/05/ontology-phd.html University at Buffalo to offer world’s first doctorate in applied ontology]'''

[https://buffalo.zoom.us/j/92039377770?pwd=pL6MALdTb5mB1QnqlwYPwAoNaYeEp4.1 Zoom link]

'''Introduction'''

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the subfield of Computer Science devoted to developing programs that enable computers to display behavior that can (broadly) be characterized as intelligent. On the strong version, the ultimate goal of AI is to create what is called General Artificial Intelligence (AGI), by which is meant an artificial system that is at least as intelligent as a human being.

Since its inception in the middle of the last century AI has enjoyed repeated cycles of enthusiasm and disappointment (AI summers and winters). Recent successes of ChatGPT and other Large Language Models (LLMs) have opened a new era of popularization of AI. For the first time, AI tools have been created which are immediately available to the wider population, who for the first time can have real hands-on experience of what AI can do.

These developments in AI open up a series of questions such as:

:Will the powers of AI continue to grow in the future, and if so will they ever reach the point where they can be said to have intelligence equivalent to or greater than that of a human being?
:Could we ever reach the point where we can accept the thesis that an AI system could have something like consciousness or sentience?
:Could we reach the point where an AI system could be said to behave ethically, or to have responsibility for its actions?
:Can quantum computers enable a stronger AI than what we have today?
:Can a computer have desires, a will, and emotions?
:Can a computer have responsibility for its behavior?
:Could a machine have something like a personal identity? Would I really survive if the contents of my brain were uploaded to the cloud?

We will describe in detail how stochastic AI works, and consider these and a series of other questions at the borderlines of philosophy and AI. The class will close with presentations of papers on relevant topics given by students.

Some of the material for this class is derived from our book

''Why Machines Will Never Rule the World: Artificial Intelligence without Fear'' (2nd edition, Routledge 2025).
and from the companion volume:

''Symposium on Why Machines Will Never Rule the World'' — Guest editor, Janna Hastings, University of Zurich
which appeared as a special issue of the public access journal Cosmos + Taxis in early 2024.

'''Faculty'''

Jobst Landgrebe is the founder and CEO of Cognotekt, GmBH, an AI company based in Cologne specialised in the design and implementation of holistic AI solutions. He has 20 years experience in the AI field, 8 years as a management consultant and software architect. He has also worked as a physician and mathematician, and he views AI itself -- to the extent that it is not an elaborate hype -- as a branch of applied mathematics. CUrrently his primary focus is in the biomathematics of cancer.

Barry Smith is one of the world's most widely [https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=icGNWj4AAAAJ cited philosophers]. He has contributed primarily to the field of applied ontology, which means applying philosophical ideas derived from analytical metaphysics to the concrete practical problems which arise where attempts are made to compare or combine heterogeneous bodies of data.

Grading

:Essay with presentation: 70%
:Essay with no presentation: 85%
:Presentation: 15%
:Class Participation 15%

'''Draft Schedule'''

:Venue: Room A23

'''Program'''

==Monday, May 4 (13:30-16:15) AI and Philosophy: An Introduction==

Part 1: An introduction to the course

Part 2: Outline of the theory of complex systems documented in our book: ''[https://www.amazon.com/Machines-Will-Never-Rule-World/dp/1032941405/ Why machines will never rule the world]''. Summary [https://philpapers.org/rec/LANWMW-3 here].

:In the course of the next 2 weeks we will show why AI cannot model complex systems adequately and synoptically, and why they therefore cannot reach a level of intelligence equal to that of human beings
:Note the difference between 'complex' and 'complicated'

Part 3: Booming interest in ontology unleashed by the idea of 'neurosymbolic AI'

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-1-Video Video]

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture1-Slides Slides]

'''Background'''
The classical psychological definitions of intelligence are:
:A. the ability to adapt to new situations (applies both to humans and to animals)
:B. a very general mental capability (possessed only by humans) that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly, and learn from experience
:Can a machine be intelligent in either of these senses?

'''Readings'''
:[Capabilities: An ontology]

:Linda S. Gottfredson. Mainstream Science on Intelligence. In: Intelligence 24 (1997), pp. 13–23.
:Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith: There is no Artificial General Intelligence
:Jobst Landgrebe: Deep reasoning, abstraction and planning


:Ersatz Definitions, Anthropomorphisms, and Pareidolia

There's no 'I' in 'AI', Steven Pemberton, Amsterdam, December 12, 2024
:1. Esatz definitions: using words like 'thinks' as in 'the machine is thinking', but with meanings quite different from those we use when talking about human beings. As when we define 'flying' as moving through the air, and then jumping up and down and saying "look, I'm flying!"
:2. Pareidolia: a psychological phenomenon that causes people to see patterns, objects, or meaning in ambiguous or unrelated stimuli
:3. If you can't spot irony, you're not intelligent

'''Background'''

Will AI Destroy Humanity? A Soho Forum Debate (Spoiler: Jobst won)

R.V. Yampolskii, AI: Unexplainable, Unpredictable, Uncontrollable

Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor, AI Snake Oil

Arnold Schelsky, The Hype Book, especially Chapter 1.

==Tuesday May 5 (09:30-12:15) Transhumanism: The Ultimate Stage of Cartesianism ==

Video

Slides

1. Surveys the full spectrum of transhumanism and its cultural origins.

2. Debunk the feasibility of radically improving human beings via technology.

Background:

TESCREALISM, or: why AI gods are so passionate about creating Artificial General Intelligence
Considering the existential risk of Artificial Superintelligence
Thursday, February 20 (9:30 - 12:15) Can a machine be conscious?
The machine will

Computers cannot have a will, because computers don't give a damn. Therefore there can be no machine ethics

The lack of the giving-a-damn-factor is taken by Yann LeCun as a reason to reject the idea that AI might pose an existential risk to humanity – an AI will have no desire for self-preservation “Almost half of CEOs fear A.I. could destroy humanity five to 10 years from now — but ‘A.I. godfather' says an existential threat is ‘preposterously ridiculous’” Fortune, June 15, 2023. See also here.
Implications of the absence of a machine will:

The problem of the singularity (when machines will take over from humans) will not arise
The idea of digital immortality will never be realized Slides
The idea that human beings are simulations can be rejected
There can be no AI ethics (only: ethics governing human beings when they use AI)
Fermi's paradox is solved
Background:

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Slides Slides]

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Video Video]

Searle's Chinese Room Argument
Machines cannot have intentionality; they cannot have experiences which are about something.

Searle: Minds, Brains, and Programs

==Wednesday May 6 (09:30-12:15) AI and the Theory of Complex and Dynamic Systems==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Video Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Slides Slides]

Provides an introduction to the theory of complex and dynamic systems. Examples include: population growth

== Thursday, May 7 (13:30 - 16:15) 1. Capabilities and Skills; 2. AI and History and Geography==

Part 0: How to give a good powerpoint presentation

Part 1: Functions, Capabilities, Skills

Part 2: On territory

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-4 Slides]

[https://buffalo.box.com/s/8d1h9yidtxw0994m8rakyvxq1t41mtvj Video]

== Friday, May 8 (13:30 - 16:15) Part 1. Introduction to LLMs. Part 2. Animal, Human and Machine Intelligence: A Territorial Perspective==

==Tuesday (May 12, 9:30 - 12:15) 1. Why LLMs must Hallucination. 2. Planning, Creativity, and Entrepreneurial Perception==

Slides

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-6-Part-1 Video: Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-6-Part-2 Video: Part 2]

From Speech Acts to Document Acts: An Ontology of Institutions [https://buffalo.box.com/s/85h3u1nvjtbnm5krs0tr7rfkys2p48qc Slides]

Massively Planned Social Agency [https://buffalo.box.com/s/v6huywh7gs09jsosfxo7ox62ap7wiccd Slides]

AI Creativity and Entrepreneurial Perception Slides

==Wednesday, May 13 (09:30 - 12:15) The Limits of AI and the Limits of Physics==

==Friday May 15 (09:30-12:15) On AI, Jobs, and Economics, followed by Student Presentations ==



==Background Material==

'''An Introduction to AI for Philosophers'''
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmiY8_XVvzs Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Why-not-robot-cops Slides]
(AI experts are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''An Introduction to Philosophy for Computer Scientists'''
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/What-is-philosophy Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Crash-Course-Introduction Slides]
(Philosophers are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''[https://www.cp.eng.chula.ac.th/~prabhas/teaching/cbs-it-seminar/2012/aiphil-mccarthy.pdf John McCarthy, "What has AI in common with philosophy?"]

Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026

2026-05-13T15:30:46Z

Phismith: /* Tuesday (May 12, 9:30 - 12:15) 1. Why LLMs must Hallucination. 2. Planning, Creativity, and Entrepreneurial Perception */

'''Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026'''

Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith

MAP, USI, Lugano, Spring 2026

Venue: Room A23

'''[https://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2026/05/ontology-phd.html University at Buffalo to offer world’s first doctorate in applied ontology]'''

[https://buffalo.zoom.us/j/92039377770?pwd=pL6MALdTb5mB1QnqlwYPwAoNaYeEp4.1 Zoom link]

'''Introduction'''

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the subfield of Computer Science devoted to developing programs that enable computers to display behavior that can (broadly) be characterized as intelligent. On the strong version, the ultimate goal of AI is to create what is called General Artificial Intelligence (AGI), by which is meant an artificial system that is at least as intelligent as a human being.

Since its inception in the middle of the last century AI has enjoyed repeated cycles of enthusiasm and disappointment (AI summers and winters). Recent successes of ChatGPT and other Large Language Models (LLMs) have opened a new era of popularization of AI. For the first time, AI tools have been created which are immediately available to the wider population, who for the first time can have real hands-on experience of what AI can do.

These developments in AI open up a series of questions such as:

:Will the powers of AI continue to grow in the future, and if so will they ever reach the point where they can be said to have intelligence equivalent to or greater than that of a human being?
:Could we ever reach the point where we can accept the thesis that an AI system could have something like consciousness or sentience?
:Could we reach the point where an AI system could be said to behave ethically, or to have responsibility for its actions?
:Can quantum computers enable a stronger AI than what we have today?
:Can a computer have desires, a will, and emotions?
:Can a computer have responsibility for its behavior?
:Could a machine have something like a personal identity? Would I really survive if the contents of my brain were uploaded to the cloud?

We will describe in detail how stochastic AI works, and consider these and a series of other questions at the borderlines of philosophy and AI. The class will close with presentations of papers on relevant topics given by students.

Some of the material for this class is derived from our book

''Why Machines Will Never Rule the World: Artificial Intelligence without Fear'' (2nd edition, Routledge 2025).
and from the companion volume:

''Symposium on Why Machines Will Never Rule the World'' — Guest editor, Janna Hastings, University of Zurich
which appeared as a special issue of the public access journal Cosmos + Taxis in early 2024.

'''Faculty'''

Jobst Landgrebe is the founder and CEO of Cognotekt, GmBH, an AI company based in Cologne specialised in the design and implementation of holistic AI solutions. He has 20 years experience in the AI field, 8 years as a management consultant and software architect. He has also worked as a physician and mathematician, and he views AI itself -- to the extent that it is not an elaborate hype -- as a branch of applied mathematics. CUrrently his primary focus is in the biomathematics of cancer.

Barry Smith is one of the world's most widely [https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=icGNWj4AAAAJ cited philosophers]. He has contributed primarily to the field of applied ontology, which means applying philosophical ideas derived from analytical metaphysics to the concrete practical problems which arise where attempts are made to compare or combine heterogeneous bodies of data.

Grading

:Essay with presentation: 70%
:Essay with no presentation: 85%
:Presentation: 15%
:Class Participation 15%

'''Draft Schedule'''

:Venue: Room A23

'''Program'''

==Monday, May 4 (13:30-16:15) AI and Philosophy: An Introduction==

Part 1: An introduction to the course

Part 2: Outline of the theory of complex systems documented in our book: ''[https://www.amazon.com/Machines-Will-Never-Rule-World/dp/1032941405/ Why machines will never rule the world]''. Summary [https://philpapers.org/rec/LANWMW-3 here].

:In the course of the next 2 weeks we will show why AI cannot model complex systems adequately and synoptically, and why they therefore cannot reach a level of intelligence equal to that of human beings
:Note the difference between 'complex' and 'complicated'

Part 3: Booming interest in ontology unleashed by the idea of 'neurosymbolic AI'

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-1-Video Video]

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture1-Slides Slides]

'''Background'''
The classical psychological definitions of intelligence are:
:A. the ability to adapt to new situations (applies both to humans and to animals)
:B. a very general mental capability (possessed only by humans) that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly, and learn from experience
:Can a machine be intelligent in either of these senses?

'''Readings'''
:[Capabilities: An ontology]

:Linda S. Gottfredson. Mainstream Science on Intelligence. In: Intelligence 24 (1997), pp. 13–23.
:Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith: There is no Artificial General Intelligence
:Jobst Landgrebe: Deep reasoning, abstraction and planning


:Ersatz Definitions, Anthropomorphisms, and Pareidolia

There's no 'I' in 'AI', Steven Pemberton, Amsterdam, December 12, 2024
:1. Esatz definitions: using words like 'thinks' as in 'the machine is thinking', but with meanings quite different from those we use when talking about human beings. As when we define 'flying' as moving through the air, and then jumping up and down and saying "look, I'm flying!"
:2. Pareidolia: a psychological phenomenon that causes people to see patterns, objects, or meaning in ambiguous or unrelated stimuli
:3. If you can't spot irony, you're not intelligent

'''Background'''

Will AI Destroy Humanity? A Soho Forum Debate (Spoiler: Jobst won)

R.V. Yampolskii, AI: Unexplainable, Unpredictable, Uncontrollable

Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor, AI Snake Oil

Arnold Schelsky, The Hype Book, especially Chapter 1.

==Tuesday May 5 (09:30-12:15) Transhumanism: The Ultimate Stage of Cartesianism ==

Video

Slides

1. Surveys the full spectrum of transhumanism and its cultural origins.

2. Debunk the feasibility of radically improving human beings via technology.

Background:

TESCREALISM, or: why AI gods are so passionate about creating Artificial General Intelligence
Considering the existential risk of Artificial Superintelligence
Thursday, February 20 (9:30 - 12:15) Can a machine be conscious?
The machine will

Computers cannot have a will, because computers don't give a damn. Therefore there can be no machine ethics

The lack of the giving-a-damn-factor is taken by Yann LeCun as a reason to reject the idea that AI might pose an existential risk to humanity – an AI will have no desire for self-preservation “Almost half of CEOs fear A.I. could destroy humanity five to 10 years from now — but ‘A.I. godfather' says an existential threat is ‘preposterously ridiculous’” Fortune, June 15, 2023. See also here.
Implications of the absence of a machine will:

The problem of the singularity (when machines will take over from humans) will not arise
The idea of digital immortality will never be realized Slides
The idea that human beings are simulations can be rejected
There can be no AI ethics (only: ethics governing human beings when they use AI)
Fermi's paradox is solved
Background:

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Slides Slides]

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Video Video]

Searle's Chinese Room Argument
Machines cannot have intentionality; they cannot have experiences which are about something.

Searle: Minds, Brains, and Programs

==Wednesday May 6 (09:30-12:15) AI and the Theory of Complex and Dynamic Systems==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Video Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Slides Slides]

Provides an introduction to the theory of complex and dynamic systems. Examples include: population growth

== Thursday, May 7 (13:30 - 16:15) 1. Capabilities and Skills; 2. AI and History and Geography==

Part 0: How to give a good powerpoint presentation

Part 1: Functions, Capabilities, Skills

Part 2: On territory

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-4 Slides]

[https://buffalo.box.com/s/8d1h9yidtxw0994m8rakyvxq1t41mtvj Video]

== Friday, May 8 (13:30 - 16:15) Animal, Human and Machine Intelligence: A Territorial Perspective==

==Tuesday (May 12, 9:30 - 12:15) 1. Why LLMs must Hallucination. 2. Planning, Creativity, and Entrepreneurial Perception==

Slides

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-6-Part-1 Video: Part 1]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-6-Part-2 Video: Part 2]

From Speech Acts to Document Acts: An Ontology of Institutions [https://buffalo.box.com/s/85h3u1nvjtbnm5krs0tr7rfkys2p48qc Slides]

Massively Planned Social Agency [https://buffalo.box.com/s/v6huywh7gs09jsosfxo7ox62ap7wiccd Slides]

AI Creativity and Entrepreneurial Perception Slides

==Wednesday, May 13 (09:30 - 12:15) The Limits of AI and the Limits of Physics==

==Friday May 15 (09:30-12:15) On AI, Jobs, and Economics, followed by Student Presentations ==



==Background Material==

'''An Introduction to AI for Philosophers'''
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmiY8_XVvzs Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Why-not-robot-cops Slides]
(AI experts are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''An Introduction to Philosophy for Computer Scientists'''
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/What-is-philosophy Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Crash-Course-Introduction Slides]
(Philosophers are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''[https://www.cp.eng.chula.ac.th/~prabhas/teaching/cbs-it-seminar/2012/aiphil-mccarthy.pdf John McCarthy, "What has AI in common with philosophy?"]

Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026

2026-05-13T15:30:12Z

Phismith: /* Tuesday (May 12, 9:30 - 12:15) 1. Why LLMs must Hallucination. 2. Planning, Creativity, and Entrepreneurial Perception */

'''Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026'''

Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith

MAP, USI, Lugano, Spring 2026

Venue: Room A23

'''[https://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2026/05/ontology-phd.html University at Buffalo to offer world’s first doctorate in applied ontology]'''

[https://buffalo.zoom.us/j/92039377770?pwd=pL6MALdTb5mB1QnqlwYPwAoNaYeEp4.1 Zoom link]

'''Introduction'''

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the subfield of Computer Science devoted to developing programs that enable computers to display behavior that can (broadly) be characterized as intelligent. On the strong version, the ultimate goal of AI is to create what is called General Artificial Intelligence (AGI), by which is meant an artificial system that is at least as intelligent as a human being.

Since its inception in the middle of the last century AI has enjoyed repeated cycles of enthusiasm and disappointment (AI summers and winters). Recent successes of ChatGPT and other Large Language Models (LLMs) have opened a new era of popularization of AI. For the first time, AI tools have been created which are immediately available to the wider population, who for the first time can have real hands-on experience of what AI can do.

These developments in AI open up a series of questions such as:

:Will the powers of AI continue to grow in the future, and if so will they ever reach the point where they can be said to have intelligence equivalent to or greater than that of a human being?
:Could we ever reach the point where we can accept the thesis that an AI system could have something like consciousness or sentience?
:Could we reach the point where an AI system could be said to behave ethically, or to have responsibility for its actions?
:Can quantum computers enable a stronger AI than what we have today?
:Can a computer have desires, a will, and emotions?
:Can a computer have responsibility for its behavior?
:Could a machine have something like a personal identity? Would I really survive if the contents of my brain were uploaded to the cloud?

We will describe in detail how stochastic AI works, and consider these and a series of other questions at the borderlines of philosophy and AI. The class will close with presentations of papers on relevant topics given by students.

Some of the material for this class is derived from our book

''Why Machines Will Never Rule the World: Artificial Intelligence without Fear'' (2nd edition, Routledge 2025).
and from the companion volume:

''Symposium on Why Machines Will Never Rule the World'' — Guest editor, Janna Hastings, University of Zurich
which appeared as a special issue of the public access journal Cosmos + Taxis in early 2024.

'''Faculty'''

Jobst Landgrebe is the founder and CEO of Cognotekt, GmBH, an AI company based in Cologne specialised in the design and implementation of holistic AI solutions. He has 20 years experience in the AI field, 8 years as a management consultant and software architect. He has also worked as a physician and mathematician, and he views AI itself -- to the extent that it is not an elaborate hype -- as a branch of applied mathematics. CUrrently his primary focus is in the biomathematics of cancer.

Barry Smith is one of the world's most widely [https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=icGNWj4AAAAJ cited philosophers]. He has contributed primarily to the field of applied ontology, which means applying philosophical ideas derived from analytical metaphysics to the concrete practical problems which arise where attempts are made to compare or combine heterogeneous bodies of data.

Grading

:Essay with presentation: 70%
:Essay with no presentation: 85%
:Presentation: 15%
:Class Participation 15%

'''Draft Schedule'''

:Venue: Room A23

'''Program'''

==Monday, May 4 (13:30-16:15) AI and Philosophy: An Introduction==

Part 1: An introduction to the course

Part 2: Outline of the theory of complex systems documented in our book: ''[https://www.amazon.com/Machines-Will-Never-Rule-World/dp/1032941405/ Why machines will never rule the world]''. Summary [https://philpapers.org/rec/LANWMW-3 here].

:In the course of the next 2 weeks we will show why AI cannot model complex systems adequately and synoptically, and why they therefore cannot reach a level of intelligence equal to that of human beings
:Note the difference between 'complex' and 'complicated'

Part 3: Booming interest in ontology unleashed by the idea of 'neurosymbolic AI'

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-1-Video Video]

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture1-Slides Slides]

'''Background'''
The classical psychological definitions of intelligence are:
:A. the ability to adapt to new situations (applies both to humans and to animals)
:B. a very general mental capability (possessed only by humans) that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly, and learn from experience
:Can a machine be intelligent in either of these senses?

'''Readings'''
:[Capabilities: An ontology]

:Linda S. Gottfredson. Mainstream Science on Intelligence. In: Intelligence 24 (1997), pp. 13–23.
:Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith: There is no Artificial General Intelligence
:Jobst Landgrebe: Deep reasoning, abstraction and planning


:Ersatz Definitions, Anthropomorphisms, and Pareidolia

There's no 'I' in 'AI', Steven Pemberton, Amsterdam, December 12, 2024
:1. Esatz definitions: using words like 'thinks' as in 'the machine is thinking', but with meanings quite different from those we use when talking about human beings. As when we define 'flying' as moving through the air, and then jumping up and down and saying "look, I'm flying!"
:2. Pareidolia: a psychological phenomenon that causes people to see patterns, objects, or meaning in ambiguous or unrelated stimuli
:3. If you can't spot irony, you're not intelligent

'''Background'''

Will AI Destroy Humanity? A Soho Forum Debate (Spoiler: Jobst won)

R.V. Yampolskii, AI: Unexplainable, Unpredictable, Uncontrollable

Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor, AI Snake Oil

Arnold Schelsky, The Hype Book, especially Chapter 1.

==Tuesday May 5 (09:30-12:15) Transhumanism: The Ultimate Stage of Cartesianism ==

Video

Slides

1. Surveys the full spectrum of transhumanism and its cultural origins.

2. Debunk the feasibility of radically improving human beings via technology.

Background:

TESCREALISM, or: why AI gods are so passionate about creating Artificial General Intelligence
Considering the existential risk of Artificial Superintelligence
Thursday, February 20 (9:30 - 12:15) Can a machine be conscious?
The machine will

Computers cannot have a will, because computers don't give a damn. Therefore there can be no machine ethics

The lack of the giving-a-damn-factor is taken by Yann LeCun as a reason to reject the idea that AI might pose an existential risk to humanity – an AI will have no desire for self-preservation “Almost half of CEOs fear A.I. could destroy humanity five to 10 years from now — but ‘A.I. godfather' says an existential threat is ‘preposterously ridiculous’” Fortune, June 15, 2023. See also here.
Implications of the absence of a machine will:

The problem of the singularity (when machines will take over from humans) will not arise
The idea of digital immortality will never be realized Slides
The idea that human beings are simulations can be rejected
There can be no AI ethics (only: ethics governing human beings when they use AI)
Fermi's paradox is solved
Background:

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Slides Slides]

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Video Video]

Searle's Chinese Room Argument
Machines cannot have intentionality; they cannot have experiences which are about something.

Searle: Minds, Brains, and Programs

==Wednesday May 6 (09:30-12:15) AI and the Theory of Complex and Dynamic Systems==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Video Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Slides Slides]

Provides an introduction to the theory of complex and dynamic systems. Examples include: population growth

== Thursday, May 7 (13:30 - 16:15) 1. Capabilities and Skills; 2. AI and History and Geography==

Part 0: How to give a good powerpoint presentation

Part 1: Functions, Capabilities, Skills

Part 2: On territory

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-4 Slides]

[https://buffalo.box.com/s/8d1h9yidtxw0994m8rakyvxq1t41mtvj Video]

== Friday, May 8 (13:30 - 16:15) Animal, Human and Machine Intelligence: A Territorial Perspective==

==Tuesday (May 12, 9:30 - 12:15) 1. Why LLMs must Hallucination. 2. Planning, Creativity, and Entrepreneurial Perception==

Slides
[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-6-Part-1 Video: Part 1]
[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-6-Part-2 Video: Part 2]

From Speech Acts to Document Acts: An Ontology of Institutions [https://buffalo.box.com/s/85h3u1nvjtbnm5krs0tr7rfkys2p48qc Slides]

Massively Planned Social Agency [https://buffalo.box.com/s/v6huywh7gs09jsosfxo7ox62ap7wiccd Slides]

AI Creativity and Entrepreneurial Perception Slides

==Wednesday, May 13 (09:30 - 12:15) The Limits of AI and the Limits of Physics==

==Friday May 15 (09:30-12:15) On AI, Jobs, and Economics, followed by Student Presentations ==



==Background Material==

'''An Introduction to AI for Philosophers'''
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmiY8_XVvzs Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Why-not-robot-cops Slides]
(AI experts are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''An Introduction to Philosophy for Computer Scientists'''
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/What-is-philosophy Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Crash-Course-Introduction Slides]
(Philosophers are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''[https://www.cp.eng.chula.ac.th/~prabhas/teaching/cbs-it-seminar/2012/aiphil-mccarthy.pdf John McCarthy, "What has AI in common with philosophy?"]

Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026

2026-05-13T10:18:38Z

Phismith: /* Tuesday (May 12, 9:30 - 12:15) 1. Hallucinations 2. Planning, Creativity, and Entrepreneurial Perception */

'''Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026'''

Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith

MAP, USI, Lugano, Spring 2026

Venue: Room A23

'''[https://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2026/05/ontology-phd.html University at Buffalo to offer world’s first doctorate in applied ontology]'''

[https://buffalo.zoom.us/j/92039377770?pwd=pL6MALdTb5mB1QnqlwYPwAoNaYeEp4.1 Zoom link]

'''Introduction'''

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the subfield of Computer Science devoted to developing programs that enable computers to display behavior that can (broadly) be characterized as intelligent. On the strong version, the ultimate goal of AI is to create what is called General Artificial Intelligence (AGI), by which is meant an artificial system that is at least as intelligent as a human being.

Since its inception in the middle of the last century AI has enjoyed repeated cycles of enthusiasm and disappointment (AI summers and winters). Recent successes of ChatGPT and other Large Language Models (LLMs) have opened a new era of popularization of AI. For the first time, AI tools have been created which are immediately available to the wider population, who for the first time can have real hands-on experience of what AI can do.

These developments in AI open up a series of questions such as:

:Will the powers of AI continue to grow in the future, and if so will they ever reach the point where they can be said to have intelligence equivalent to or greater than that of a human being?
:Could we ever reach the point where we can accept the thesis that an AI system could have something like consciousness or sentience?
:Could we reach the point where an AI system could be said to behave ethically, or to have responsibility for its actions?
:Can quantum computers enable a stronger AI than what we have today?
:Can a computer have desires, a will, and emotions?
:Can a computer have responsibility for its behavior?
:Could a machine have something like a personal identity? Would I really survive if the contents of my brain were uploaded to the cloud?

We will describe in detail how stochastic AI works, and consider these and a series of other questions at the borderlines of philosophy and AI. The class will close with presentations of papers on relevant topics given by students.

Some of the material for this class is derived from our book

''Why Machines Will Never Rule the World: Artificial Intelligence without Fear'' (2nd edition, Routledge 2025).
and from the companion volume:

''Symposium on Why Machines Will Never Rule the World'' — Guest editor, Janna Hastings, University of Zurich
which appeared as a special issue of the public access journal Cosmos + Taxis in early 2024.

'''Faculty'''

Jobst Landgrebe is the founder and CEO of Cognotekt, GmBH, an AI company based in Cologne specialised in the design and implementation of holistic AI solutions. He has 20 years experience in the AI field, 8 years as a management consultant and software architect. He has also worked as a physician and mathematician, and he views AI itself -- to the extent that it is not an elaborate hype -- as a branch of applied mathematics. CUrrently his primary focus is in the biomathematics of cancer.

Barry Smith is one of the world's most widely [https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=icGNWj4AAAAJ cited philosophers]. He has contributed primarily to the field of applied ontology, which means applying philosophical ideas derived from analytical metaphysics to the concrete practical problems which arise where attempts are made to compare or combine heterogeneous bodies of data.

Grading

:Essay with presentation: 70%
:Essay with no presentation: 85%
:Presentation: 15%
:Class Participation 15%

'''Draft Schedule'''

:Venue: Room A23

'''Program'''

==Monday, May 4 (13:30-16:15) AI and Philosophy: An Introduction==

Part 1: An introduction to the course

Part 2: Outline of the theory of complex systems documented in our book: ''[https://www.amazon.com/Machines-Will-Never-Rule-World/dp/1032941405/ Why machines will never rule the world]''. Summary [https://philpapers.org/rec/LANWMW-3 here].

:In the course of the next 2 weeks we will show why AI cannot model complex systems adequately and synoptically, and why they therefore cannot reach a level of intelligence equal to that of human beings
:Note the difference between 'complex' and 'complicated'

Part 3: Booming interest in ontology unleashed by the idea of 'neurosymbolic AI'

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-1-Video Video]

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture1-Slides Slides]

'''Background'''
The classical psychological definitions of intelligence are:
:A. the ability to adapt to new situations (applies both to humans and to animals)
:B. a very general mental capability (possessed only by humans) that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly, and learn from experience
:Can a machine be intelligent in either of these senses?

'''Readings'''
:[Capabilities: An ontology]

:Linda S. Gottfredson. Mainstream Science on Intelligence. In: Intelligence 24 (1997), pp. 13–23.
:Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith: There is no Artificial General Intelligence
:Jobst Landgrebe: Deep reasoning, abstraction and planning


:Ersatz Definitions, Anthropomorphisms, and Pareidolia

There's no 'I' in 'AI', Steven Pemberton, Amsterdam, December 12, 2024
:1. Esatz definitions: using words like 'thinks' as in 'the machine is thinking', but with meanings quite different from those we use when talking about human beings. As when we define 'flying' as moving through the air, and then jumping up and down and saying "look, I'm flying!"
:2. Pareidolia: a psychological phenomenon that causes people to see patterns, objects, or meaning in ambiguous or unrelated stimuli
:3. If you can't spot irony, you're not intelligent

'''Background'''

Will AI Destroy Humanity? A Soho Forum Debate (Spoiler: Jobst won)

R.V. Yampolskii, AI: Unexplainable, Unpredictable, Uncontrollable

Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor, AI Snake Oil

Arnold Schelsky, The Hype Book, especially Chapter 1.

==Tuesday May 5 (09:30-12:15) Transhumanism: The Ultimate Stage of Cartesianism ==

Video

Slides

1. Surveys the full spectrum of transhumanism and its cultural origins.

2. Debunk the feasibility of radically improving human beings via technology.

Background:

TESCREALISM, or: why AI gods are so passionate about creating Artificial General Intelligence
Considering the existential risk of Artificial Superintelligence
Thursday, February 20 (9:30 - 12:15) Can a machine be conscious?
The machine will

Computers cannot have a will, because computers don't give a damn. Therefore there can be no machine ethics

The lack of the giving-a-damn-factor is taken by Yann LeCun as a reason to reject the idea that AI might pose an existential risk to humanity – an AI will have no desire for self-preservation “Almost half of CEOs fear A.I. could destroy humanity five to 10 years from now — but ‘A.I. godfather' says an existential threat is ‘preposterously ridiculous’” Fortune, June 15, 2023. See also here.
Implications of the absence of a machine will:

The problem of the singularity (when machines will take over from humans) will not arise
The idea of digital immortality will never be realized Slides
The idea that human beings are simulations can be rejected
There can be no AI ethics (only: ethics governing human beings when they use AI)
Fermi's paradox is solved
Background:

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Slides Slides]

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Video Video]

Searle's Chinese Room Argument
Machines cannot have intentionality; they cannot have experiences which are about something.

Searle: Minds, Brains, and Programs

==Wednesday May 6 (09:30-12:15) AI and the Theory of Complex and Dynamic Systems==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Video Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Slides Slides]

Provides an introduction to the theory of complex and dynamic systems. Examples include: population growth

== Thursday, May 7 (13:30 - 16:15) 1. Capabilities and Skills; 2. AI and History and Geography==

Part 0: How to give a good powerpoint presentation

Part 1: Functions, Capabilities, Skills

Part 2: On territory

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-4 Slides]

[https://buffalo.box.com/s/8d1h9yidtxw0994m8rakyvxq1t41mtvj Video]

== Friday, May 8 (13:30 - 16:15) Animal, Human and Machine Intelligence: A Territorial Perspective==

==Tuesday (May 12, 9:30 - 12:15) 1. Why LLMs must Hallucination. 2. Planning, Creativity, and Entrepreneurial Perception==

Slides
Video

From Speech Acts to Document Acts: An Ontology of Institutions [https://buffalo.box.com/s/85h3u1nvjtbnm5krs0tr7rfkys2p48qc Slides]

Massively Planned Social Agency [https://buffalo.box.com/s/v6huywh7gs09jsosfxo7ox62ap7wiccd Slides]

AI Creativity and Entrepreneurial Perception Slides

==Wednesday, May 13 (09:30 - 12:15) The Limits of AI and the Limits of Physics==

==Friday May 15 (09:30-12:15) On AI, Jobs, and Economics, followed by Student Presentations ==



==Background Material==

'''An Introduction to AI for Philosophers'''
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmiY8_XVvzs Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Why-not-robot-cops Slides]
(AI experts are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''An Introduction to Philosophy for Computer Scientists'''
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/What-is-philosophy Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Crash-Course-Introduction Slides]
(Philosophers are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''[https://www.cp.eng.chula.ac.th/~prabhas/teaching/cbs-it-seminar/2012/aiphil-mccarthy.pdf John McCarthy, "What has AI in common with philosophy?"]

Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026

2026-05-13T07:39:26Z

Phismith: /* Friday, May 8 (13:30 - 16:15) Part 1: . Part 2: Animal, Human and Machine Intelligence: A Territorial Perspective */

'''Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026'''

Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith

MAP, USI, Lugano, Spring 2026

Venue: Room A23

'''[https://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2026/05/ontology-phd.html University at Buffalo to offer world’s first doctorate in applied ontology]'''

[https://buffalo.zoom.us/j/92039377770?pwd=pL6MALdTb5mB1QnqlwYPwAoNaYeEp4.1 Zoom link]

'''Introduction'''

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the subfield of Computer Science devoted to developing programs that enable computers to display behavior that can (broadly) be characterized as intelligent. On the strong version, the ultimate goal of AI is to create what is called General Artificial Intelligence (AGI), by which is meant an artificial system that is at least as intelligent as a human being.

Since its inception in the middle of the last century AI has enjoyed repeated cycles of enthusiasm and disappointment (AI summers and winters). Recent successes of ChatGPT and other Large Language Models (LLMs) have opened a new era of popularization of AI. For the first time, AI tools have been created which are immediately available to the wider population, who for the first time can have real hands-on experience of what AI can do.

These developments in AI open up a series of questions such as:

:Will the powers of AI continue to grow in the future, and if so will they ever reach the point where they can be said to have intelligence equivalent to or greater than that of a human being?
:Could we ever reach the point where we can accept the thesis that an AI system could have something like consciousness or sentience?
:Could we reach the point where an AI system could be said to behave ethically, or to have responsibility for its actions?
:Can quantum computers enable a stronger AI than what we have today?
:Can a computer have desires, a will, and emotions?
:Can a computer have responsibility for its behavior?
:Could a machine have something like a personal identity? Would I really survive if the contents of my brain were uploaded to the cloud?

We will describe in detail how stochastic AI works, and consider these and a series of other questions at the borderlines of philosophy and AI. The class will close with presentations of papers on relevant topics given by students.

Some of the material for this class is derived from our book

''Why Machines Will Never Rule the World: Artificial Intelligence without Fear'' (2nd edition, Routledge 2025).
and from the companion volume:

''Symposium on Why Machines Will Never Rule the World'' — Guest editor, Janna Hastings, University of Zurich
which appeared as a special issue of the public access journal Cosmos + Taxis in early 2024.

'''Faculty'''

Jobst Landgrebe is the founder and CEO of Cognotekt, GmBH, an AI company based in Cologne specialised in the design and implementation of holistic AI solutions. He has 20 years experience in the AI field, 8 years as a management consultant and software architect. He has also worked as a physician and mathematician, and he views AI itself -- to the extent that it is not an elaborate hype -- as a branch of applied mathematics. CUrrently his primary focus is in the biomathematics of cancer.

Barry Smith is one of the world's most widely [https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=icGNWj4AAAAJ cited philosophers]. He has contributed primarily to the field of applied ontology, which means applying philosophical ideas derived from analytical metaphysics to the concrete practical problems which arise where attempts are made to compare or combine heterogeneous bodies of data.

Grading

:Essay with presentation: 70%
:Essay with no presentation: 85%
:Presentation: 15%
:Class Participation 15%

'''Draft Schedule'''

:Venue: Room A23

'''Program'''

==Monday, May 4 (13:30-16:15) AI and Philosophy: An Introduction==

Part 1: An introduction to the course

Part 2: Outline of the theory of complex systems documented in our book: ''[https://www.amazon.com/Machines-Will-Never-Rule-World/dp/1032941405/ Why machines will never rule the world]''. Summary [https://philpapers.org/rec/LANWMW-3 here].

:In the course of the next 2 weeks we will show why AI cannot model complex systems adequately and synoptically, and why they therefore cannot reach a level of intelligence equal to that of human beings
:Note the difference between 'complex' and 'complicated'

Part 3: Booming interest in ontology unleashed by the idea of 'neurosymbolic AI'

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-1-Video Video]

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture1-Slides Slides]

'''Background'''
The classical psychological definitions of intelligence are:
:A. the ability to adapt to new situations (applies both to humans and to animals)
:B. a very general mental capability (possessed only by humans) that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly, and learn from experience
:Can a machine be intelligent in either of these senses?

'''Readings'''
:[Capabilities: An ontology]

:Linda S. Gottfredson. Mainstream Science on Intelligence. In: Intelligence 24 (1997), pp. 13–23.
:Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith: There is no Artificial General Intelligence
:Jobst Landgrebe: Deep reasoning, abstraction and planning


:Ersatz Definitions, Anthropomorphisms, and Pareidolia

There's no 'I' in 'AI', Steven Pemberton, Amsterdam, December 12, 2024
:1. Esatz definitions: using words like 'thinks' as in 'the machine is thinking', but with meanings quite different from those we use when talking about human beings. As when we define 'flying' as moving through the air, and then jumping up and down and saying "look, I'm flying!"
:2. Pareidolia: a psychological phenomenon that causes people to see patterns, objects, or meaning in ambiguous or unrelated stimuli
:3. If you can't spot irony, you're not intelligent

'''Background'''

Will AI Destroy Humanity? A Soho Forum Debate (Spoiler: Jobst won)

R.V. Yampolskii, AI: Unexplainable, Unpredictable, Uncontrollable

Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor, AI Snake Oil

Arnold Schelsky, The Hype Book, especially Chapter 1.

==Tuesday May 5 (09:30-12:15) Transhumanism: The Ultimate Stage of Cartesianism ==

Video

Slides

1. Surveys the full spectrum of transhumanism and its cultural origins.

2. Debunk the feasibility of radically improving human beings via technology.

Background:

TESCREALISM, or: why AI gods are so passionate about creating Artificial General Intelligence
Considering the existential risk of Artificial Superintelligence
Thursday, February 20 (9:30 - 12:15) Can a machine be conscious?
The machine will

Computers cannot have a will, because computers don't give a damn. Therefore there can be no machine ethics

The lack of the giving-a-damn-factor is taken by Yann LeCun as a reason to reject the idea that AI might pose an existential risk to humanity – an AI will have no desire for self-preservation “Almost half of CEOs fear A.I. could destroy humanity five to 10 years from now — but ‘A.I. godfather' says an existential threat is ‘preposterously ridiculous’” Fortune, June 15, 2023. See also here.
Implications of the absence of a machine will:

The problem of the singularity (when machines will take over from humans) will not arise
The idea of digital immortality will never be realized Slides
The idea that human beings are simulations can be rejected
There can be no AI ethics (only: ethics governing human beings when they use AI)
Fermi's paradox is solved
Background:

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Slides Slides]

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Video Video]

Searle's Chinese Room Argument
Machines cannot have intentionality; they cannot have experiences which are about something.

Searle: Minds, Brains, and Programs

==Wednesday May 6 (09:30-12:15) AI and the Theory of Complex and Dynamic Systems==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Video Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Slides Slides]

Provides an introduction to the theory of complex and dynamic systems. Examples include: population growth

== Thursday, May 7 (13:30 - 16:15) 1. Capabilities and Skills; 2. AI and History and Geography==

Part 0: How to give a good powerpoint presentation

Part 1: Functions, Capabilities, Skills

Part 2: On territory

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-4 Slides]

[https://buffalo.box.com/s/8d1h9yidtxw0994m8rakyvxq1t41mtvj Video]

== Friday, May 8 (13:30 - 16:15) Animal, Human and Machine Intelligence: A Territorial Perspective==

==Tuesday (May 12, 9:30 - 12:15) 1. Hallucinations 2. Planning, Creativity, and Entrepreneurial Perception==

From Speech Acts to Document Acts: An Ontology of Institutions [https://buffalo.box.com/s/85h3u1nvjtbnm5krs0tr7rfkys2p48qc Slides]

Massively Planned Social Agency [https://buffalo.box.com/s/v6huywh7gs09jsosfxo7ox62ap7wiccd Slides]

AI Creativity and Entrepreneurial Perception Slides

==Wednesday, May 13 (09:30 - 12:15) The Limits of AI and the Limits of Physics==

==Friday May 15 (09:30-12:15) On AI, Jobs, and Economics, followed by Student Presentations ==



==Background Material==

'''An Introduction to AI for Philosophers'''
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmiY8_XVvzs Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Why-not-robot-cops Slides]
(AI experts are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''An Introduction to Philosophy for Computer Scientists'''
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/What-is-philosophy Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Crash-Course-Introduction Slides]
(Philosophers are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''[https://www.cp.eng.chula.ac.th/~prabhas/teaching/cbs-it-seminar/2012/aiphil-mccarthy.pdf John McCarthy, "What has AI in common with philosophy?"]

Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026

2026-05-11T19:59:09Z

Phismith: /* Thursday, May 7 (13:30 - 16:15) 1. Capabilities and Skills; 2. AI and History and Geography */

'''Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026'''

Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith

MAP, USI, Lugano, Spring 2026

Venue: Room A23

'''[https://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2026/05/ontology-phd.html University at Buffalo to offer world’s first doctorate in applied ontology]'''

[https://buffalo.zoom.us/j/92039377770?pwd=pL6MALdTb5mB1QnqlwYPwAoNaYeEp4.1 Zoom link]

'''Introduction'''

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the subfield of Computer Science devoted to developing programs that enable computers to display behavior that can (broadly) be characterized as intelligent. On the strong version, the ultimate goal of AI is to create what is called General Artificial Intelligence (AGI), by which is meant an artificial system that is at least as intelligent as a human being.

Since its inception in the middle of the last century AI has enjoyed repeated cycles of enthusiasm and disappointment (AI summers and winters). Recent successes of ChatGPT and other Large Language Models (LLMs) have opened a new era of popularization of AI. For the first time, AI tools have been created which are immediately available to the wider population, who for the first time can have real hands-on experience of what AI can do.

These developments in AI open up a series of questions such as:

:Will the powers of AI continue to grow in the future, and if so will they ever reach the point where they can be said to have intelligence equivalent to or greater than that of a human being?
:Could we ever reach the point where we can accept the thesis that an AI system could have something like consciousness or sentience?
:Could we reach the point where an AI system could be said to behave ethically, or to have responsibility for its actions?
:Can quantum computers enable a stronger AI than what we have today?
:Can a computer have desires, a will, and emotions?
:Can a computer have responsibility for its behavior?
:Could a machine have something like a personal identity? Would I really survive if the contents of my brain were uploaded to the cloud?

We will describe in detail how stochastic AI works, and consider these and a series of other questions at the borderlines of philosophy and AI. The class will close with presentations of papers on relevant topics given by students.

Some of the material for this class is derived from our book

''Why Machines Will Never Rule the World: Artificial Intelligence without Fear'' (2nd edition, Routledge 2025).
and from the companion volume:

''Symposium on Why Machines Will Never Rule the World'' — Guest editor, Janna Hastings, University of Zurich
which appeared as a special issue of the public access journal Cosmos + Taxis in early 2024.

'''Faculty'''

Jobst Landgrebe is the founder and CEO of Cognotekt, GmBH, an AI company based in Cologne specialised in the design and implementation of holistic AI solutions. He has 20 years experience in the AI field, 8 years as a management consultant and software architect. He has also worked as a physician and mathematician, and he views AI itself -- to the extent that it is not an elaborate hype -- as a branch of applied mathematics. CUrrently his primary focus is in the biomathematics of cancer.

Barry Smith is one of the world's most widely [https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=icGNWj4AAAAJ cited philosophers]. He has contributed primarily to the field of applied ontology, which means applying philosophical ideas derived from analytical metaphysics to the concrete practical problems which arise where attempts are made to compare or combine heterogeneous bodies of data.

Grading

:Essay with presentation: 70%
:Essay with no presentation: 85%
:Presentation: 15%
:Class Participation 15%

'''Draft Schedule'''

:Venue: Room A23

'''Program'''

==Monday, May 4 (13:30-16:15) AI and Philosophy: An Introduction==

Part 1: An introduction to the course

Part 2: Outline of the theory of complex systems documented in our book: ''[https://www.amazon.com/Machines-Will-Never-Rule-World/dp/1032941405/ Why machines will never rule the world]''. Summary [https://philpapers.org/rec/LANWMW-3 here].

:In the course of the next 2 weeks we will show why AI cannot model complex systems adequately and synoptically, and why they therefore cannot reach a level of intelligence equal to that of human beings
:Note the difference between 'complex' and 'complicated'

Part 3: Booming interest in ontology unleashed by the idea of 'neurosymbolic AI'

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-1-Video Video]

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture1-Slides Slides]

'''Background'''
The classical psychological definitions of intelligence are:
:A. the ability to adapt to new situations (applies both to humans and to animals)
:B. a very general mental capability (possessed only by humans) that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly, and learn from experience
:Can a machine be intelligent in either of these senses?

'''Readings'''
:[Capabilities: An ontology]

:Linda S. Gottfredson. Mainstream Science on Intelligence. In: Intelligence 24 (1997), pp. 13–23.
:Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith: There is no Artificial General Intelligence
:Jobst Landgrebe: Deep reasoning, abstraction and planning


:Ersatz Definitions, Anthropomorphisms, and Pareidolia

There's no 'I' in 'AI', Steven Pemberton, Amsterdam, December 12, 2024
:1. Esatz definitions: using words like 'thinks' as in 'the machine is thinking', but with meanings quite different from those we use when talking about human beings. As when we define 'flying' as moving through the air, and then jumping up and down and saying "look, I'm flying!"
:2. Pareidolia: a psychological phenomenon that causes people to see patterns, objects, or meaning in ambiguous or unrelated stimuli
:3. If you can't spot irony, you're not intelligent

'''Background'''

Will AI Destroy Humanity? A Soho Forum Debate (Spoiler: Jobst won)

R.V. Yampolskii, AI: Unexplainable, Unpredictable, Uncontrollable

Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor, AI Snake Oil

Arnold Schelsky, The Hype Book, especially Chapter 1.

==Tuesday May 5 (09:30-12:15) Transhumanism: The Ultimate Stage of Cartesianism ==

Video

Slides

1. Surveys the full spectrum of transhumanism and its cultural origins.

2. Debunk the feasibility of radically improving human beings via technology.

Background:

TESCREALISM, or: why AI gods are so passionate about creating Artificial General Intelligence
Considering the existential risk of Artificial Superintelligence
Thursday, February 20 (9:30 - 12:15) Can a machine be conscious?
The machine will

Computers cannot have a will, because computers don't give a damn. Therefore there can be no machine ethics

The lack of the giving-a-damn-factor is taken by Yann LeCun as a reason to reject the idea that AI might pose an existential risk to humanity – an AI will have no desire for self-preservation “Almost half of CEOs fear A.I. could destroy humanity five to 10 years from now — but ‘A.I. godfather' says an existential threat is ‘preposterously ridiculous’” Fortune, June 15, 2023. See also here.
Implications of the absence of a machine will:

The problem of the singularity (when machines will take over from humans) will not arise
The idea of digital immortality will never be realized Slides
The idea that human beings are simulations can be rejected
There can be no AI ethics (only: ethics governing human beings when they use AI)
Fermi's paradox is solved
Background:

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Slides Slides]

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Video Video]

Searle's Chinese Room Argument
Machines cannot have intentionality; they cannot have experiences which are about something.

Searle: Minds, Brains, and Programs

==Wednesday May 6 (09:30-12:15) AI and the Theory of Complex and Dynamic Systems==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Video Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Slides Slides]

Provides an introduction to the theory of complex and dynamic systems. Examples include: population growth

== Thursday, May 7 (13:30 - 16:15) 1. Capabilities and Skills; 2. AI and History and Geography==

Part 0: How to give a good powerpoint presentation

Part 1: Functions, Capabilities, Skills

Part 2: On territory

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-4 Slides]

[https://buffalo.box.com/s/8d1h9yidtxw0994m8rakyvxq1t41mtvj Video]

== Friday, May 8 (13:30 - 16:15) Part 1: . Part 2: Animal, Human and Machine Intelligence: A Territorial Perspective==

==Tuesday (May 12, 9:30 - 12:15) 1. Hallucinations 2. Planning, Creativity, and Entrepreneurial Perception==

From Speech Acts to Document Acts: An Ontology of Institutions [https://buffalo.box.com/s/85h3u1nvjtbnm5krs0tr7rfkys2p48qc Slides]

Massively Planned Social Agency [https://buffalo.box.com/s/v6huywh7gs09jsosfxo7ox62ap7wiccd Slides]

AI Creativity and Entrepreneurial Perception Slides

==Wednesday, May 13 (09:30 - 12:15) The Limits of AI and the Limits of Physics==

==Friday May 15 (09:30-12:15) On AI, Jobs, and Economics, followed by Student Presentations ==



==Background Material==

'''An Introduction to AI for Philosophers'''
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmiY8_XVvzs Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Why-not-robot-cops Slides]
(AI experts are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''An Introduction to Philosophy for Computer Scientists'''
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/What-is-philosophy Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Crash-Course-Introduction Slides]
(Philosophers are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''[https://www.cp.eng.chula.ac.th/~prabhas/teaching/cbs-it-seminar/2012/aiphil-mccarthy.pdf John McCarthy, "What has AI in common with philosophy?"]

Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026

2026-05-11T04:29:25Z

Phismith: /* Thursday, May 7 (13:30 - 16:15) 1. Capabilities and Skills; 2. AI and History and Geography */

'''Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026'''

Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith

MAP, USI, Lugano, Spring 2026

Venue: Room A23

'''[https://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2026/05/ontology-phd.html University at Buffalo to offer world’s first doctorate in applied ontology]'''

[https://buffalo.zoom.us/j/92039377770?pwd=pL6MALdTb5mB1QnqlwYPwAoNaYeEp4.1 Zoom link]

'''Introduction'''

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the subfield of Computer Science devoted to developing programs that enable computers to display behavior that can (broadly) be characterized as intelligent. On the strong version, the ultimate goal of AI is to create what is called General Artificial Intelligence (AGI), by which is meant an artificial system that is at least as intelligent as a human being.

Since its inception in the middle of the last century AI has enjoyed repeated cycles of enthusiasm and disappointment (AI summers and winters). Recent successes of ChatGPT and other Large Language Models (LLMs) have opened a new era of popularization of AI. For the first time, AI tools have been created which are immediately available to the wider population, who for the first time can have real hands-on experience of what AI can do.

These developments in AI open up a series of questions such as:

:Will the powers of AI continue to grow in the future, and if so will they ever reach the point where they can be said to have intelligence equivalent to or greater than that of a human being?
:Could we ever reach the point where we can accept the thesis that an AI system could have something like consciousness or sentience?
:Could we reach the point where an AI system could be said to behave ethically, or to have responsibility for its actions?
:Can quantum computers enable a stronger AI than what we have today?
:Can a computer have desires, a will, and emotions?
:Can a computer have responsibility for its behavior?
:Could a machine have something like a personal identity? Would I really survive if the contents of my brain were uploaded to the cloud?

We will describe in detail how stochastic AI works, and consider these and a series of other questions at the borderlines of philosophy and AI. The class will close with presentations of papers on relevant topics given by students.

Some of the material for this class is derived from our book

''Why Machines Will Never Rule the World: Artificial Intelligence without Fear'' (2nd edition, Routledge 2025).
and from the companion volume:

''Symposium on Why Machines Will Never Rule the World'' — Guest editor, Janna Hastings, University of Zurich
which appeared as a special issue of the public access journal Cosmos + Taxis in early 2024.

'''Faculty'''

Jobst Landgrebe is the founder and CEO of Cognotekt, GmBH, an AI company based in Cologne specialised in the design and implementation of holistic AI solutions. He has 20 years experience in the AI field, 8 years as a management consultant and software architect. He has also worked as a physician and mathematician, and he views AI itself -- to the extent that it is not an elaborate hype -- as a branch of applied mathematics. CUrrently his primary focus is in the biomathematics of cancer.

Barry Smith is one of the world's most widely [https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=icGNWj4AAAAJ cited philosophers]. He has contributed primarily to the field of applied ontology, which means applying philosophical ideas derived from analytical metaphysics to the concrete practical problems which arise where attempts are made to compare or combine heterogeneous bodies of data.

Grading

:Essay with presentation: 70%
:Essay with no presentation: 85%
:Presentation: 15%
:Class Participation 15%

'''Draft Schedule'''

:Venue: Room A23

'''Program'''

==Monday, May 4 (13:30-16:15) AI and Philosophy: An Introduction==

Part 1: An introduction to the course

Part 2: Outline of the theory of complex systems documented in our book: ''[https://www.amazon.com/Machines-Will-Never-Rule-World/dp/1032941405/ Why machines will never rule the world]''. Summary [https://philpapers.org/rec/LANWMW-3 here].

:In the course of the next 2 weeks we will show why AI cannot model complex systems adequately and synoptically, and why they therefore cannot reach a level of intelligence equal to that of human beings
:Note the difference between 'complex' and 'complicated'

Part 3: Booming interest in ontology unleashed by the idea of 'neurosymbolic AI'

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-1-Video Video]

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture1-Slides Slides]

'''Background'''
The classical psychological definitions of intelligence are:
:A. the ability to adapt to new situations (applies both to humans and to animals)
:B. a very general mental capability (possessed only by humans) that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly, and learn from experience
:Can a machine be intelligent in either of these senses?

'''Readings'''
:[Capabilities: An ontology]

:Linda S. Gottfredson. Mainstream Science on Intelligence. In: Intelligence 24 (1997), pp. 13–23.
:Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith: There is no Artificial General Intelligence
:Jobst Landgrebe: Deep reasoning, abstraction and planning


:Ersatz Definitions, Anthropomorphisms, and Pareidolia

There's no 'I' in 'AI', Steven Pemberton, Amsterdam, December 12, 2024
:1. Esatz definitions: using words like 'thinks' as in 'the machine is thinking', but with meanings quite different from those we use when talking about human beings. As when we define 'flying' as moving through the air, and then jumping up and down and saying "look, I'm flying!"
:2. Pareidolia: a psychological phenomenon that causes people to see patterns, objects, or meaning in ambiguous or unrelated stimuli
:3. If you can't spot irony, you're not intelligent

'''Background'''

Will AI Destroy Humanity? A Soho Forum Debate (Spoiler: Jobst won)

R.V. Yampolskii, AI: Unexplainable, Unpredictable, Uncontrollable

Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor, AI Snake Oil

Arnold Schelsky, The Hype Book, especially Chapter 1.

==Tuesday May 5 (09:30-12:15) Transhumanism: The Ultimate Stage of Cartesianism ==

Video

Slides

1. Surveys the full spectrum of transhumanism and its cultural origins.

2. Debunk the feasibility of radically improving human beings via technology.

Background:

TESCREALISM, or: why AI gods are so passionate about creating Artificial General Intelligence
Considering the existential risk of Artificial Superintelligence
Thursday, February 20 (9:30 - 12:15) Can a machine be conscious?
The machine will

Computers cannot have a will, because computers don't give a damn. Therefore there can be no machine ethics

The lack of the giving-a-damn-factor is taken by Yann LeCun as a reason to reject the idea that AI might pose an existential risk to humanity – an AI will have no desire for self-preservation “Almost half of CEOs fear A.I. could destroy humanity five to 10 years from now — but ‘A.I. godfather' says an existential threat is ‘preposterously ridiculous’” Fortune, June 15, 2023. See also here.
Implications of the absence of a machine will:

The problem of the singularity (when machines will take over from humans) will not arise
The idea of digital immortality will never be realized Slides
The idea that human beings are simulations can be rejected
There can be no AI ethics (only: ethics governing human beings when they use AI)
Fermi's paradox is solved
Background:

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Slides Slides]

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Video Video]

Searle's Chinese Room Argument
Machines cannot have intentionality; they cannot have experiences which are about something.

Searle: Minds, Brains, and Programs

==Wednesday May 6 (09:30-12:15) AI and the Theory of Complex and Dynamic Systems==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Video Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Slides Slides]

Provides an introduction to the theory of complex and dynamic systems. Examples include: population growth

== Thursday, May 7 (13:30 - 16:15) 1. Capabilities and Skills; 2. AI and History and Geography==

Part 0: How to give a good powerpoint presentation

Part 1: Functions, Capabilities, Skills

Part 2: On territory

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-4 Slides]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture--4-Video Video]

== Friday, May 8 (13:30 - 16:15) Part 1: . Part 2: Animal, Human and Machine Intelligence: A Territorial Perspective==

==Tuesday (May 12, 9:30 - 12:15) 1. Hallucinations 2. Planning, Creativity, and Entrepreneurial Perception==

From Speech Acts to Document Acts: An Ontology of Institutions [https://buffalo.box.com/s/85h3u1nvjtbnm5krs0tr7rfkys2p48qc Slides]

Massively Planned Social Agency [https://buffalo.box.com/s/v6huywh7gs09jsosfxo7ox62ap7wiccd Slides]

AI Creativity and Entrepreneurial Perception Slides

==Wednesday, May 13 (09:30 - 12:15) The Limits of AI and the Limits of Physics==

==Friday May 15 (09:30-12:15) On AI, Jobs, and Economics, followed by Student Presentations ==



==Background Material==

'''An Introduction to AI for Philosophers'''
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmiY8_XVvzs Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Why-not-robot-cops Slides]
(AI experts are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''An Introduction to Philosophy for Computer Scientists'''
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/What-is-philosophy Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Crash-Course-Introduction Slides]
(Philosophers are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''[https://www.cp.eng.chula.ac.th/~prabhas/teaching/cbs-it-seminar/2012/aiphil-mccarthy.pdf John McCarthy, "What has AI in common with philosophy?"]

Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026

2026-05-11T04:22:42Z

Phismith: /* Thursday, May 7 (13:30 - 16:15) 1. Capabilities and Skills; 2. AI and History and Geography */

'''Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026'''

Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith

MAP, USI, Lugano, Spring 2026

Venue: Room A23

'''[https://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2026/05/ontology-phd.html University at Buffalo to offer world’s first doctorate in applied ontology]'''

[https://buffalo.zoom.us/j/92039377770?pwd=pL6MALdTb5mB1QnqlwYPwAoNaYeEp4.1 Zoom link]

'''Introduction'''

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the subfield of Computer Science devoted to developing programs that enable computers to display behavior that can (broadly) be characterized as intelligent. On the strong version, the ultimate goal of AI is to create what is called General Artificial Intelligence (AGI), by which is meant an artificial system that is at least as intelligent as a human being.

Since its inception in the middle of the last century AI has enjoyed repeated cycles of enthusiasm and disappointment (AI summers and winters). Recent successes of ChatGPT and other Large Language Models (LLMs) have opened a new era of popularization of AI. For the first time, AI tools have been created which are immediately available to the wider population, who for the first time can have real hands-on experience of what AI can do.

These developments in AI open up a series of questions such as:

:Will the powers of AI continue to grow in the future, and if so will they ever reach the point where they can be said to have intelligence equivalent to or greater than that of a human being?
:Could we ever reach the point where we can accept the thesis that an AI system could have something like consciousness or sentience?
:Could we reach the point where an AI system could be said to behave ethically, or to have responsibility for its actions?
:Can quantum computers enable a stronger AI than what we have today?
:Can a computer have desires, a will, and emotions?
:Can a computer have responsibility for its behavior?
:Could a machine have something like a personal identity? Would I really survive if the contents of my brain were uploaded to the cloud?

We will describe in detail how stochastic AI works, and consider these and a series of other questions at the borderlines of philosophy and AI. The class will close with presentations of papers on relevant topics given by students.

Some of the material for this class is derived from our book

''Why Machines Will Never Rule the World: Artificial Intelligence without Fear'' (2nd edition, Routledge 2025).
and from the companion volume:

''Symposium on Why Machines Will Never Rule the World'' — Guest editor, Janna Hastings, University of Zurich
which appeared as a special issue of the public access journal Cosmos + Taxis in early 2024.

'''Faculty'''

Jobst Landgrebe is the founder and CEO of Cognotekt, GmBH, an AI company based in Cologne specialised in the design and implementation of holistic AI solutions. He has 20 years experience in the AI field, 8 years as a management consultant and software architect. He has also worked as a physician and mathematician, and he views AI itself -- to the extent that it is not an elaborate hype -- as a branch of applied mathematics. CUrrently his primary focus is in the biomathematics of cancer.

Barry Smith is one of the world's most widely [https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=icGNWj4AAAAJ cited philosophers]. He has contributed primarily to the field of applied ontology, which means applying philosophical ideas derived from analytical metaphysics to the concrete practical problems which arise where attempts are made to compare or combine heterogeneous bodies of data.

Grading

:Essay with presentation: 70%
:Essay with no presentation: 85%
:Presentation: 15%
:Class Participation 15%

'''Draft Schedule'''

:Venue: Room A23

'''Program'''

==Monday, May 4 (13:30-16:15) AI and Philosophy: An Introduction==

Part 1: An introduction to the course

Part 2: Outline of the theory of complex systems documented in our book: ''[https://www.amazon.com/Machines-Will-Never-Rule-World/dp/1032941405/ Why machines will never rule the world]''. Summary [https://philpapers.org/rec/LANWMW-3 here].

:In the course of the next 2 weeks we will show why AI cannot model complex systems adequately and synoptically, and why they therefore cannot reach a level of intelligence equal to that of human beings
:Note the difference between 'complex' and 'complicated'

Part 3: Booming interest in ontology unleashed by the idea of 'neurosymbolic AI'

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-1-Video Video]

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture1-Slides Slides]

'''Background'''
The classical psychological definitions of intelligence are:
:A. the ability to adapt to new situations (applies both to humans and to animals)
:B. a very general mental capability (possessed only by humans) that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly, and learn from experience
:Can a machine be intelligent in either of these senses?

'''Readings'''
:[Capabilities: An ontology]

:Linda S. Gottfredson. Mainstream Science on Intelligence. In: Intelligence 24 (1997), pp. 13–23.
:Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith: There is no Artificial General Intelligence
:Jobst Landgrebe: Deep reasoning, abstraction and planning


:Ersatz Definitions, Anthropomorphisms, and Pareidolia

There's no 'I' in 'AI', Steven Pemberton, Amsterdam, December 12, 2024
:1. Esatz definitions: using words like 'thinks' as in 'the machine is thinking', but with meanings quite different from those we use when talking about human beings. As when we define 'flying' as moving through the air, and then jumping up and down and saying "look, I'm flying!"
:2. Pareidolia: a psychological phenomenon that causes people to see patterns, objects, or meaning in ambiguous or unrelated stimuli
:3. If you can't spot irony, you're not intelligent

'''Background'''

Will AI Destroy Humanity? A Soho Forum Debate (Spoiler: Jobst won)

R.V. Yampolskii, AI: Unexplainable, Unpredictable, Uncontrollable

Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor, AI Snake Oil

Arnold Schelsky, The Hype Book, especially Chapter 1.

==Tuesday May 5 (09:30-12:15) Transhumanism: The Ultimate Stage of Cartesianism ==

Video

Slides

1. Surveys the full spectrum of transhumanism and its cultural origins.

2. Debunk the feasibility of radically improving human beings via technology.

Background:

TESCREALISM, or: why AI gods are so passionate about creating Artificial General Intelligence
Considering the existential risk of Artificial Superintelligence
Thursday, February 20 (9:30 - 12:15) Can a machine be conscious?
The machine will

Computers cannot have a will, because computers don't give a damn. Therefore there can be no machine ethics

The lack of the giving-a-damn-factor is taken by Yann LeCun as a reason to reject the idea that AI might pose an existential risk to humanity – an AI will have no desire for self-preservation “Almost half of CEOs fear A.I. could destroy humanity five to 10 years from now — but ‘A.I. godfather' says an existential threat is ‘preposterously ridiculous’” Fortune, June 15, 2023. See also here.
Implications of the absence of a machine will:

The problem of the singularity (when machines will take over from humans) will not arise
The idea of digital immortality will never be realized Slides
The idea that human beings are simulations can be rejected
There can be no AI ethics (only: ethics governing human beings when they use AI)
Fermi's paradox is solved
Background:

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Slides Slides]

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Video Video]

Searle's Chinese Room Argument
Machines cannot have intentionality; they cannot have experiences which are about something.

Searle: Minds, Brains, and Programs

==Wednesday May 6 (09:30-12:15) AI and the Theory of Complex and Dynamic Systems==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Video Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Slides Slides]

Provides an introduction to the theory of complex and dynamic systems. Examples include: population growth

== Thursday, May 7 (13:30 - 16:15) 1. Capabilities and Skills; 2. AI and History and Geography==

Part 0: How to give a good powerpoint presentation

Part 1: Functions, Capabilities, Skills

Part 2: On territory

[]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture--4-Video Video]

== Friday, May 8 (13:30 - 16:15) Part 1: . Part 2: Animal, Human and Machine Intelligence: A Territorial Perspective==

==Tuesday (May 12, 9:30 - 12:15) 1. Hallucinations 2. Planning, Creativity, and Entrepreneurial Perception==

From Speech Acts to Document Acts: An Ontology of Institutions [https://buffalo.box.com/s/85h3u1nvjtbnm5krs0tr7rfkys2p48qc Slides]

Massively Planned Social Agency [https://buffalo.box.com/s/v6huywh7gs09jsosfxo7ox62ap7wiccd Slides]

AI Creativity and Entrepreneurial Perception Slides

==Wednesday, May 13 (09:30 - 12:15) The Limits of AI and the Limits of Physics==

==Friday May 15 (09:30-12:15) On AI, Jobs, and Economics, followed by Student Presentations ==



==Background Material==

'''An Introduction to AI for Philosophers'''
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmiY8_XVvzs Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Why-not-robot-cops Slides]
(AI experts are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''An Introduction to Philosophy for Computer Scientists'''
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/What-is-philosophy Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Crash-Course-Introduction Slides]
(Philosophers are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''[https://www.cp.eng.chula.ac.th/~prabhas/teaching/cbs-it-seminar/2012/aiphil-mccarthy.pdf John McCarthy, "What has AI in common with philosophy?"]

Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026

2026-05-11T04:22:14Z

Phismith: /* Thursday, May 7 (13:30 - 16:15) 1. Capabilities and Skills; 2. AI and History and Geography */

'''Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026'''

Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith

MAP, USI, Lugano, Spring 2026

Venue: Room A23

'''[https://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2026/05/ontology-phd.html University at Buffalo to offer world’s first doctorate in applied ontology]'''

[https://buffalo.zoom.us/j/92039377770?pwd=pL6MALdTb5mB1QnqlwYPwAoNaYeEp4.1 Zoom link]

'''Introduction'''

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the subfield of Computer Science devoted to developing programs that enable computers to display behavior that can (broadly) be characterized as intelligent. On the strong version, the ultimate goal of AI is to create what is called General Artificial Intelligence (AGI), by which is meant an artificial system that is at least as intelligent as a human being.

Since its inception in the middle of the last century AI has enjoyed repeated cycles of enthusiasm and disappointment (AI summers and winters). Recent successes of ChatGPT and other Large Language Models (LLMs) have opened a new era of popularization of AI. For the first time, AI tools have been created which are immediately available to the wider population, who for the first time can have real hands-on experience of what AI can do.

These developments in AI open up a series of questions such as:

:Will the powers of AI continue to grow in the future, and if so will they ever reach the point where they can be said to have intelligence equivalent to or greater than that of a human being?
:Could we ever reach the point where we can accept the thesis that an AI system could have something like consciousness or sentience?
:Could we reach the point where an AI system could be said to behave ethically, or to have responsibility for its actions?
:Can quantum computers enable a stronger AI than what we have today?
:Can a computer have desires, a will, and emotions?
:Can a computer have responsibility for its behavior?
:Could a machine have something like a personal identity? Would I really survive if the contents of my brain were uploaded to the cloud?

We will describe in detail how stochastic AI works, and consider these and a series of other questions at the borderlines of philosophy and AI. The class will close with presentations of papers on relevant topics given by students.

Some of the material for this class is derived from our book

''Why Machines Will Never Rule the World: Artificial Intelligence without Fear'' (2nd edition, Routledge 2025).
and from the companion volume:

''Symposium on Why Machines Will Never Rule the World'' — Guest editor, Janna Hastings, University of Zurich
which appeared as a special issue of the public access journal Cosmos + Taxis in early 2024.

'''Faculty'''

Jobst Landgrebe is the founder and CEO of Cognotekt, GmBH, an AI company based in Cologne specialised in the design and implementation of holistic AI solutions. He has 20 years experience in the AI field, 8 years as a management consultant and software architect. He has also worked as a physician and mathematician, and he views AI itself -- to the extent that it is not an elaborate hype -- as a branch of applied mathematics. CUrrently his primary focus is in the biomathematics of cancer.

Barry Smith is one of the world's most widely [https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=icGNWj4AAAAJ cited philosophers]. He has contributed primarily to the field of applied ontology, which means applying philosophical ideas derived from analytical metaphysics to the concrete practical problems which arise where attempts are made to compare or combine heterogeneous bodies of data.

Grading

:Essay with presentation: 70%
:Essay with no presentation: 85%
:Presentation: 15%
:Class Participation 15%

'''Draft Schedule'''

:Venue: Room A23

'''Program'''

==Monday, May 4 (13:30-16:15) AI and Philosophy: An Introduction==

Part 1: An introduction to the course

Part 2: Outline of the theory of complex systems documented in our book: ''[https://www.amazon.com/Machines-Will-Never-Rule-World/dp/1032941405/ Why machines will never rule the world]''. Summary [https://philpapers.org/rec/LANWMW-3 here].

:In the course of the next 2 weeks we will show why AI cannot model complex systems adequately and synoptically, and why they therefore cannot reach a level of intelligence equal to that of human beings
:Note the difference between 'complex' and 'complicated'

Part 3: Booming interest in ontology unleashed by the idea of 'neurosymbolic AI'

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-1-Video Video]

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture1-Slides Slides]

'''Background'''
The classical psychological definitions of intelligence are:
:A. the ability to adapt to new situations (applies both to humans and to animals)
:B. a very general mental capability (possessed only by humans) that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly, and learn from experience
:Can a machine be intelligent in either of these senses?

'''Readings'''
:[Capabilities: An ontology]

:Linda S. Gottfredson. Mainstream Science on Intelligence. In: Intelligence 24 (1997), pp. 13–23.
:Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith: There is no Artificial General Intelligence
:Jobst Landgrebe: Deep reasoning, abstraction and planning


:Ersatz Definitions, Anthropomorphisms, and Pareidolia

There's no 'I' in 'AI', Steven Pemberton, Amsterdam, December 12, 2024
:1. Esatz definitions: using words like 'thinks' as in 'the machine is thinking', but with meanings quite different from those we use when talking about human beings. As when we define 'flying' as moving through the air, and then jumping up and down and saying "look, I'm flying!"
:2. Pareidolia: a psychological phenomenon that causes people to see patterns, objects, or meaning in ambiguous or unrelated stimuli
:3. If you can't spot irony, you're not intelligent

'''Background'''

Will AI Destroy Humanity? A Soho Forum Debate (Spoiler: Jobst won)

R.V. Yampolskii, AI: Unexplainable, Unpredictable, Uncontrollable

Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor, AI Snake Oil

Arnold Schelsky, The Hype Book, especially Chapter 1.

==Tuesday May 5 (09:30-12:15) Transhumanism: The Ultimate Stage of Cartesianism ==

Video

Slides

1. Surveys the full spectrum of transhumanism and its cultural origins.

2. Debunk the feasibility of radically improving human beings via technology.

Background:

TESCREALISM, or: why AI gods are so passionate about creating Artificial General Intelligence
Considering the existential risk of Artificial Superintelligence
Thursday, February 20 (9:30 - 12:15) Can a machine be conscious?
The machine will

Computers cannot have a will, because computers don't give a damn. Therefore there can be no machine ethics

The lack of the giving-a-damn-factor is taken by Yann LeCun as a reason to reject the idea that AI might pose an existential risk to humanity – an AI will have no desire for self-preservation “Almost half of CEOs fear A.I. could destroy humanity five to 10 years from now — but ‘A.I. godfather' says an existential threat is ‘preposterously ridiculous’” Fortune, June 15, 2023. See also here.
Implications of the absence of a machine will:

The problem of the singularity (when machines will take over from humans) will not arise
The idea of digital immortality will never be realized Slides
The idea that human beings are simulations can be rejected
There can be no AI ethics (only: ethics governing human beings when they use AI)
Fermi's paradox is solved
Background:

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Slides Slides]

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Video Video]

Searle's Chinese Room Argument
Machines cannot have intentionality; they cannot have experiences which are about something.

Searle: Minds, Brains, and Programs

==Wednesday May 6 (09:30-12:15) AI and the Theory of Complex and Dynamic Systems==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Video Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Slides Slides]

Provides an introduction to the theory of complex and dynamic systems. Examples include: population growth

== Thursday, May 7 (13:30 - 16:15) 1. Capabilities and Skills; 2. AI and History and Geography==

Part 0: How to give a good powerpoint presentation

Part 1: Functions, Capabilities, Skills

Part 2: On territory

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-4 Slides]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture--4-Video Video]

== Friday, May 8 (13:30 - 16:15) Part 1: . Part 2: Animal, Human and Machine Intelligence: A Territorial Perspective==

==Tuesday (May 12, 9:30 - 12:15) 1. Hallucinations 2. Planning, Creativity, and Entrepreneurial Perception==

From Speech Acts to Document Acts: An Ontology of Institutions [https://buffalo.box.com/s/85h3u1nvjtbnm5krs0tr7rfkys2p48qc Slides]

Massively Planned Social Agency [https://buffalo.box.com/s/v6huywh7gs09jsosfxo7ox62ap7wiccd Slides]

AI Creativity and Entrepreneurial Perception Slides

==Wednesday, May 13 (09:30 - 12:15) The Limits of AI and the Limits of Physics==

==Friday May 15 (09:30-12:15) On AI, Jobs, and Economics, followed by Student Presentations ==



==Background Material==

'''An Introduction to AI for Philosophers'''
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmiY8_XVvzs Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Why-not-robot-cops Slides]
(AI experts are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''An Introduction to Philosophy for Computer Scientists'''
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/What-is-philosophy Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Crash-Course-Introduction Slides]
(Philosophers are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''[https://www.cp.eng.chula.ac.th/~prabhas/teaching/cbs-it-seminar/2012/aiphil-mccarthy.pdf John McCarthy, "What has AI in common with philosophy?"]

Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026

2026-05-11T04:17:46Z

Phismith: /* Tuesday (May 12, 9:30 - 12:15) Planning, Creativity, and Entrepreneurial Perception */

'''Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026'''

Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith

MAP, USI, Lugano, Spring 2026

Venue: Room A23

'''[https://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2026/05/ontology-phd.html University at Buffalo to offer world’s first doctorate in applied ontology]'''

[https://buffalo.zoom.us/j/92039377770?pwd=pL6MALdTb5mB1QnqlwYPwAoNaYeEp4.1 Zoom link]

'''Introduction'''

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the subfield of Computer Science devoted to developing programs that enable computers to display behavior that can (broadly) be characterized as intelligent. On the strong version, the ultimate goal of AI is to create what is called General Artificial Intelligence (AGI), by which is meant an artificial system that is at least as intelligent as a human being.

Since its inception in the middle of the last century AI has enjoyed repeated cycles of enthusiasm and disappointment (AI summers and winters). Recent successes of ChatGPT and other Large Language Models (LLMs) have opened a new era of popularization of AI. For the first time, AI tools have been created which are immediately available to the wider population, who for the first time can have real hands-on experience of what AI can do.

These developments in AI open up a series of questions such as:

:Will the powers of AI continue to grow in the future, and if so will they ever reach the point where they can be said to have intelligence equivalent to or greater than that of a human being?
:Could we ever reach the point where we can accept the thesis that an AI system could have something like consciousness or sentience?
:Could we reach the point where an AI system could be said to behave ethically, or to have responsibility for its actions?
:Can quantum computers enable a stronger AI than what we have today?
:Can a computer have desires, a will, and emotions?
:Can a computer have responsibility for its behavior?
:Could a machine have something like a personal identity? Would I really survive if the contents of my brain were uploaded to the cloud?

We will describe in detail how stochastic AI works, and consider these and a series of other questions at the borderlines of philosophy and AI. The class will close with presentations of papers on relevant topics given by students.

Some of the material for this class is derived from our book

''Why Machines Will Never Rule the World: Artificial Intelligence without Fear'' (2nd edition, Routledge 2025).
and from the companion volume:

''Symposium on Why Machines Will Never Rule the World'' — Guest editor, Janna Hastings, University of Zurich
which appeared as a special issue of the public access journal Cosmos + Taxis in early 2024.

'''Faculty'''

Jobst Landgrebe is the founder and CEO of Cognotekt, GmBH, an AI company based in Cologne specialised in the design and implementation of holistic AI solutions. He has 20 years experience in the AI field, 8 years as a management consultant and software architect. He has also worked as a physician and mathematician, and he views AI itself -- to the extent that it is not an elaborate hype -- as a branch of applied mathematics. CUrrently his primary focus is in the biomathematics of cancer.

Barry Smith is one of the world's most widely [https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=icGNWj4AAAAJ cited philosophers]. He has contributed primarily to the field of applied ontology, which means applying philosophical ideas derived from analytical metaphysics to the concrete practical problems which arise where attempts are made to compare or combine heterogeneous bodies of data.

Grading

:Essay with presentation: 70%
:Essay with no presentation: 85%
:Presentation: 15%
:Class Participation 15%

'''Draft Schedule'''

:Venue: Room A23

'''Program'''

==Monday, May 4 (13:30-16:15) AI and Philosophy: An Introduction==

Part 1: An introduction to the course

Part 2: Outline of the theory of complex systems documented in our book: ''[https://www.amazon.com/Machines-Will-Never-Rule-World/dp/1032941405/ Why machines will never rule the world]''. Summary [https://philpapers.org/rec/LANWMW-3 here].

:In the course of the next 2 weeks we will show why AI cannot model complex systems adequately and synoptically, and why they therefore cannot reach a level of intelligence equal to that of human beings
:Note the difference between 'complex' and 'complicated'

Part 3: Booming interest in ontology unleashed by the idea of 'neurosymbolic AI'

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-1-Video Video]

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture1-Slides Slides]

'''Background'''
The classical psychological definitions of intelligence are:
:A. the ability to adapt to new situations (applies both to humans and to animals)
:B. a very general mental capability (possessed only by humans) that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly, and learn from experience
:Can a machine be intelligent in either of these senses?

'''Readings'''
:[Capabilities: An ontology]

:Linda S. Gottfredson. Mainstream Science on Intelligence. In: Intelligence 24 (1997), pp. 13–23.
:Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith: There is no Artificial General Intelligence
:Jobst Landgrebe: Deep reasoning, abstraction and planning


:Ersatz Definitions, Anthropomorphisms, and Pareidolia

There's no 'I' in 'AI', Steven Pemberton, Amsterdam, December 12, 2024
:1. Esatz definitions: using words like 'thinks' as in 'the machine is thinking', but with meanings quite different from those we use when talking about human beings. As when we define 'flying' as moving through the air, and then jumping up and down and saying "look, I'm flying!"
:2. Pareidolia: a psychological phenomenon that causes people to see patterns, objects, or meaning in ambiguous or unrelated stimuli
:3. If you can't spot irony, you're not intelligent

'''Background'''

Will AI Destroy Humanity? A Soho Forum Debate (Spoiler: Jobst won)

R.V. Yampolskii, AI: Unexplainable, Unpredictable, Uncontrollable

Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor, AI Snake Oil

Arnold Schelsky, The Hype Book, especially Chapter 1.

==Tuesday May 5 (09:30-12:15) Transhumanism: The Ultimate Stage of Cartesianism ==

Video

Slides

1. Surveys the full spectrum of transhumanism and its cultural origins.

2. Debunk the feasibility of radically improving human beings via technology.

Background:

TESCREALISM, or: why AI gods are so passionate about creating Artificial General Intelligence
Considering the existential risk of Artificial Superintelligence
Thursday, February 20 (9:30 - 12:15) Can a machine be conscious?
The machine will

Computers cannot have a will, because computers don't give a damn. Therefore there can be no machine ethics

The lack of the giving-a-damn-factor is taken by Yann LeCun as a reason to reject the idea that AI might pose an existential risk to humanity – an AI will have no desire for self-preservation “Almost half of CEOs fear A.I. could destroy humanity five to 10 years from now — but ‘A.I. godfather' says an existential threat is ‘preposterously ridiculous’” Fortune, June 15, 2023. See also here.
Implications of the absence of a machine will:

The problem of the singularity (when machines will take over from humans) will not arise
The idea of digital immortality will never be realized Slides
The idea that human beings are simulations can be rejected
There can be no AI ethics (only: ethics governing human beings when they use AI)
Fermi's paradox is solved
Background:

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Slides Slides]

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Video Video]

Searle's Chinese Room Argument
Machines cannot have intentionality; they cannot have experiences which are about something.

Searle: Minds, Brains, and Programs

==Wednesday May 6 (09:30-12:15) AI and the Theory of Complex and Dynamic Systems==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Video Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Slides Slides]

Provides an introduction to the theory of complex and dynamic systems. Examples include: population growth

== Thursday, May 7 (13:30 - 16:15) 1. Capabilities and Skills; 2. AI and History and Geography==

Part 0: How to give a good powerpoint presentation

Part 1: Functions, Capabilities, Skills

Part 2: On territory

[Slides]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture--4-Video Video]

== Friday, May 8 (13:30 - 16:15) Part 1: . Part 2: Animal, Human and Machine Intelligence: A Territorial Perspective==

==Tuesday (May 12, 9:30 - 12:15) 1. Hallucinations 2. Planning, Creativity, and Entrepreneurial Perception==

From Speech Acts to Document Acts: An Ontology of Institutions [https://buffalo.box.com/s/85h3u1nvjtbnm5krs0tr7rfkys2p48qc Slides]

Massively Planned Social Agency [https://buffalo.box.com/s/v6huywh7gs09jsosfxo7ox62ap7wiccd Slides]

AI Creativity and Entrepreneurial Perception Slides

==Wednesday, May 13 (09:30 - 12:15) The Limits of AI and the Limits of Physics==

==Friday May 15 (09:30-12:15) On AI, Jobs, and Economics, followed by Student Presentations ==



==Background Material==

'''An Introduction to AI for Philosophers'''
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmiY8_XVvzs Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Why-not-robot-cops Slides]
(AI experts are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''An Introduction to Philosophy for Computer Scientists'''
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/What-is-philosophy Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Crash-Course-Introduction Slides]
(Philosophers are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''[https://www.cp.eng.chula.ac.th/~prabhas/teaching/cbs-it-seminar/2012/aiphil-mccarthy.pdf John McCarthy, "What has AI in common with philosophy?"]

Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026

2026-05-09T19:20:58Z

Phismith: /* Friday, May 8 (13:30 - 16:15) Part 1: . Part 2: Animal, Human and Machine Intelligence: A Territorial Perspective */

'''Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026'''

Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith

MAP, USI, Lugano, Spring 2026

Venue: Room A23

'''[https://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2026/05/ontology-phd.html University at Buffalo to offer world’s first doctorate in applied ontology]'''

[https://buffalo.zoom.us/j/92039377770?pwd=pL6MALdTb5mB1QnqlwYPwAoNaYeEp4.1 Zoom link]

'''Introduction'''

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the subfield of Computer Science devoted to developing programs that enable computers to display behavior that can (broadly) be characterized as intelligent. On the strong version, the ultimate goal of AI is to create what is called General Artificial Intelligence (AGI), by which is meant an artificial system that is at least as intelligent as a human being.

Since its inception in the middle of the last century AI has enjoyed repeated cycles of enthusiasm and disappointment (AI summers and winters). Recent successes of ChatGPT and other Large Language Models (LLMs) have opened a new era of popularization of AI. For the first time, AI tools have been created which are immediately available to the wider population, who for the first time can have real hands-on experience of what AI can do.

These developments in AI open up a series of questions such as:

:Will the powers of AI continue to grow in the future, and if so will they ever reach the point where they can be said to have intelligence equivalent to or greater than that of a human being?
:Could we ever reach the point where we can accept the thesis that an AI system could have something like consciousness or sentience?
:Could we reach the point where an AI system could be said to behave ethically, or to have responsibility for its actions?
:Can quantum computers enable a stronger AI than what we have today?
:Can a computer have desires, a will, and emotions?
:Can a computer have responsibility for its behavior?
:Could a machine have something like a personal identity? Would I really survive if the contents of my brain were uploaded to the cloud?

We will describe in detail how stochastic AI works, and consider these and a series of other questions at the borderlines of philosophy and AI. The class will close with presentations of papers on relevant topics given by students.

Some of the material for this class is derived from our book

''Why Machines Will Never Rule the World: Artificial Intelligence without Fear'' (2nd edition, Routledge 2025).
and from the companion volume:

''Symposium on Why Machines Will Never Rule the World'' — Guest editor, Janna Hastings, University of Zurich
which appeared as a special issue of the public access journal Cosmos + Taxis in early 2024.

'''Faculty'''

Jobst Landgrebe is the founder and CEO of Cognotekt, GmBH, an AI company based in Cologne specialised in the design and implementation of holistic AI solutions. He has 20 years experience in the AI field, 8 years as a management consultant and software architect. He has also worked as a physician and mathematician, and he views AI itself -- to the extent that it is not an elaborate hype -- as a branch of applied mathematics. CUrrently his primary focus is in the biomathematics of cancer.

Barry Smith is one of the world's most widely [https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=icGNWj4AAAAJ cited philosophers]. He has contributed primarily to the field of applied ontology, which means applying philosophical ideas derived from analytical metaphysics to the concrete practical problems which arise where attempts are made to compare or combine heterogeneous bodies of data.

Grading

:Essay with presentation: 70%
:Essay with no presentation: 85%
:Presentation: 15%
:Class Participation 15%

'''Draft Schedule'''

:Venue: Room A23

'''Program'''

==Monday, May 4 (13:30-16:15) AI and Philosophy: An Introduction==

Part 1: An introduction to the course

Part 2: Outline of the theory of complex systems documented in our book: ''[https://www.amazon.com/Machines-Will-Never-Rule-World/dp/1032941405/ Why machines will never rule the world]''. Summary [https://philpapers.org/rec/LANWMW-3 here].

:In the course of the next 2 weeks we will show why AI cannot model complex systems adequately and synoptically, and why they therefore cannot reach a level of intelligence equal to that of human beings
:Note the difference between 'complex' and 'complicated'

Part 3: Booming interest in ontology unleashed by the idea of 'neurosymbolic AI'

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-1-Video Video]

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture1-Slides Slides]

'''Background'''
The classical psychological definitions of intelligence are:
:A. the ability to adapt to new situations (applies both to humans and to animals)
:B. a very general mental capability (possessed only by humans) that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly, and learn from experience
:Can a machine be intelligent in either of these senses?

'''Readings'''
:[Capabilities: An ontology]

:Linda S. Gottfredson. Mainstream Science on Intelligence. In: Intelligence 24 (1997), pp. 13–23.
:Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith: There is no Artificial General Intelligence
:Jobst Landgrebe: Deep reasoning, abstraction and planning


:Ersatz Definitions, Anthropomorphisms, and Pareidolia

There's no 'I' in 'AI', Steven Pemberton, Amsterdam, December 12, 2024
:1. Esatz definitions: using words like 'thinks' as in 'the machine is thinking', but with meanings quite different from those we use when talking about human beings. As when we define 'flying' as moving through the air, and then jumping up and down and saying "look, I'm flying!"
:2. Pareidolia: a psychological phenomenon that causes people to see patterns, objects, or meaning in ambiguous or unrelated stimuli
:3. If you can't spot irony, you're not intelligent

'''Background'''

Will AI Destroy Humanity? A Soho Forum Debate (Spoiler: Jobst won)

R.V. Yampolskii, AI: Unexplainable, Unpredictable, Uncontrollable

Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor, AI Snake Oil

Arnold Schelsky, The Hype Book, especially Chapter 1.

==Tuesday May 5 (09:30-12:15) Transhumanism: The Ultimate Stage of Cartesianism ==

Video

Slides

1. Surveys the full spectrum of transhumanism and its cultural origins.

2. Debunk the feasibility of radically improving human beings via technology.

Background:

TESCREALISM, or: why AI gods are so passionate about creating Artificial General Intelligence
Considering the existential risk of Artificial Superintelligence
Thursday, February 20 (9:30 - 12:15) Can a machine be conscious?
The machine will

Computers cannot have a will, because computers don't give a damn. Therefore there can be no machine ethics

The lack of the giving-a-damn-factor is taken by Yann LeCun as a reason to reject the idea that AI might pose an existential risk to humanity – an AI will have no desire for self-preservation “Almost half of CEOs fear A.I. could destroy humanity five to 10 years from now — but ‘A.I. godfather' says an existential threat is ‘preposterously ridiculous’” Fortune, June 15, 2023. See also here.
Implications of the absence of a machine will:

The problem of the singularity (when machines will take over from humans) will not arise
The idea of digital immortality will never be realized Slides
The idea that human beings are simulations can be rejected
There can be no AI ethics (only: ethics governing human beings when they use AI)
Fermi's paradox is solved
Background:

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Slides Slides]

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Video Video]

Searle's Chinese Room Argument
Machines cannot have intentionality; they cannot have experiences which are about something.

Searle: Minds, Brains, and Programs

==Wednesday May 6 (09:30-12:15) AI and the Theory of Complex and Dynamic Systems==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Video Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Slides Slides]

Provides an introduction to the theory of complex and dynamic systems. Examples include: population growth

== Thursday, May 7 (13:30 - 16:15) 1. Capabilities and Skills; 2. AI and History and Geography==

Part 0: How to give a good powerpoint presentation

Part 1: Functions, Capabilities, Skills

Part 2: On territory

[Slides]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture--4-Video Video]

== Friday, May 8 (13:30 - 16:15) Part 1: . Part 2: Animal, Human and Machine Intelligence: A Territorial Perspective==

==Tuesday (May 12, 9:30 - 12:15) Planning, Creativity, and Entrepreneurial Perception==

From Speech Acts to Document Acts: An Ontology of Institutions [https://buffalo.box.com/s/85h3u1nvjtbnm5krs0tr7rfkys2p48qc Slides]

Massively Planned Social Agency [https://buffalo.box.com/s/v6huywh7gs09jsosfxo7ox62ap7wiccd Slides]

AI Creativity and Entrepreneurial Perception Slides

==Wednesday, May 13 (09:30 - 12:15) The Limits of AI and the Limits of Physics==

==Friday May 15 (09:30-12:15) On AI, Jobs, and Economics, followed by Student Presentations ==



==Background Material==

'''An Introduction to AI for Philosophers'''
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmiY8_XVvzs Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Why-not-robot-cops Slides]
(AI experts are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''An Introduction to Philosophy for Computer Scientists'''
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/What-is-philosophy Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Crash-Course-Introduction Slides]
(Philosophers are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''[https://www.cp.eng.chula.ac.th/~prabhas/teaching/cbs-it-seminar/2012/aiphil-mccarthy.pdf John McCarthy, "What has AI in common with philosophy?"]

Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026

2026-05-09T19:19:39Z

Phismith: /* Thursday, May 7 (13:30 - 16:15) 1. Capabilities and Skills; 2. AI and History and Geography */

'''Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026'''

Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith

MAP, USI, Lugano, Spring 2026

Venue: Room A23

'''[https://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2026/05/ontology-phd.html University at Buffalo to offer world’s first doctorate in applied ontology]'''

[https://buffalo.zoom.us/j/92039377770?pwd=pL6MALdTb5mB1QnqlwYPwAoNaYeEp4.1 Zoom link]

'''Introduction'''

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the subfield of Computer Science devoted to developing programs that enable computers to display behavior that can (broadly) be characterized as intelligent. On the strong version, the ultimate goal of AI is to create what is called General Artificial Intelligence (AGI), by which is meant an artificial system that is at least as intelligent as a human being.

Since its inception in the middle of the last century AI has enjoyed repeated cycles of enthusiasm and disappointment (AI summers and winters). Recent successes of ChatGPT and other Large Language Models (LLMs) have opened a new era of popularization of AI. For the first time, AI tools have been created which are immediately available to the wider population, who for the first time can have real hands-on experience of what AI can do.

These developments in AI open up a series of questions such as:

:Will the powers of AI continue to grow in the future, and if so will they ever reach the point where they can be said to have intelligence equivalent to or greater than that of a human being?
:Could we ever reach the point where we can accept the thesis that an AI system could have something like consciousness or sentience?
:Could we reach the point where an AI system could be said to behave ethically, or to have responsibility for its actions?
:Can quantum computers enable a stronger AI than what we have today?
:Can a computer have desires, a will, and emotions?
:Can a computer have responsibility for its behavior?
:Could a machine have something like a personal identity? Would I really survive if the contents of my brain were uploaded to the cloud?

We will describe in detail how stochastic AI works, and consider these and a series of other questions at the borderlines of philosophy and AI. The class will close with presentations of papers on relevant topics given by students.

Some of the material for this class is derived from our book

''Why Machines Will Never Rule the World: Artificial Intelligence without Fear'' (2nd edition, Routledge 2025).
and from the companion volume:

''Symposium on Why Machines Will Never Rule the World'' — Guest editor, Janna Hastings, University of Zurich
which appeared as a special issue of the public access journal Cosmos + Taxis in early 2024.

'''Faculty'''

Jobst Landgrebe is the founder and CEO of Cognotekt, GmBH, an AI company based in Cologne specialised in the design and implementation of holistic AI solutions. He has 20 years experience in the AI field, 8 years as a management consultant and software architect. He has also worked as a physician and mathematician, and he views AI itself -- to the extent that it is not an elaborate hype -- as a branch of applied mathematics. CUrrently his primary focus is in the biomathematics of cancer.

Barry Smith is one of the world's most widely [https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=icGNWj4AAAAJ cited philosophers]. He has contributed primarily to the field of applied ontology, which means applying philosophical ideas derived from analytical metaphysics to the concrete practical problems which arise where attempts are made to compare or combine heterogeneous bodies of data.

Grading

:Essay with presentation: 70%
:Essay with no presentation: 85%
:Presentation: 15%
:Class Participation 15%

'''Draft Schedule'''

:Venue: Room A23

'''Program'''

==Monday, May 4 (13:30-16:15) AI and Philosophy: An Introduction==

Part 1: An introduction to the course

Part 2: Outline of the theory of complex systems documented in our book: ''[https://www.amazon.com/Machines-Will-Never-Rule-World/dp/1032941405/ Why machines will never rule the world]''. Summary [https://philpapers.org/rec/LANWMW-3 here].

:In the course of the next 2 weeks we will show why AI cannot model complex systems adequately and synoptically, and why they therefore cannot reach a level of intelligence equal to that of human beings
:Note the difference between 'complex' and 'complicated'

Part 3: Booming interest in ontology unleashed by the idea of 'neurosymbolic AI'

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-1-Video Video]

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture1-Slides Slides]

'''Background'''
The classical psychological definitions of intelligence are:
:A. the ability to adapt to new situations (applies both to humans and to animals)
:B. a very general mental capability (possessed only by humans) that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly, and learn from experience
:Can a machine be intelligent in either of these senses?

'''Readings'''
:[Capabilities: An ontology]

:Linda S. Gottfredson. Mainstream Science on Intelligence. In: Intelligence 24 (1997), pp. 13–23.
:Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith: There is no Artificial General Intelligence
:Jobst Landgrebe: Deep reasoning, abstraction and planning


:Ersatz Definitions, Anthropomorphisms, and Pareidolia

There's no 'I' in 'AI', Steven Pemberton, Amsterdam, December 12, 2024
:1. Esatz definitions: using words like 'thinks' as in 'the machine is thinking', but with meanings quite different from those we use when talking about human beings. As when we define 'flying' as moving through the air, and then jumping up and down and saying "look, I'm flying!"
:2. Pareidolia: a psychological phenomenon that causes people to see patterns, objects, or meaning in ambiguous or unrelated stimuli
:3. If you can't spot irony, you're not intelligent

'''Background'''

Will AI Destroy Humanity? A Soho Forum Debate (Spoiler: Jobst won)

R.V. Yampolskii, AI: Unexplainable, Unpredictable, Uncontrollable

Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor, AI Snake Oil

Arnold Schelsky, The Hype Book, especially Chapter 1.

==Tuesday May 5 (09:30-12:15) Transhumanism: The Ultimate Stage of Cartesianism ==

Video

Slides

1. Surveys the full spectrum of transhumanism and its cultural origins.

2. Debunk the feasibility of radically improving human beings via technology.

Background:

TESCREALISM, or: why AI gods are so passionate about creating Artificial General Intelligence
Considering the existential risk of Artificial Superintelligence
Thursday, February 20 (9:30 - 12:15) Can a machine be conscious?
The machine will

Computers cannot have a will, because computers don't give a damn. Therefore there can be no machine ethics

The lack of the giving-a-damn-factor is taken by Yann LeCun as a reason to reject the idea that AI might pose an existential risk to humanity – an AI will have no desire for self-preservation “Almost half of CEOs fear A.I. could destroy humanity five to 10 years from now — but ‘A.I. godfather' says an existential threat is ‘preposterously ridiculous’” Fortune, June 15, 2023. See also here.
Implications of the absence of a machine will:

The problem of the singularity (when machines will take over from humans) will not arise
The idea of digital immortality will never be realized Slides
The idea that human beings are simulations can be rejected
There can be no AI ethics (only: ethics governing human beings when they use AI)
Fermi's paradox is solved
Background:

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Slides Slides]

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Video Video]

Searle's Chinese Room Argument
Machines cannot have intentionality; they cannot have experiences which are about something.

Searle: Minds, Brains, and Programs

==Wednesday May 6 (09:30-12:15) AI and the Theory of Complex and Dynamic Systems==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Video Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Slides Slides]

Provides an introduction to the theory of complex and dynamic systems. Examples include: population growth

== Thursday, May 7 (13:30 - 16:15) 1. Capabilities and Skills; 2. AI and History and Geography==

Part 0: How to give a good powerpoint presentation

Part 1: Functions, Capabilities, Skills

Part 2: On territory

[Slides]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture--4-Video Video]

== Friday, May 8 (13:30 - 16:15) Part 1: . Part 2: Animal, Human and Machine Intelligence: A Territorial Perspective==

Explicit, implicit, practical, personal and tacit knowledge
Video
Knowing how vs Knowing that
Tacit knowledge and science
Leadership and control (and ruling the world)

Part 3:

Complex Systems and Cognitive Science: Why the Replication Problem is here to stay

The 'replication problem' is the the inability of scientific communities to independently confirm the results of scientific work. Much has been written on this problem especially as it arises in (social) psychology, and on potential solutions under the heading of 'open science'. But we will see that the replication problem has plagued medicine as a positive science since its beginnings (Virchov and Pasteur). This problem has become worse over the last 30 years and has massive consequences for healthcare practice and policy.
Slides

''Personal knowledge'''

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/AI-and-Creativity Explicit, implicit, practical, personal and tacit knowledge]

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Practical-knowledge Video]==

==Tuesday (May 12, 9:30 - 12:15) Planning, Creativity, and Entrepreneurial Perception==

From Speech Acts to Document Acts: An Ontology of Institutions [https://buffalo.box.com/s/85h3u1nvjtbnm5krs0tr7rfkys2p48qc Slides]

Massively Planned Social Agency [https://buffalo.box.com/s/v6huywh7gs09jsosfxo7ox62ap7wiccd Slides]

AI Creativity and Entrepreneurial Perception Slides

==Wednesday, May 13 (09:30 - 12:15) The Limits of AI and the Limits of Physics==

==Friday May 15 (09:30-12:15) On AI, Jobs, and Economics, followed by Student Presentations ==



==Background Material==

'''An Introduction to AI for Philosophers'''
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmiY8_XVvzs Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Why-not-robot-cops Slides]
(AI experts are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''An Introduction to Philosophy for Computer Scientists'''
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/What-is-philosophy Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Crash-Course-Introduction Slides]
(Philosophers are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''[https://www.cp.eng.chula.ac.th/~prabhas/teaching/cbs-it-seminar/2012/aiphil-mccarthy.pdf John McCarthy, "What has AI in common with philosophy?"]

Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026

2026-05-09T19:11:21Z

Phismith: /* Friday, May 8 (13:30 - 16:15) Part 1: AI and the Theory of Complex Dynamic Systems. Part 2: Animal, Human and Machine Intelligence: A Territorial Perspective */

'''Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026'''

Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith

MAP, USI, Lugano, Spring 2026

Venue: Room A23

'''[https://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2026/05/ontology-phd.html University at Buffalo to offer world’s first doctorate in applied ontology]'''

[https://buffalo.zoom.us/j/92039377770?pwd=pL6MALdTb5mB1QnqlwYPwAoNaYeEp4.1 Zoom link]

'''Introduction'''

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the subfield of Computer Science devoted to developing programs that enable computers to display behavior that can (broadly) be characterized as intelligent. On the strong version, the ultimate goal of AI is to create what is called General Artificial Intelligence (AGI), by which is meant an artificial system that is at least as intelligent as a human being.

Since its inception in the middle of the last century AI has enjoyed repeated cycles of enthusiasm and disappointment (AI summers and winters). Recent successes of ChatGPT and other Large Language Models (LLMs) have opened a new era of popularization of AI. For the first time, AI tools have been created which are immediately available to the wider population, who for the first time can have real hands-on experience of what AI can do.

These developments in AI open up a series of questions such as:

:Will the powers of AI continue to grow in the future, and if so will they ever reach the point where they can be said to have intelligence equivalent to or greater than that of a human being?
:Could we ever reach the point where we can accept the thesis that an AI system could have something like consciousness or sentience?
:Could we reach the point where an AI system could be said to behave ethically, or to have responsibility for its actions?
:Can quantum computers enable a stronger AI than what we have today?
:Can a computer have desires, a will, and emotions?
:Can a computer have responsibility for its behavior?
:Could a machine have something like a personal identity? Would I really survive if the contents of my brain were uploaded to the cloud?

We will describe in detail how stochastic AI works, and consider these and a series of other questions at the borderlines of philosophy and AI. The class will close with presentations of papers on relevant topics given by students.

Some of the material for this class is derived from our book

''Why Machines Will Never Rule the World: Artificial Intelligence without Fear'' (2nd edition, Routledge 2025).
and from the companion volume:

''Symposium on Why Machines Will Never Rule the World'' — Guest editor, Janna Hastings, University of Zurich
which appeared as a special issue of the public access journal Cosmos + Taxis in early 2024.

'''Faculty'''

Jobst Landgrebe is the founder and CEO of Cognotekt, GmBH, an AI company based in Cologne specialised in the design and implementation of holistic AI solutions. He has 20 years experience in the AI field, 8 years as a management consultant and software architect. He has also worked as a physician and mathematician, and he views AI itself -- to the extent that it is not an elaborate hype -- as a branch of applied mathematics. CUrrently his primary focus is in the biomathematics of cancer.

Barry Smith is one of the world's most widely [https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=icGNWj4AAAAJ cited philosophers]. He has contributed primarily to the field of applied ontology, which means applying philosophical ideas derived from analytical metaphysics to the concrete practical problems which arise where attempts are made to compare or combine heterogeneous bodies of data.

Grading

:Essay with presentation: 70%
:Essay with no presentation: 85%
:Presentation: 15%
:Class Participation 15%

'''Draft Schedule'''

:Venue: Room A23

'''Program'''

==Monday, May 4 (13:30-16:15) AI and Philosophy: An Introduction==

Part 1: An introduction to the course

Part 2: Outline of the theory of complex systems documented in our book: ''[https://www.amazon.com/Machines-Will-Never-Rule-World/dp/1032941405/ Why machines will never rule the world]''. Summary [https://philpapers.org/rec/LANWMW-3 here].

:In the course of the next 2 weeks we will show why AI cannot model complex systems adequately and synoptically, and why they therefore cannot reach a level of intelligence equal to that of human beings
:Note the difference between 'complex' and 'complicated'

Part 3: Booming interest in ontology unleashed by the idea of 'neurosymbolic AI'

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-1-Video Video]

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture1-Slides Slides]

'''Background'''
The classical psychological definitions of intelligence are:
:A. the ability to adapt to new situations (applies both to humans and to animals)
:B. a very general mental capability (possessed only by humans) that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly, and learn from experience
:Can a machine be intelligent in either of these senses?

'''Readings'''
:[Capabilities: An ontology]

:Linda S. Gottfredson. Mainstream Science on Intelligence. In: Intelligence 24 (1997), pp. 13–23.
:Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith: There is no Artificial General Intelligence
:Jobst Landgrebe: Deep reasoning, abstraction and planning


:Ersatz Definitions, Anthropomorphisms, and Pareidolia

There's no 'I' in 'AI', Steven Pemberton, Amsterdam, December 12, 2024
:1. Esatz definitions: using words like 'thinks' as in 'the machine is thinking', but with meanings quite different from those we use when talking about human beings. As when we define 'flying' as moving through the air, and then jumping up and down and saying "look, I'm flying!"
:2. Pareidolia: a psychological phenomenon that causes people to see patterns, objects, or meaning in ambiguous or unrelated stimuli
:3. If you can't spot irony, you're not intelligent

'''Background'''

Will AI Destroy Humanity? A Soho Forum Debate (Spoiler: Jobst won)

R.V. Yampolskii, AI: Unexplainable, Unpredictable, Uncontrollable

Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor, AI Snake Oil

Arnold Schelsky, The Hype Book, especially Chapter 1.

==Tuesday May 5 (09:30-12:15) Transhumanism: The Ultimate Stage of Cartesianism ==

Video

Slides

1. Surveys the full spectrum of transhumanism and its cultural origins.

2. Debunk the feasibility of radically improving human beings via technology.

Background:

TESCREALISM, or: why AI gods are so passionate about creating Artificial General Intelligence
Considering the existential risk of Artificial Superintelligence
Thursday, February 20 (9:30 - 12:15) Can a machine be conscious?
The machine will

Computers cannot have a will, because computers don't give a damn. Therefore there can be no machine ethics

The lack of the giving-a-damn-factor is taken by Yann LeCun as a reason to reject the idea that AI might pose an existential risk to humanity – an AI will have no desire for self-preservation “Almost half of CEOs fear A.I. could destroy humanity five to 10 years from now — but ‘A.I. godfather' says an existential threat is ‘preposterously ridiculous’” Fortune, June 15, 2023. See also here.
Implications of the absence of a machine will:

The problem of the singularity (when machines will take over from humans) will not arise
The idea of digital immortality will never be realized Slides
The idea that human beings are simulations can be rejected
There can be no AI ethics (only: ethics governing human beings when they use AI)
Fermi's paradox is solved
Background:

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Slides Slides]

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Video Video]

Searle's Chinese Room Argument
Machines cannot have intentionality; they cannot have experiences which are about something.

Searle: Minds, Brains, and Programs

==Wednesday May 6 (09:30-12:15) AI and the Theory of Complex and Dynamic Systems==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Video Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Slides Slides]

Provides an introduction to the theory of complex and dynamic systems. Examples include: population growth

== Thursday, May 7 (13:30 - 16:15) 1. Capabilities and Skills; 2. AI and History and Geography==

Part 0: How to give a good powerpoint presentation

Part 1: Functions, Capabilities, Skills

Part 2: On territory

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-4-Slides Slides]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-4-Video Video]

== Friday, May 8 (13:30 - 16:15) Part 1: . Part 2: Animal, Human and Machine Intelligence: A Territorial Perspective==

Explicit, implicit, practical, personal and tacit knowledge
Video
Knowing how vs Knowing that
Tacit knowledge and science
Leadership and control (and ruling the world)

Part 3:

Complex Systems and Cognitive Science: Why the Replication Problem is here to stay

The 'replication problem' is the the inability of scientific communities to independently confirm the results of scientific work. Much has been written on this problem especially as it arises in (social) psychology, and on potential solutions under the heading of 'open science'. But we will see that the replication problem has plagued medicine as a positive science since its beginnings (Virchov and Pasteur). This problem has become worse over the last 30 years and has massive consequences for healthcare practice and policy.
Slides

''Personal knowledge'''

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/AI-and-Creativity Explicit, implicit, practical, personal and tacit knowledge]

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Practical-knowledge Video]==

==Tuesday (May 12, 9:30 - 12:15) Planning, Creativity, and Entrepreneurial Perception==

From Speech Acts to Document Acts: An Ontology of Institutions [https://buffalo.box.com/s/85h3u1nvjtbnm5krs0tr7rfkys2p48qc Slides]

Massively Planned Social Agency [https://buffalo.box.com/s/v6huywh7gs09jsosfxo7ox62ap7wiccd Slides]

AI Creativity and Entrepreneurial Perception Slides

==Wednesday, May 13 (09:30 - 12:15) The Limits of AI and the Limits of Physics==

==Friday May 15 (09:30-12:15) On AI, Jobs, and Economics, followed by Student Presentations ==



==Background Material==

'''An Introduction to AI for Philosophers'''
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmiY8_XVvzs Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Why-not-robot-cops Slides]
(AI experts are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''An Introduction to Philosophy for Computer Scientists'''
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/What-is-philosophy Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Crash-Course-Introduction Slides]
(Philosophers are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''[https://www.cp.eng.chula.ac.th/~prabhas/teaching/cbs-it-seminar/2012/aiphil-mccarthy.pdf John McCarthy, "What has AI in common with philosophy?"]

Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026

2026-05-09T19:09:56Z

Phismith:

'''Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026'''

Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith

MAP, USI, Lugano, Spring 2026

Venue: Room A23

'''[https://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2026/05/ontology-phd.html University at Buffalo to offer world’s first doctorate in applied ontology]'''

[https://buffalo.zoom.us/j/92039377770?pwd=pL6MALdTb5mB1QnqlwYPwAoNaYeEp4.1 Zoom link]

'''Introduction'''

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the subfield of Computer Science devoted to developing programs that enable computers to display behavior that can (broadly) be characterized as intelligent. On the strong version, the ultimate goal of AI is to create what is called General Artificial Intelligence (AGI), by which is meant an artificial system that is at least as intelligent as a human being.

Since its inception in the middle of the last century AI has enjoyed repeated cycles of enthusiasm and disappointment (AI summers and winters). Recent successes of ChatGPT and other Large Language Models (LLMs) have opened a new era of popularization of AI. For the first time, AI tools have been created which are immediately available to the wider population, who for the first time can have real hands-on experience of what AI can do.

These developments in AI open up a series of questions such as:

:Will the powers of AI continue to grow in the future, and if so will they ever reach the point where they can be said to have intelligence equivalent to or greater than that of a human being?
:Could we ever reach the point where we can accept the thesis that an AI system could have something like consciousness or sentience?
:Could we reach the point where an AI system could be said to behave ethically, or to have responsibility for its actions?
:Can quantum computers enable a stronger AI than what we have today?
:Can a computer have desires, a will, and emotions?
:Can a computer have responsibility for its behavior?
:Could a machine have something like a personal identity? Would I really survive if the contents of my brain were uploaded to the cloud?

We will describe in detail how stochastic AI works, and consider these and a series of other questions at the borderlines of philosophy and AI. The class will close with presentations of papers on relevant topics given by students.

Some of the material for this class is derived from our book

''Why Machines Will Never Rule the World: Artificial Intelligence without Fear'' (2nd edition, Routledge 2025).
and from the companion volume:

''Symposium on Why Machines Will Never Rule the World'' — Guest editor, Janna Hastings, University of Zurich
which appeared as a special issue of the public access journal Cosmos + Taxis in early 2024.

'''Faculty'''

Jobst Landgrebe is the founder and CEO of Cognotekt, GmBH, an AI company based in Cologne specialised in the design and implementation of holistic AI solutions. He has 20 years experience in the AI field, 8 years as a management consultant and software architect. He has also worked as a physician and mathematician, and he views AI itself -- to the extent that it is not an elaborate hype -- as a branch of applied mathematics. CUrrently his primary focus is in the biomathematics of cancer.

Barry Smith is one of the world's most widely [https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=icGNWj4AAAAJ cited philosophers]. He has contributed primarily to the field of applied ontology, which means applying philosophical ideas derived from analytical metaphysics to the concrete practical problems which arise where attempts are made to compare or combine heterogeneous bodies of data.

Grading

:Essay with presentation: 70%
:Essay with no presentation: 85%
:Presentation: 15%
:Class Participation 15%

'''Draft Schedule'''

:Venue: Room A23

'''Program'''

==Monday, May 4 (13:30-16:15) AI and Philosophy: An Introduction==

Part 1: An introduction to the course

Part 2: Outline of the theory of complex systems documented in our book: ''[https://www.amazon.com/Machines-Will-Never-Rule-World/dp/1032941405/ Why machines will never rule the world]''. Summary [https://philpapers.org/rec/LANWMW-3 here].

:In the course of the next 2 weeks we will show why AI cannot model complex systems adequately and synoptically, and why they therefore cannot reach a level of intelligence equal to that of human beings
:Note the difference between 'complex' and 'complicated'

Part 3: Booming interest in ontology unleashed by the idea of 'neurosymbolic AI'

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-1-Video Video]

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture1-Slides Slides]

'''Background'''
The classical psychological definitions of intelligence are:
:A. the ability to adapt to new situations (applies both to humans and to animals)
:B. a very general mental capability (possessed only by humans) that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly, and learn from experience
:Can a machine be intelligent in either of these senses?

'''Readings'''
:[Capabilities: An ontology]

:Linda S. Gottfredson. Mainstream Science on Intelligence. In: Intelligence 24 (1997), pp. 13–23.
:Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith: There is no Artificial General Intelligence
:Jobst Landgrebe: Deep reasoning, abstraction and planning


:Ersatz Definitions, Anthropomorphisms, and Pareidolia

There's no 'I' in 'AI', Steven Pemberton, Amsterdam, December 12, 2024
:1. Esatz definitions: using words like 'thinks' as in 'the machine is thinking', but with meanings quite different from those we use when talking about human beings. As when we define 'flying' as moving through the air, and then jumping up and down and saying "look, I'm flying!"
:2. Pareidolia: a psychological phenomenon that causes people to see patterns, objects, or meaning in ambiguous or unrelated stimuli
:3. If you can't spot irony, you're not intelligent

'''Background'''

Will AI Destroy Humanity? A Soho Forum Debate (Spoiler: Jobst won)

R.V. Yampolskii, AI: Unexplainable, Unpredictable, Uncontrollable

Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor, AI Snake Oil

Arnold Schelsky, The Hype Book, especially Chapter 1.

==Tuesday May 5 (09:30-12:15) Transhumanism: The Ultimate Stage of Cartesianism ==

Video

Slides

1. Surveys the full spectrum of transhumanism and its cultural origins.

2. Debunk the feasibility of radically improving human beings via technology.

Background:

TESCREALISM, or: why AI gods are so passionate about creating Artificial General Intelligence
Considering the existential risk of Artificial Superintelligence
Thursday, February 20 (9:30 - 12:15) Can a machine be conscious?
The machine will

Computers cannot have a will, because computers don't give a damn. Therefore there can be no machine ethics

The lack of the giving-a-damn-factor is taken by Yann LeCun as a reason to reject the idea that AI might pose an existential risk to humanity – an AI will have no desire for self-preservation “Almost half of CEOs fear A.I. could destroy humanity five to 10 years from now — but ‘A.I. godfather' says an existential threat is ‘preposterously ridiculous’” Fortune, June 15, 2023. See also here.
Implications of the absence of a machine will:

The problem of the singularity (when machines will take over from humans) will not arise
The idea of digital immortality will never be realized Slides
The idea that human beings are simulations can be rejected
There can be no AI ethics (only: ethics governing human beings when they use AI)
Fermi's paradox is solved
Background:

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Slides Slides]

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Video Video]

Searle's Chinese Room Argument
Machines cannot have intentionality; they cannot have experiences which are about something.

Searle: Minds, Brains, and Programs

==Wednesday May 6 (09:30-12:15) AI and the Theory of Complex and Dynamic Systems==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Video Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Slides Slides]

Provides an introduction to the theory of complex and dynamic systems. Examples include: population growth

== Thursday, May 7 (13:30 - 16:15) 1. Capabilities and Skills; 2. AI and History and Geography==

Part 0: How to give a good powerpoint presentation

Part 1: Functions, Capabilities, Skills

Part 2: On territory

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-4-Slides Slides]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-4-Video Video]

== Friday, May 8 (13:30 - 16:15) Part 1: AI and the Theory of Complex Dynamic Systems. Part 2: Animal, Human and Machine Intelligence: A Territorial Perspective==

https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5

Explicit, implicit, practical, personal and tacit knowledge
Video
Knowing how vs Knowing that
Tacit knowledge and science
Leadership and control (and ruling the world)

Part 3:

Complex Systems and Cognitive Science: Why the Replication Problem is here to stay

The 'replication problem' is the the inability of scientific communities to independently confirm the results of scientific work. Much has been written on this problem especially as it arises in (social) psychology, and on potential solutions under the heading of 'open science'. But we will see that the replication problem has plagued medicine as a positive science since its beginnings (Virchov and Pasteur). This problem has become worse over the last 30 years and has massive consequences for healthcare practice and policy.
Slides

''Personal knowledge'''

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/AI-and-Creativity Explicit, implicit, practical, personal and tacit knowledge]

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Practical-knowledge Video]==

==Tuesday (May 12, 9:30 - 12:15) Planning, Creativity, and Entrepreneurial Perception==

From Speech Acts to Document Acts: An Ontology of Institutions [https://buffalo.box.com/s/85h3u1nvjtbnm5krs0tr7rfkys2p48qc Slides]

Massively Planned Social Agency [https://buffalo.box.com/s/v6huywh7gs09jsosfxo7ox62ap7wiccd Slides]

AI Creativity and Entrepreneurial Perception Slides

==Wednesday, May 13 (09:30 - 12:15) The Limits of AI and the Limits of Physics==

==Friday May 15 (09:30-12:15) On AI, Jobs, and Economics, followed by Student Presentations ==



==Background Material==

'''An Introduction to AI for Philosophers'''
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmiY8_XVvzs Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Why-not-robot-cops Slides]
(AI experts are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''An Introduction to Philosophy for Computer Scientists'''
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/What-is-philosophy Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Crash-Course-Introduction Slides]
(Philosophers are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''[https://www.cp.eng.chula.ac.th/~prabhas/teaching/cbs-it-seminar/2012/aiphil-mccarthy.pdf John McCarthy, "What has AI in common with philosophy?"]

Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026

2026-05-09T19:08:36Z

Phismith: /* Friday, May 8 (13:30 - 16:15) Part 1: Complex Systens and Stochastic Models. Part 2: Animal, Human and Machine Intelligence: A Territorial Perspective */

'''Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026'''

Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith

MAP, USI, Lugano, Spring 2026

Venue: Room A23

'''[https://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2026/05/ontology-phd.html University at Buffalo to offer world’s first doctorate in applied ontology]'''

[https://buffalo.zoom.us/j/92039377770?pwd=pL6MALdTb5mB1QnqlwYPwAoNaYeEp4.1 Zoom link]

'''Introduction'''

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the subfield of Computer Science devoted to developing programs that enable computers to display behavior that can (broadly) be characterized as intelligent. On the strong version, the ultimate goal of AI is to create what is called General Artificial Intelligence (AGI), by which is meant an artificial system that is at least as intelligent as a human being.

Since its inception in the middle of the last century AI has enjoyed repeated cycles of enthusiasm and disappointment (AI summers and winters). Recent successes of ChatGPT and other Large Language Models (LLMs) have opened a new era of popularization of AI. For the first time, AI tools have been created which are immediately available to the wider population, who for the first time can have real hands-on experience of what AI can do.

These developments in AI open up a series of questions such as:

:Will the powers of AI continue to grow in the future, and if so will they ever reach the point where they can be said to have intelligence equivalent to or greater than that of a human being?
:Could we ever reach the point where we can accept the thesis that an AI system could have something like consciousness or sentience?
:Could we reach the point where an AI system could be said to behave ethically, or to have responsibility for its actions?
:Can quantum computers enable a stronger AI than what we have today?
:Can a computer have desires, a will, and emotions?
:Can a computer have responsibility for its behavior?
:Could a machine have something like a personal identity? Would I really survive if the contents of my brain were uploaded to the cloud?

We will describe in detail how stochastic AI works, and consider these and a series of other questions at the borderlines of philosophy and AI. The class will close with presentations of papers on relevant topics given by students.

Some of the material for this class is derived from our book

''Why Machines Will Never Rule the World: Artificial Intelligence without Fear'' (2nd edition, Routledge 2025).
and from the companion volume:

''Symposium on Why Machines Will Never Rule the World'' — Guest editor, Janna Hastings, University of Zurich
which appeared as a special issue of the public access journal Cosmos + Taxis in early 2024.

'''Faculty'''

Jobst Landgrebe is the founder and CEO of Cognotekt, GmBH, an AI company based in Cologne specialised in the design and implementation of holistic AI solutions. He has 20 years experience in the AI field, 8 years as a management consultant and software architect. He has also worked as a physician and mathematician, and he views AI itself -- to the extent that it is not an elaborate hype -- as a branch of applied mathematics. CUrrently his primary focus is in the biomathematics of cancer.

Barry Smith is one of the world's most widely [https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=icGNWj4AAAAJ cited philosophers]. He has contributed primarily to the field of applied ontology, which means applying philosophical ideas derived from analytical metaphysics to the concrete practical problems which arise where attempts are made to compare or combine heterogeneous bodies of data.

Grading

:Essay with presentation: 70%
:Essay with no presentation: 85%
:Presentation: 15%
:Class Participation 15%

'''Draft Schedule'''

:Venue: Room A23

'''Program'''

==Monday, May 4 (13:30-16:15) AI and Philosophy: An Introduction==

Part 1: An introduction to the course

Part 2: Outline of the theory of complex systems documented in our book: ''[https://www.amazon.com/Machines-Will-Never-Rule-World/dp/1032941405/ Why machines will never rule the world]''. Summary [https://philpapers.org/rec/LANWMW-3 here].

:In the course of the next 2 weeks we will show why AI cannot model complex systems adequately and synoptically, and why they therefore cannot reach a level of intelligence equal to that of human beings
:Note the difference between 'complex' and 'complicated'

Part 3: Booming interest in ontology unleashed by the idea of 'neurosymbolic AI'

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-1-Video Video]

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture1-Slides Slides]

'''Background'''
The classical psychological definitions of intelligence are:
:A. the ability to adapt to new situations (applies both to humans and to animals)
:B. a very general mental capability (possessed only by humans) that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly, and learn from experience
:Can a machine be intelligent in either of these senses?

'''Readings'''
:[Capabilities: An ontology]

:Linda S. Gottfredson. Mainstream Science on Intelligence. In: Intelligence 24 (1997), pp. 13–23.
:Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith: There is no Artificial General Intelligence
:Jobst Landgrebe: Deep reasoning, abstraction and planning


:Ersatz Definitions, Anthropomorphisms, and Pareidolia

There's no 'I' in 'AI', Steven Pemberton, Amsterdam, December 12, 2024
:1. Esatz definitions: using words like 'thinks' as in 'the machine is thinking', but with meanings quite different from those we use when talking about human beings. As when we define 'flying' as moving through the air, and then jumping up and down and saying "look, I'm flying!"
:2. Pareidolia: a psychological phenomenon that causes people to see patterns, objects, or meaning in ambiguous or unrelated stimuli
:3. If you can't spot irony, you're not intelligent

'''Background'''

Will AI Destroy Humanity? A Soho Forum Debate (Spoiler: Jobst won)

R.V. Yampolskii, AI: Unexplainable, Unpredictable, Uncontrollable

Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor, AI Snake Oil

Arnold Schelsky, The Hype Book, especially Chapter 1.

==Tuesday May 5 (09:30-12:15) Transhumanism: The Ultimate Stage of Cartesianism ==

Video

Slides

1. Surveys the full spectrum of transhumanism and its cultural origins.

2. Debunk the feasibility of radically improving human beings via technology.

Background:

TESCREALISM, or: why AI gods are so passionate about creating Artificial General Intelligence
Considering the existential risk of Artificial Superintelligence
Thursday, February 20 (9:30 - 12:15) Can a machine be conscious?
The machine will

Computers cannot have a will, because computers don't give a damn. Therefore there can be no machine ethics

The lack of the giving-a-damn-factor is taken by Yann LeCun as a reason to reject the idea that AI might pose an existential risk to humanity – an AI will have no desire for self-preservation “Almost half of CEOs fear A.I. could destroy humanity five to 10 years from now — but ‘A.I. godfather' says an existential threat is ‘preposterously ridiculous’” Fortune, June 15, 2023. See also here.
Implications of the absence of a machine will:

The problem of the singularity (when machines will take over from humans) will not arise
The idea of digital immortality will never be realized Slides
The idea that human beings are simulations can be rejected
There can be no AI ethics (only: ethics governing human beings when they use AI)
Fermi's paradox is solved
Background:

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Slides Slides]

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Video Video]

Searle's Chinese Room Argument
Machines cannot have intentionality; they cannot have experiences which are about something.

Searle: Minds, Brains, and Programs

==Wednesday May 6 (09:30-12:15) AI and the Theory of Complex and Dynamic Systems==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Video Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Slides Slides]

Provides an introduction to the theory of complex and dynamic systems. Examples include: population growth

== Thursday, May 7 (13:30 - 16:15) 1. Capabilities and Skills; 2. AI and History and Geography==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-4-Slides Slides]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-4-Video Video]

== Friday, May 8 (13:30 - 16:15) Part 1: AI and the Theory of Complex Dynamic Systems. Part 2: Animal, Human and Machine Intelligence: A Territorial Perspective==

https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-5

Part 0: How to give a good powerpoint presentation

Part 1: Functions, Capabilities, Skills

Part 2: On territory

Explicit, implicit, practical, personal and tacit knowledge
Video
Knowing how vs Knowing that
Tacit knowledge and science
Leadership and control (and ruling the world)

Part 3:

Complex Systems and Cognitive Science: Why the Replication Problem is here to stay

The 'replication problem' is the the inability of scientific communities to independently confirm the results of scientific work. Much has been written on this problem especially as it arises in (social) psychology, and on potential solutions under the heading of 'open science'. But we will see that the replication problem has plagued medicine as a positive science since its beginnings (Virchov and Pasteur). This problem has become worse over the last 30 years and has massive consequences for healthcare practice and policy.
Slides

''Personal knowledge'''

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/AI-and-Creativity Explicit, implicit, practical, personal and tacit knowledge]

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Practical-knowledge Video]==

==Tuesday (May 12, 9:30 - 12:15) Planning, Creativity, and Entrepreneurial Perception==

From Speech Acts to Document Acts: An Ontology of Institutions [https://buffalo.box.com/s/85h3u1nvjtbnm5krs0tr7rfkys2p48qc Slides]

Massively Planned Social Agency [https://buffalo.box.com/s/v6huywh7gs09jsosfxo7ox62ap7wiccd Slides]

AI Creativity and Entrepreneurial Perception Slides

==Wednesday, May 13 (09:30 - 12:15) The Limits of AI and the Limits of Physics==

==Friday May 15 (09:30-12:15) On AI, Jobs, and Economics, followed by Student Presentations ==



==Background Material==

'''An Introduction to AI for Philosophers'''
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmiY8_XVvzs Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Why-not-robot-cops Slides]
(AI experts are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''An Introduction to Philosophy for Computer Scientists'''
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/What-is-philosophy Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Crash-Course-Introduction Slides]
(Philosophers are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''[https://www.cp.eng.chula.ac.th/~prabhas/teaching/cbs-it-seminar/2012/aiphil-mccarthy.pdf John McCarthy, "What has AI in common with philosophy?"]

Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026

2026-05-08T12:35:09Z

Phismith: /* Thursday, May 7 (13:30 - 16:15) 1. Capabilities and Skills; 2. AI and History and Geography */

'''Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026'''

Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith

MAP, USI, Lugano, Spring 2026

Venue: Room A23

'''[https://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2026/05/ontology-phd.html University at Buffalo to offer world’s first doctorate in applied ontology]'''

[https://buffalo.zoom.us/j/92039377770?pwd=pL6MALdTb5mB1QnqlwYPwAoNaYeEp4.1 Zoom link]

'''Introduction'''

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the subfield of Computer Science devoted to developing programs that enable computers to display behavior that can (broadly) be characterized as intelligent. On the strong version, the ultimate goal of AI is to create what is called General Artificial Intelligence (AGI), by which is meant an artificial system that is at least as intelligent as a human being.

Since its inception in the middle of the last century AI has enjoyed repeated cycles of enthusiasm and disappointment (AI summers and winters). Recent successes of ChatGPT and other Large Language Models (LLMs) have opened a new era of popularization of AI. For the first time, AI tools have been created which are immediately available to the wider population, who for the first time can have real hands-on experience of what AI can do.

These developments in AI open up a series of questions such as:

:Will the powers of AI continue to grow in the future, and if so will they ever reach the point where they can be said to have intelligence equivalent to or greater than that of a human being?
:Could we ever reach the point where we can accept the thesis that an AI system could have something like consciousness or sentience?
:Could we reach the point where an AI system could be said to behave ethically, or to have responsibility for its actions?
:Can quantum computers enable a stronger AI than what we have today?
:Can a computer have desires, a will, and emotions?
:Can a computer have responsibility for its behavior?
:Could a machine have something like a personal identity? Would I really survive if the contents of my brain were uploaded to the cloud?

We will describe in detail how stochastic AI works, and consider these and a series of other questions at the borderlines of philosophy and AI. The class will close with presentations of papers on relevant topics given by students.

Some of the material for this class is derived from our book

''Why Machines Will Never Rule the World: Artificial Intelligence without Fear'' (2nd edition, Routledge 2025).
and from the companion volume:

''Symposium on Why Machines Will Never Rule the World'' — Guest editor, Janna Hastings, University of Zurich
which appeared as a special issue of the public access journal Cosmos + Taxis in early 2024.

'''Faculty'''

Jobst Landgrebe is the founder and CEO of Cognotekt, GmBH, an AI company based in Cologne specialised in the design and implementation of holistic AI solutions. He has 20 years experience in the AI field, 8 years as a management consultant and software architect. He has also worked as a physician and mathematician, and he views AI itself -- to the extent that it is not an elaborate hype -- as a branch of applied mathematics. CUrrently his primary focus is in the biomathematics of cancer.

Barry Smith is one of the world's most widely [https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=icGNWj4AAAAJ cited philosophers]. He has contributed primarily to the field of applied ontology, which means applying philosophical ideas derived from analytical metaphysics to the concrete practical problems which arise where attempts are made to compare or combine heterogeneous bodies of data.

Grading

:Essay with presentation: 70%
:Essay with no presentation: 85%
:Presentation: 15%
:Class Participation 15%

'''Draft Schedule'''

:Venue: Room A23

'''Program'''

==Monday, May 4 (13:30-16:15) AI and Philosophy: An Introduction==

Part 1: An introduction to the course

Part 2: Outline of the theory of complex systems documented in our book: ''[https://www.amazon.com/Machines-Will-Never-Rule-World/dp/1032941405/ Why machines will never rule the world]''. Summary [https://philpapers.org/rec/LANWMW-3 here].

:In the course of the next 2 weeks we will show why AI cannot model complex systems adequately and synoptically, and why they therefore cannot reach a level of intelligence equal to that of human beings
:Note the difference between 'complex' and 'complicated'

Part 3: Booming interest in ontology unleashed by the idea of 'neurosymbolic AI'

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-1-Video Video]

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture1-Slides Slides]

'''Background'''
The classical psychological definitions of intelligence are:
:A. the ability to adapt to new situations (applies both to humans and to animals)
:B. a very general mental capability (possessed only by humans) that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly, and learn from experience
:Can a machine be intelligent in either of these senses?

'''Readings'''
:[Capabilities: An ontology]

:Linda S. Gottfredson. Mainstream Science on Intelligence. In: Intelligence 24 (1997), pp. 13–23.
:Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith: There is no Artificial General Intelligence
:Jobst Landgrebe: Deep reasoning, abstraction and planning


:Ersatz Definitions, Anthropomorphisms, and Pareidolia

There's no 'I' in 'AI', Steven Pemberton, Amsterdam, December 12, 2024
:1. Esatz definitions: using words like 'thinks' as in 'the machine is thinking', but with meanings quite different from those we use when talking about human beings. As when we define 'flying' as moving through the air, and then jumping up and down and saying "look, I'm flying!"
:2. Pareidolia: a psychological phenomenon that causes people to see patterns, objects, or meaning in ambiguous or unrelated stimuli
:3. If you can't spot irony, you're not intelligent

'''Background'''

Will AI Destroy Humanity? A Soho Forum Debate (Spoiler: Jobst won)

R.V. Yampolskii, AI: Unexplainable, Unpredictable, Uncontrollable

Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor, AI Snake Oil

Arnold Schelsky, The Hype Book, especially Chapter 1.

==Tuesday May 5 (09:30-12:15) Transhumanism: The Ultimate Stage of Cartesianism ==

Video

Slides

1. Surveys the full spectrum of transhumanism and its cultural origins.

2. Debunk the feasibility of radically improving human beings via technology.

Background:

TESCREALISM, or: why AI gods are so passionate about creating Artificial General Intelligence
Considering the existential risk of Artificial Superintelligence
Thursday, February 20 (9:30 - 12:15) Can a machine be conscious?
The machine will

Computers cannot have a will, because computers don't give a damn. Therefore there can be no machine ethics

The lack of the giving-a-damn-factor is taken by Yann LeCun as a reason to reject the idea that AI might pose an existential risk to humanity – an AI will have no desire for self-preservation “Almost half of CEOs fear A.I. could destroy humanity five to 10 years from now — but ‘A.I. godfather' says an existential threat is ‘preposterously ridiculous’” Fortune, June 15, 2023. See also here.
Implications of the absence of a machine will:

The problem of the singularity (when machines will take over from humans) will not arise
The idea of digital immortality will never be realized Slides
The idea that human beings are simulations can be rejected
There can be no AI ethics (only: ethics governing human beings when they use AI)
Fermi's paradox is solved
Background:

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Slides Slides]

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Video Video]

Searle's Chinese Room Argument
Machines cannot have intentionality; they cannot have experiences which are about something.

Searle: Minds, Brains, and Programs

==Wednesday May 6 (09:30-12:15) AI and the Theory of Complex and Dynamic Systems==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Video Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Slides Slides]

Provides an introduction to the theory of complex and dynamic systems. Examples include: population growth

== Thursday, May 7 (13:30 - 16:15) 1. Capabilities and Skills; 2. AI and History and Geography==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-4-Slides Slides]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-4-Video Video]

== Friday, May 8 (13:30 - 16:15) Part 1: Complex Systens and Stochastic Models. Part 2: Animal, Human and Machine Intelligence: A Territorial Perspective==

Part 0: How to give a good powerpoint presentation

Part 1: Functions, Capabilities, Skills

Part 2: On territory

Explicit, implicit, practical, personal and tacit knowledge
Video
Knowing how vs Knowing that
Tacit knowledge and science
Leadership and control (and ruling the world)

Part 3:

Complex Systems and Cognitive Science: Why the Replication Problem is here to stay

The 'replication problem' is the the inability of scientific communities to independently confirm the results of scientific work. Much has been written on this problem especially as it arises in (social) psychology, and on potential solutions under the heading of 'open science'. But we will see that the replication problem has plagued medicine as a positive science since its beginnings (Virchov and Pasteur). This problem has become worse over the last 30 years and has massive consequences for healthcare practice and policy.
Slides

''Personal knowledge'''

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/AI-and-Creativity Explicit, implicit, practical, personal and tacit knowledge]

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Practical-knowledge Video]==

==Tuesday (May 12, 9:30 - 12:15) Planning, Creativity, and Entrepreneurial Perception==

From Speech Acts to Document Acts: An Ontology of Institutions [https://buffalo.box.com/s/85h3u1nvjtbnm5krs0tr7rfkys2p48qc Slides]

Massively Planned Social Agency [https://buffalo.box.com/s/v6huywh7gs09jsosfxo7ox62ap7wiccd Slides]

AI Creativity and Entrepreneurial Perception Slides

==Wednesday, May 13 (09:30 - 12:15) The Limits of AI and the Limits of Physics==

==Friday May 15 (09:30-12:15) On AI, Jobs, and Economics, followed by Student Presentations ==



==Background Material==

'''An Introduction to AI for Philosophers'''
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmiY8_XVvzs Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Why-not-robot-cops Slides]
(AI experts are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''An Introduction to Philosophy for Computer Scientists'''
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/What-is-philosophy Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Crash-Course-Introduction Slides]
(Philosophers are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''[https://www.cp.eng.chula.ac.th/~prabhas/teaching/cbs-it-seminar/2012/aiphil-mccarthy.pdf John McCarthy, "What has AI in common with philosophy?"]

Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026

2026-05-08T11:22:34Z

Phismith: /* Friday, May 8 (13:30 - 16:15) Animal, Human and Machine Intelligence: A Territorial Perspective */

'''Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026'''

Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith

MAP, USI, Lugano, Spring 2026

Venue: Room A23

'''[https://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2026/05/ontology-phd.html University at Buffalo to offer world’s first doctorate in applied ontology]'''

[https://buffalo.zoom.us/j/92039377770?pwd=pL6MALdTb5mB1QnqlwYPwAoNaYeEp4.1 Zoom link]

'''Introduction'''

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the subfield of Computer Science devoted to developing programs that enable computers to display behavior that can (broadly) be characterized as intelligent. On the strong version, the ultimate goal of AI is to create what is called General Artificial Intelligence (AGI), by which is meant an artificial system that is at least as intelligent as a human being.

Since its inception in the middle of the last century AI has enjoyed repeated cycles of enthusiasm and disappointment (AI summers and winters). Recent successes of ChatGPT and other Large Language Models (LLMs) have opened a new era of popularization of AI. For the first time, AI tools have been created which are immediately available to the wider population, who for the first time can have real hands-on experience of what AI can do.

These developments in AI open up a series of questions such as:

:Will the powers of AI continue to grow in the future, and if so will they ever reach the point where they can be said to have intelligence equivalent to or greater than that of a human being?
:Could we ever reach the point where we can accept the thesis that an AI system could have something like consciousness or sentience?
:Could we reach the point where an AI system could be said to behave ethically, or to have responsibility for its actions?
:Can quantum computers enable a stronger AI than what we have today?
:Can a computer have desires, a will, and emotions?
:Can a computer have responsibility for its behavior?
:Could a machine have something like a personal identity? Would I really survive if the contents of my brain were uploaded to the cloud?

We will describe in detail how stochastic AI works, and consider these and a series of other questions at the borderlines of philosophy and AI. The class will close with presentations of papers on relevant topics given by students.

Some of the material for this class is derived from our book

''Why Machines Will Never Rule the World: Artificial Intelligence without Fear'' (2nd edition, Routledge 2025).
and from the companion volume:

''Symposium on Why Machines Will Never Rule the World'' — Guest editor, Janna Hastings, University of Zurich
which appeared as a special issue of the public access journal Cosmos + Taxis in early 2024.

'''Faculty'''

Jobst Landgrebe is the founder and CEO of Cognotekt, GmBH, an AI company based in Cologne specialised in the design and implementation of holistic AI solutions. He has 20 years experience in the AI field, 8 years as a management consultant and software architect. He has also worked as a physician and mathematician, and he views AI itself -- to the extent that it is not an elaborate hype -- as a branch of applied mathematics. CUrrently his primary focus is in the biomathematics of cancer.

Barry Smith is one of the world's most widely [https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=icGNWj4AAAAJ cited philosophers]. He has contributed primarily to the field of applied ontology, which means applying philosophical ideas derived from analytical metaphysics to the concrete practical problems which arise where attempts are made to compare or combine heterogeneous bodies of data.

Grading

:Essay with presentation: 70%
:Essay with no presentation: 85%
:Presentation: 15%
:Class Participation 15%

'''Draft Schedule'''

:Venue: Room A23

'''Program'''

==Monday, May 4 (13:30-16:15) AI and Philosophy: An Introduction==

Part 1: An introduction to the course

Part 2: Outline of the theory of complex systems documented in our book: ''[https://www.amazon.com/Machines-Will-Never-Rule-World/dp/1032941405/ Why machines will never rule the world]''. Summary [https://philpapers.org/rec/LANWMW-3 here].

:In the course of the next 2 weeks we will show why AI cannot model complex systems adequately and synoptically, and why they therefore cannot reach a level of intelligence equal to that of human beings
:Note the difference between 'complex' and 'complicated'

Part 3: Booming interest in ontology unleashed by the idea of 'neurosymbolic AI'

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-1-Video Video]

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture1-Slides Slides]

'''Background'''
The classical psychological definitions of intelligence are:
:A. the ability to adapt to new situations (applies both to humans and to animals)
:B. a very general mental capability (possessed only by humans) that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly, and learn from experience
:Can a machine be intelligent in either of these senses?

'''Readings'''
:[Capabilities: An ontology]

:Linda S. Gottfredson. Mainstream Science on Intelligence. In: Intelligence 24 (1997), pp. 13–23.
:Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith: There is no Artificial General Intelligence
:Jobst Landgrebe: Deep reasoning, abstraction and planning


:Ersatz Definitions, Anthropomorphisms, and Pareidolia

There's no 'I' in 'AI', Steven Pemberton, Amsterdam, December 12, 2024
:1. Esatz definitions: using words like 'thinks' as in 'the machine is thinking', but with meanings quite different from those we use when talking about human beings. As when we define 'flying' as moving through the air, and then jumping up and down and saying "look, I'm flying!"
:2. Pareidolia: a psychological phenomenon that causes people to see patterns, objects, or meaning in ambiguous or unrelated stimuli
:3. If you can't spot irony, you're not intelligent

'''Background'''

Will AI Destroy Humanity? A Soho Forum Debate (Spoiler: Jobst won)

R.V. Yampolskii, AI: Unexplainable, Unpredictable, Uncontrollable

Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor, AI Snake Oil

Arnold Schelsky, The Hype Book, especially Chapter 1.

==Tuesday May 5 (09:30-12:15) Transhumanism: The Ultimate Stage of Cartesianism ==

Video

Slides

1. Surveys the full spectrum of transhumanism and its cultural origins.

2. Debunk the feasibility of radically improving human beings via technology.

Background:

TESCREALISM, or: why AI gods are so passionate about creating Artificial General Intelligence
Considering the existential risk of Artificial Superintelligence
Thursday, February 20 (9:30 - 12:15) Can a machine be conscious?
The machine will

Computers cannot have a will, because computers don't give a damn. Therefore there can be no machine ethics

The lack of the giving-a-damn-factor is taken by Yann LeCun as a reason to reject the idea that AI might pose an existential risk to humanity – an AI will have no desire for self-preservation “Almost half of CEOs fear A.I. could destroy humanity five to 10 years from now — but ‘A.I. godfather' says an existential threat is ‘preposterously ridiculous’” Fortune, June 15, 2023. See also here.
Implications of the absence of a machine will:

The problem of the singularity (when machines will take over from humans) will not arise
The idea of digital immortality will never be realized Slides
The idea that human beings are simulations can be rejected
There can be no AI ethics (only: ethics governing human beings when they use AI)
Fermi's paradox is solved
Background:

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Slides Slides]

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Video Video]

Searle's Chinese Room Argument
Machines cannot have intentionality; they cannot have experiences which are about something.

Searle: Minds, Brains, and Programs

==Wednesday May 6 (09:30-12:15) AI and the Theory of Complex and Dynamic Systems==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Video Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Slides Slides]

Provides an introduction to the theory of complex and dynamic systems. Examples include: population growth

== Thursday, May 7 (13:30 - 16:15) 1. Capabilities and Skills; 2. AI and History and Geography==

== Friday, May 8 (13:30 - 16:15) Part 1: Complex Systens and Stochastic Models. Part 2: Animal, Human and Machine Intelligence: A Territorial Perspective==

Part 0: How to give a good powerpoint presentation

Part 1: Functions, Capabilities, Skills

Part 2: On territory

Explicit, implicit, practical, personal and tacit knowledge
Video
Knowing how vs Knowing that
Tacit knowledge and science
Leadership and control (and ruling the world)

Part 3:

Complex Systems and Cognitive Science: Why the Replication Problem is here to stay

The 'replication problem' is the the inability of scientific communities to independently confirm the results of scientific work. Much has been written on this problem especially as it arises in (social) psychology, and on potential solutions under the heading of 'open science'. But we will see that the replication problem has plagued medicine as a positive science since its beginnings (Virchov and Pasteur). This problem has become worse over the last 30 years and has massive consequences for healthcare practice and policy.
Slides

''Personal knowledge'''

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/AI-and-Creativity Explicit, implicit, practical, personal and tacit knowledge]

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Practical-knowledge Video]==

==Tuesday (May 12, 9:30 - 12:15) Planning, Creativity, and Entrepreneurial Perception==

From Speech Acts to Document Acts: An Ontology of Institutions [https://buffalo.box.com/s/85h3u1nvjtbnm5krs0tr7rfkys2p48qc Slides]

Massively Planned Social Agency [https://buffalo.box.com/s/v6huywh7gs09jsosfxo7ox62ap7wiccd Slides]

AI Creativity and Entrepreneurial Perception Slides

==Wednesday, May 13 (09:30 - 12:15) The Limits of AI and the Limits of Physics==

==Friday May 15 (09:30-12:15) On AI, Jobs, and Economics, followed by Student Presentations ==



==Background Material==

'''An Introduction to AI for Philosophers'''
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmiY8_XVvzs Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Why-not-robot-cops Slides]
(AI experts are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''An Introduction to Philosophy for Computer Scientists'''
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/What-is-philosophy Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Crash-Course-Introduction Slides]
(Philosophers are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''[https://www.cp.eng.chula.ac.th/~prabhas/teaching/cbs-it-seminar/2012/aiphil-mccarthy.pdf John McCarthy, "What has AI in common with philosophy?"]

Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026

2026-05-08T10:09:17Z

Phismith:

'''Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026'''

Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith

MAP, USI, Lugano, Spring 2026

Venue: Room A23

'''[https://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2026/05/ontology-phd.html University at Buffalo to offer world’s first doctorate in applied ontology]'''

[https://buffalo.zoom.us/j/92039377770?pwd=pL6MALdTb5mB1QnqlwYPwAoNaYeEp4.1 Zoom link]

'''Introduction'''

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the subfield of Computer Science devoted to developing programs that enable computers to display behavior that can (broadly) be characterized as intelligent. On the strong version, the ultimate goal of AI is to create what is called General Artificial Intelligence (AGI), by which is meant an artificial system that is at least as intelligent as a human being.

Since its inception in the middle of the last century AI has enjoyed repeated cycles of enthusiasm and disappointment (AI summers and winters). Recent successes of ChatGPT and other Large Language Models (LLMs) have opened a new era of popularization of AI. For the first time, AI tools have been created which are immediately available to the wider population, who for the first time can have real hands-on experience of what AI can do.

These developments in AI open up a series of questions such as:

:Will the powers of AI continue to grow in the future, and if so will they ever reach the point where they can be said to have intelligence equivalent to or greater than that of a human being?
:Could we ever reach the point where we can accept the thesis that an AI system could have something like consciousness or sentience?
:Could we reach the point where an AI system could be said to behave ethically, or to have responsibility for its actions?
:Can quantum computers enable a stronger AI than what we have today?
:Can a computer have desires, a will, and emotions?
:Can a computer have responsibility for its behavior?
:Could a machine have something like a personal identity? Would I really survive if the contents of my brain were uploaded to the cloud?

We will describe in detail how stochastic AI works, and consider these and a series of other questions at the borderlines of philosophy and AI. The class will close with presentations of papers on relevant topics given by students.

Some of the material for this class is derived from our book

''Why Machines Will Never Rule the World: Artificial Intelligence without Fear'' (2nd edition, Routledge 2025).
and from the companion volume:

''Symposium on Why Machines Will Never Rule the World'' — Guest editor, Janna Hastings, University of Zurich
which appeared as a special issue of the public access journal Cosmos + Taxis in early 2024.

'''Faculty'''

Jobst Landgrebe is the founder and CEO of Cognotekt, GmBH, an AI company based in Cologne specialised in the design and implementation of holistic AI solutions. He has 20 years experience in the AI field, 8 years as a management consultant and software architect. He has also worked as a physician and mathematician, and he views AI itself -- to the extent that it is not an elaborate hype -- as a branch of applied mathematics. CUrrently his primary focus is in the biomathematics of cancer.

Barry Smith is one of the world's most widely [https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=icGNWj4AAAAJ cited philosophers]. He has contributed primarily to the field of applied ontology, which means applying philosophical ideas derived from analytical metaphysics to the concrete practical problems which arise where attempts are made to compare or combine heterogeneous bodies of data.

Grading

:Essay with presentation: 70%
:Essay with no presentation: 85%
:Presentation: 15%
:Class Participation 15%

'''Draft Schedule'''

:Venue: Room A23

'''Program'''

==Monday, May 4 (13:30-16:15) AI and Philosophy: An Introduction==

Part 1: An introduction to the course

Part 2: Outline of the theory of complex systems documented in our book: ''[https://www.amazon.com/Machines-Will-Never-Rule-World/dp/1032941405/ Why machines will never rule the world]''. Summary [https://philpapers.org/rec/LANWMW-3 here].

:In the course of the next 2 weeks we will show why AI cannot model complex systems adequately and synoptically, and why they therefore cannot reach a level of intelligence equal to that of human beings
:Note the difference between 'complex' and 'complicated'

Part 3: Booming interest in ontology unleashed by the idea of 'neurosymbolic AI'

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-1-Video Video]

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture1-Slides Slides]

'''Background'''
The classical psychological definitions of intelligence are:
:A. the ability to adapt to new situations (applies both to humans and to animals)
:B. a very general mental capability (possessed only by humans) that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly, and learn from experience
:Can a machine be intelligent in either of these senses?

'''Readings'''
:[Capabilities: An ontology]

:Linda S. Gottfredson. Mainstream Science on Intelligence. In: Intelligence 24 (1997), pp. 13–23.
:Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith: There is no Artificial General Intelligence
:Jobst Landgrebe: Deep reasoning, abstraction and planning


:Ersatz Definitions, Anthropomorphisms, and Pareidolia

There's no 'I' in 'AI', Steven Pemberton, Amsterdam, December 12, 2024
:1. Esatz definitions: using words like 'thinks' as in 'the machine is thinking', but with meanings quite different from those we use when talking about human beings. As when we define 'flying' as moving through the air, and then jumping up and down and saying "look, I'm flying!"
:2. Pareidolia: a psychological phenomenon that causes people to see patterns, objects, or meaning in ambiguous or unrelated stimuli
:3. If you can't spot irony, you're not intelligent

'''Background'''

Will AI Destroy Humanity? A Soho Forum Debate (Spoiler: Jobst won)

R.V. Yampolskii, AI: Unexplainable, Unpredictable, Uncontrollable

Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor, AI Snake Oil

Arnold Schelsky, The Hype Book, especially Chapter 1.

==Tuesday May 5 (09:30-12:15) Transhumanism: The Ultimate Stage of Cartesianism ==

Video

Slides

1. Surveys the full spectrum of transhumanism and its cultural origins.

2. Debunk the feasibility of radically improving human beings via technology.

Background:

TESCREALISM, or: why AI gods are so passionate about creating Artificial General Intelligence
Considering the existential risk of Artificial Superintelligence
Thursday, February 20 (9:30 - 12:15) Can a machine be conscious?
The machine will

Computers cannot have a will, because computers don't give a damn. Therefore there can be no machine ethics

The lack of the giving-a-damn-factor is taken by Yann LeCun as a reason to reject the idea that AI might pose an existential risk to humanity – an AI will have no desire for self-preservation “Almost half of CEOs fear A.I. could destroy humanity five to 10 years from now — but ‘A.I. godfather' says an existential threat is ‘preposterously ridiculous’” Fortune, June 15, 2023. See also here.
Implications of the absence of a machine will:

The problem of the singularity (when machines will take over from humans) will not arise
The idea of digital immortality will never be realized Slides
The idea that human beings are simulations can be rejected
There can be no AI ethics (only: ethics governing human beings when they use AI)
Fermi's paradox is solved
Background:

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Slides Slides]

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Video Video]

Searle's Chinese Room Argument
Machines cannot have intentionality; they cannot have experiences which are about something.

Searle: Minds, Brains, and Programs

==Wednesday May 6 (09:30-12:15) AI and the Theory of Complex and Dynamic Systems==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Video Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Slides Slides]

Provides an introduction to the theory of complex and dynamic systems. Examples include: population growth

== Thursday, May 7 (13:30 - 16:15) 1. Capabilities and Skills; 2. AI and History and Geography==

== Friday, May 8 (13:30 - 16:15) Animal, Human and Machine Intelligence: A Territorial Perspective==

Part 0: How to give a good powerpoint presentation

Part 1: Functions, Capabilities, Skills

Part 2: On territory

Explicit, implicit, practical, personal and tacit knowledge
Video
Knowing how vs Knowing that
Tacit knowledge and science
Leadership and control (and ruling the world)

Part 3:

Complex Systems and Cognitive Science: Why the Replication Problem is here to stay

The 'replication problem' is the the inability of scientific communities to independently confirm the results of scientific work. Much has been written on this problem especially as it arises in (social) psychology, and on potential solutions under the heading of 'open science'. But we will see that the replication problem has plagued medicine as a positive science since its beginnings (Virchov and Pasteur). This problem has become worse over the last 30 years and has massive consequences for healthcare practice and policy.
Slides

''Personal knowledge'''

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/AI-and-Creativity Explicit, implicit, practical, personal and tacit knowledge]

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Practical-knowledge Video]==

==Tuesday (May 12, 9:30 - 12:15) Planning, Creativity, and Entrepreneurial Perception==

From Speech Acts to Document Acts: An Ontology of Institutions [https://buffalo.box.com/s/85h3u1nvjtbnm5krs0tr7rfkys2p48qc Slides]

Massively Planned Social Agency [https://buffalo.box.com/s/v6huywh7gs09jsosfxo7ox62ap7wiccd Slides]

AI Creativity and Entrepreneurial Perception Slides

==Wednesday, May 13 (09:30 - 12:15) The Limits of AI and the Limits of Physics==

==Friday May 15 (09:30-12:15) On AI, Jobs, and Economics, followed by Student Presentations ==



==Background Material==

'''An Introduction to AI for Philosophers'''
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmiY8_XVvzs Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Why-not-robot-cops Slides]
(AI experts are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''An Introduction to Philosophy for Computer Scientists'''
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/What-is-philosophy Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Crash-Course-Introduction Slides]
(Philosophers are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''[https://www.cp.eng.chula.ac.th/~prabhas/teaching/cbs-it-seminar/2012/aiphil-mccarthy.pdf John McCarthy, "What has AI in common with philosophy?"]

Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026

2026-05-07T20:03:24Z

Phismith: /* Friday, May 8 (13:30 - 16:15) Animal, Human and Machine Intelligence: A Territorial Perspective */

'''Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence 2026'''

Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith

MAP, USI, Lugano, Spring 2026

Venue: Room A23

[https://buffalo.zoom.us/j/92039377770?pwd=pL6MALdTb5mB1QnqlwYPwAoNaYeEp4.1 Zoom link]

'''Introduction'''

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the subfield of Computer Science devoted to developing programs that enable computers to display behavior that can (broadly) be characterized as intelligent. On the strong version, the ultimate goal of AI is to create what is called General Artificial Intelligence (AGI), by which is meant an artificial system that is at least as intelligent as a human being.

Since its inception in the middle of the last century AI has enjoyed repeated cycles of enthusiasm and disappointment (AI summers and winters). Recent successes of ChatGPT and other Large Language Models (LLMs) have opened a new era of popularization of AI. For the first time, AI tools have been created which are immediately available to the wider population, who for the first time can have real hands-on experience of what AI can do.

These developments in AI open up a series of questions such as:

:Will the powers of AI continue to grow in the future, and if so will they ever reach the point where they can be said to have intelligence equivalent to or greater than that of a human being?
:Could we ever reach the point where we can accept the thesis that an AI system could have something like consciousness or sentience?
:Could we reach the point where an AI system could be said to behave ethically, or to have responsibility for its actions?
:Can quantum computers enable a stronger AI than what we have today?
:Can a computer have desires, a will, and emotions?
:Can a computer have responsibility for its behavior?
:Could a machine have something like a personal identity? Would I really survive if the contents of my brain were uploaded to the cloud?

We will describe in detail how stochastic AI works, and consider these and a series of other questions at the borderlines of philosophy and AI. The class will close with presentations of papers on relevant topics given by students.

Some of the material for this class is derived from our book

''Why Machines Will Never Rule the World: Artificial Intelligence without Fear'' (2nd edition, Routledge 2025).
and from the companion volume:

''Symposium on Why Machines Will Never Rule the World'' — Guest editor, Janna Hastings, University of Zurich
which appeared as a special issue of the public access journal Cosmos + Taxis in early 2024.

'''Faculty'''

Jobst Landgrebe is the founder and CEO of Cognotekt, GmBH, an AI company based in Cologne specialised in the design and implementation of holistic AI solutions. He has 20 years experience in the AI field, 8 years as a management consultant and software architect. He has also worked as a physician and mathematician, and he views AI itself -- to the extent that it is not an elaborate hype -- as a branch of applied mathematics. CUrrently his primary focus is in the biomathematics of cancer.

Barry Smith is one of the world's most widely [https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=icGNWj4AAAAJ cited philosophers]. He has contributed primarily to the field of applied ontology, which means applying philosophical ideas derived from analytical metaphysics to the concrete practical problems which arise where attempts are made to compare or combine heterogeneous bodies of data.

Grading

:Essay with presentation: 70%
:Essay with no presentation: 85%
:Presentation: 15%
:Class Participation 15%

'''Draft Schedule'''

:Venue: Room A23

'''Program'''

==Monday, May 4 (13:30-16:15) AI and Philosophy: An Introduction==

Part 1: An introduction to the course

Part 2: Outline of the theory of complex systems documented in our book: ''[https://www.amazon.com/Machines-Will-Never-Rule-World/dp/1032941405/ Why machines will never rule the world]''. Summary [https://philpapers.org/rec/LANWMW-3 here].

:In the course of the next 2 weeks we will show why AI cannot model complex systems adequately and synoptically, and why they therefore cannot reach a level of intelligence equal to that of human beings
:Note the difference between 'complex' and 'complicated'

Part 3: Booming interest in ontology unleashed by the idea of 'neurosymbolic AI'

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-1-Video Video]

'''[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture1-Slides Slides]

'''Background'''
The classical psychological definitions of intelligence are:
:A. the ability to adapt to new situations (applies both to humans and to animals)
:B. a very general mental capability (possessed only by humans) that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly, and learn from experience
:Can a machine be intelligent in either of these senses?

'''Readings'''
:[Capabilities: An ontology]

:Linda S. Gottfredson. Mainstream Science on Intelligence. In: Intelligence 24 (1997), pp. 13–23.
:Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith: There is no Artificial General Intelligence
:Jobst Landgrebe: Deep reasoning, abstraction and planning


:Ersatz Definitions, Anthropomorphisms, and Pareidolia

There's no 'I' in 'AI', Steven Pemberton, Amsterdam, December 12, 2024
:1. Esatz definitions: using words like 'thinks' as in 'the machine is thinking', but with meanings quite different from those we use when talking about human beings. As when we define 'flying' as moving through the air, and then jumping up and down and saying "look, I'm flying!"
:2. Pareidolia: a psychological phenomenon that causes people to see patterns, objects, or meaning in ambiguous or unrelated stimuli
:3. If you can't spot irony, you're not intelligent

'''Background'''

Will AI Destroy Humanity? A Soho Forum Debate (Spoiler: Jobst won)

R.V. Yampolskii, AI: Unexplainable, Unpredictable, Uncontrollable

Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor, AI Snake Oil

Arnold Schelsky, The Hype Book, especially Chapter 1.

==Tuesday May 5 (09:30-12:15) Transhumanism: The Ultimate Stage of Cartesianism ==

Video

Slides

1. Surveys the full spectrum of transhumanism and its cultural origins.

2. Debunk the feasibility of radically improving human beings via technology.

Background:

TESCREALISM, or: why AI gods are so passionate about creating Artificial General Intelligence
Considering the existential risk of Artificial Superintelligence
Thursday, February 20 (9:30 - 12:15) Can a machine be conscious?
The machine will

Computers cannot have a will, because computers don't give a damn. Therefore there can be no machine ethics

The lack of the giving-a-damn-factor is taken by Yann LeCun as a reason to reject the idea that AI might pose an existential risk to humanity – an AI will have no desire for self-preservation “Almost half of CEOs fear A.I. could destroy humanity five to 10 years from now — but ‘A.I. godfather' says an existential threat is ‘preposterously ridiculous’” Fortune, June 15, 2023. See also here.
Implications of the absence of a machine will:

The problem of the singularity (when machines will take over from humans) will not arise
The idea of digital immortality will never be realized Slides
The idea that human beings are simulations can be rejected
There can be no AI ethics (only: ethics governing human beings when they use AI)
Fermi's paradox is solved
Background:

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Slides Slides]

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-2-Video Video]

Searle's Chinese Room Argument
Machines cannot have intentionality; they cannot have experiences which are about something.

Searle: Minds, Brains, and Programs

==Wednesday May 6 (09:30-12:15) AI and the Theory of Complex and Dynamic Systems==

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Video Video]

[https://buffalo.box.com/v/USI-2026-Lecture-3-Slides Slides]

Provides an introduction to the theory of complex and dynamic systems. Examples include: population growth

== Thursday, May 7 (13:30 - 16:15) 1. Capabilities and Skills; 2. AI and History and Geography==

== Friday, May 8 (13:30 - 16:15) Animal, Human and Machine Intelligence: A Territorial Perspective==

Part 0: How to give a good powerpoint presentation

Part 1: Functions, Capabilities, Skills

Part 2: On territory

Explicit, implicit, practical, personal and tacit knowledge
Video
Knowing how vs Knowing that
Tacit knowledge and science
Leadership and control (and ruling the world)

Part 3:

Complex Systems and Cognitive Science: Why the Replication Problem is here to stay

The 'replication problem' is the the inability of scientific communities to independently confirm the results of scientific work. Much has been written on this problem especially as it arises in (social) psychology, and on potential solutions under the heading of 'open science'. But we will see that the replication problem has plagued medicine as a positive science since its beginnings (Virchov and Pasteur). This problem has become worse over the last 30 years and has massive consequences for healthcare practice and policy.
Slides

''Personal knowledge'''

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/AI-and-Creativity Explicit, implicit, practical, personal and tacit knowledge]

:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Practical-knowledge Video]==

==Tuesday (May 12, 9:30 - 12:15) Planning, Creativity, and Entrepreneurial Perception==

From Speech Acts to Document Acts: An Ontology of Institutions [https://buffalo.box.com/s/85h3u1nvjtbnm5krs0tr7rfkys2p48qc Slides]

Massively Planned Social Agency [https://buffalo.box.com/s/v6huywh7gs09jsosfxo7ox62ap7wiccd Slides]

AI Creativity and Entrepreneurial Perception Slides

==Wednesday, May 13 (09:30 - 12:15) The Limits of AI and the Limits of Physics==

==Friday May 15 (09:30-12:15) On AI, Jobs, and Economics, followed by Student Presentations ==



==Background Material==

'''An Introduction to AI for Philosophers'''
:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmiY8_XVvzs Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Why-not-robot-cops Slides]
(AI experts are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''An Introduction to Philosophy for Computer Scientists'''
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/What-is-philosophy Video]
:[https://buffalo.box.com/v/Crash-Course-Introduction Slides]
(Philosophers are invited to criticize what I have to say in this talk)

'''[https://www.cp.eng.chula.ac.th/~prabhas/teaching/cbs-it-seminar/2012/aiphil-mccarthy.pdf John McCarthy, "What has AI in common with philosophy?"]