7: Artificial Intelligence, Emotion, and What Makes Us Human with Dr. Noreen Herzfeld

DigEthix: Digital Ethics Today

In this episode of the podcast, Seth interviews Dr. Noreen Herzfeld. Noreen is the Nicholas and Bernice Reuter Professor of Science and Religion at St. John’s University and the College of St. Benedict. She holds degrees in both Computer Science and Mathematics and has a Ph.D. in Theology from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley.

Seth talks to Noreen about the history of artificial intelligence and about cultural attitudes towards technology, especially those in transhumanism. She stresses that emotions are a key difference between us and machines and that emotions may be essential to what makes us human. The key questions for this episode are: what does it mean for a machine system to be considered intelligent? Is education really a matter of a simple information transfer?

Potentially Helpful sources:
https://www.loc.gov/loc/brain/emotion/Kagan.html
https://www.simplypsychology.org/behaviorism.html
https://mitsloan.mit.edu/ideas-made-to-matter/emotion-ai-explained
https://news.stanford.edu/2021/02/23/four-causes-zoom-fatigue-solutions/
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/feeling-our-emotions/

Credits:

Music: "Dreams" from Bensound.com
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