The Institute of the Information Society team regularly holds manuscript discussions. These seminars, known internally as "Scientists' Club" ("Tudósklub"), discuss manuscripts, most of them still in draft form, by colleagues from within the institute or from outside. There is no set choreography for the Scientists' Clubs, most of the time the author of the manuscript presents the paper, previously sent to the participants, in 15-20 minutes, followed by contributions from the Institute's staff and external guests. The focus is always on improving the quality of the writing with the comments.
This year's first Scientists' Club was held on 26 February, where Federico Ponzoni, Professor at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, who is in our country (at the Research Institute for Politics and Government) as a visiting professor, presented his manuscript A reasonable approach to workers substitution in the age of AI: An approach based on an analytic-thomist philosophy of technology. Professor Ponzoni has been working on the philosophy of technology for a long time, and this paper explores the use of artificial intelligence in the world of work.
The study starts from the Aristotelian-Thomistic theory of reason and order. According to Thomas, reason can relate to order in four ways. The first order is the order of nature, in which reason recognizes the laws of nature. The second order is the reflection of reason on itself, the order of reason, such as logic or mathematics. The third order, in which reason brings order to the operation of the will, is the moral order. Finally, the fourth order is the order of making objects and creation, the knowledge of craftsmen and each established trades.
The study argues that the world of human labour is not only related to the fourth order, but to all of them. However, there are types of work that are based on human relationships, and their link to the third, moral order is particularly strong. These include the university lecturer, the psychotherapist, but also the empathetic wise business leader. In all jobs where the third order plays a role, the substitution of man for machines is problematic, and in these jobs the moral agency of man will always be needed. Since machines, even the most advanced artificial intelligence, are not moral agents, humans cannot be replaced in these situations.
The presentation of the paper was followed by a lively discussion, in which the Institute's staff basically agreed with the conclusions of the paper, but on many points complemented the author's arguments.