Course: Philosophy of Artificial Intelligence

« Back
Course title Philosophy of Artificial Intelligence
Course code KFI/1POUI
Organizational form of instruction Lecture + Seminar
Level of course Master
Year of study not specified
Semester Winter and summer
Number of ECTS credits 10
Language of instruction English
Status of course unspecified
Form of instruction Face-to-face
Work placements This is not an internship
Recommended optional programme components None
Course availability The course is available to visiting students
Lecturer(s)
  • Schuster Radek, Mgr. Ph.D.
Course content
1) Natural and artificial: homunculi, thinking machines and real/unreal reality 2) AI as a paradigm: terminology and definitions, history and present 3) AI as a formal system: Turing machines and halting problem 4) AI as a formal system: Gödel's theorem and Lucas-Penrose argument 5) AI as a technology: algorithms and neural networks 6) AI as a technology: (deep) machine learning 7) AI as a language game: Turing test 8) AI as a language game: Searle's Chinese room 9) AI as a simulation of thinking: Leibniz's mill and computation of mind 10) AI as a simulation of thinking: (self) conscious, moral and emotional machines 11) AI as a simulation of reality: Descartes's evil demon and Putnam's brain in a vat 12) AI as a simulation of reality: Bostrom's simulation argument 13) AI as a futuristic vision: Kurzweil's singularity, salvation or threat

Learning activities and teaching methods
Textual studies, Lecture, Seminar
  • Contact hours - 78 hours per semester
  • Preparation for comprehensive test (10-40) - 40 hours per semester
  • Preparation for an examination (30-60) - 60 hours per semester
  • Presentation preparation (report in a foreign language) (10-15) - 15 hours per semester
  • Graduate study programme term essay (40-50) - 40 hours per semester
  • unspecified - 27 hours per semester
prerequisite
Knowledge
to describe examples of the use of artificial intelligence in practice
to explain the basic definitions and laws of logic
to paraphrase basic theories of the philosophy of mind and language
Skills
to use common information and communication technologies with understanding
to interpret abstract philosophical texts
to read scholarly texts in English
Competences
N/A
N/A
N/A
learning outcomes
Knowledge
to characterize the basic paradigms and definitions of AI
to describe traditional and current philosophical arguments in the AI debate
to explain key thought experiments on AI
Skills
to evaluate critically technological possibilities of AI and lay ideas about it
to perform logical-semantic analysis of the concept of AI in various discourses
to link the phenomenon of AI to modern philosophical thought
Competences
N/A
N/A
N/A
teaching methods
Knowledge
Lecture
Self-study of literature
Seminar
Students' portfolio
Textual studies
Individual study
Skills demonstration
One-to-One tutorial
Skills
Seminar classes
Skills demonstration
Individual study
Students' portfolio
Competences
Skills demonstration
Self-study of literature
Seminar classes
assessment methods
Knowledge
Combined exam
Test
Seminar work
Individual presentation at a seminar
Skills
Skills demonstration during practicum
Individual presentation at a seminar
Seminar work
Competences
Combined exam
Individual presentation at a seminar
Seminar work
Recommended literature
  • BOSTROM, N. Are You Living in a Computer Simulation? In Philosophical Quarterly, 2003, Vol. 53, No. 211, 243-255.. 2003.
  • Bostrom, Nick. Superinteligence : až budou stroje chytřejší než lidé. V českém jazyce vydání první. 2017. ISBN 978-80-7260-353-4.
  • COPELAND, B. J. (Ed.). The Essential Turing. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2004. ISBN 9780198250807.
  • DIAMOND, C. (Ed.). Wittgenstein's Lectures on the Foundations of Mathematics. Hassocks: Harvester Press., 1976.
  • DREYFUS, H. What Computers Still Can?t Do. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1992.
  • Ekbia, H. R. Artificial dreams : the quest for non-biological intelligence. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2008. ISBN 978-0-521-70339-0.
  • Ekbia, H. R.; Nardi, Bonnie A. Heteromation, and other stories of computing and capitalism. 2017. ISBN 978-0-262-03625-2.
  • GRAU, Ch. (Ed.). Philosophers Explore The Matrix. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005. ISBN 0195181077.
  • HAUGELAND, J. Mind Design: Philosophy, Psychology, Artificial Intelligence. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1981.
  • Kurzweil, Ray. The singularity is near : when humans transcend biology. New York : Viking, 2005. ISBN 0-670-03384-7.
  • PENROSE, R. The Emperor's New Mind. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989.
  • RUSSELL, S. & NORVIG, P. Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach. 3rd edition.. Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2009. ISBN 0136042597.
  • SEARLE, J. Minds, Brains and Science. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1984.


Study plans that include the course
Faculty Study plan (Version) Category of Branch/Specialization Recommended year of study Recommended semester