Socrates and Artificial Intelligence (Fall 2025)

What makes intelligence artificial? What is the relationship between imitation and creation? Is AI speaking for you?  Does AI enhance our creativity or is it killing it? Does it matter if this blurb was written by AI? We will go searching for the answers to these questions in unexpected places, including ancient Greek thought, movies, video games, reality tv, literature, science fiction, and our own communities. We will also consider questions related to our own (and AI’s) social positioning including relationality, identity, programmer bias, gender, sexuality, dating, love, and socioeconomic status. This class takes an interdisciplinary approach to thinking about artificial intelligence through concepts such as authenticity, productivity, knowledge, perception, and relationships. You will think imaginatively about AI and its past, present, and future.