Abstract
Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) is so often presented as something new – what can ancient texts teach us about it? In John Gower’s “Confessio Amantis”, the real-life medieval scientist Robert Grosseteste is said to have built a head of bronze that said “such things as they happened.” This head is one of many such attributions to medieval scientists – many working on the edge of scientific innovation in the 10th through 12th centuries were rumored to have automaton helpers who spoke truth, answered questions, or aided in experiments. These technologies, although imaginary, served the same cultural function that GAI does for modern writers and thinkers. This paper compares medieval philosophies of these technologies with current suspicion and enthusiasm for GAI. The comparison, made through medieval literary and philosophical texts, demonstrates that medieval attitudes toward these imagined technologies are key to articulating the limitations and expectations of real technological dependence. This argument serves to ‘humanize’ Artificial Intelligence and articulate the real edges of its philosophical scope. GAI is truly new only in its technological instantiation – its ethical problems have been discussed for centuries.
Presenters
Seth StricklandLecturer, English, Carnegie Mellon University, Pennsylvania, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Generative AI, Medieval Science, Medieval Literature, Grosseteste, Philosophy of Technology
