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What it Means to be Human

My academic field of artificial intelligence continues to barrel ahead, unrelenting, towards the goal of surpassing human cognition.

So in my work I frequently confront the question: what do we envision as the purpose of the human in the world that we are creating? Already an AI can plan, reason, write, and solve complex problems faster and better than a human mind. As these capabilities continue to grow, what role do we envision for the humans?

A Litmus Test

I had a great conversation with Silicon Valley Northeastern professor Ilmi Yoon and SFSU researcher Andrew Scott about the purpose of humans in a world of AI, at the NAIRR inaugural annual meeting in Washington DC this week.

Here is a litmus test: as AI becomes more powerful and begins to act with social awareness, with a theory of mind, then a theory of self, and beyond that when it begins to exhibit traits of consciousness, then what? Do we grant the AI the right of self-determination? For example, should we allow an AI to own property? Shall we decree that an AI can be found guilty of a crime? That an AI should have the right to vote?

Andrew said, "yes sure, why not?" His view, interestingly enough, is a sentiment I have found to be almost universal among technical people (when they are willing to imagine that we might be confronted with the eventuality).

But I found that Ilmi shared my perspective: "no."

The Responsibility of Humanity

Ilmi had a very good articulation as to why. It is also the root of my view: it is because we have a special role as humans that we should not give up to the AI.

The role of the human is to be responsible, to be the ones who care. As humans, we are stewards of our world. To grant AI fundamental decisionmaking power is to eschew our responsibilities.

In this moment of AI revolution it is more important than ever to recognize the role, the duty, the responsibility, that comes with being human. The increasingly obvious contrast against the role of AI has made it clear what our human role is, or at least what it must be.

Aristotle, Locke, and Descartes were wrong. As humans, our role is not merely to "think" or to be an optimizing economic actor, to "work" or "solve" or "improve" or "judge." To reason is not divine. These are all things that an AI can do.

As humans, our role is to care.

To be human means lifting our eyes to the future that we wish for. It means appreciating the things that we love, wondering about the curiosities of the world, expressing gratitude for our community. The human role is not just about cognition or solution. It is about responsibility.

As humans, elevating our ideals is not a luxury or a sacrifice. Bearing responsibility is an obligation, and it is a gift. To care is the thing that we must do, an honor that an AI does not have the role, the purpose, the right, to do.

Our Current Moment of Peril

The AI revolution is coincident with a moment of global political turmoil, and in these times, being aware of the role of a human is especially important. We must not only be aware of our own obligation to our ideals, but the special role of all humans as the genesis of responsibility. The worst episodes in history have followed the rise of dehumanizing philosophies.

As we marvel at the wonders of the AI-automated world, we must not lose sight of the special role of humans. We all put ourselves in danger when we hide from the human responsibility to care.

We must recognize the responsibility we all share of being human.

And we must meet this obligation.

Posted by David at February 21, 2025 08:29 PM