089: AI, Cultural Tools, and Pluralism (w/ Ted Underwood)

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We sometimes talk about technology on ReImagining Liberty, in the context of how it interacts with a liberal society, or how technology can help us defend and advance liberal. The big technology everyone’s talking about right now is, of course, artificial intelligence. It’s a topic I’ve written about, but not one I’d yet done an episode about specifically regarding what it means for liberalism.

Then I read an essay by Ted Underwood, a professor in the School of Information Sciences, and in the English Department, at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. It’s titled “A more interesting upside of AI” and you can find a link to it in the show notes. He argues that the framing of AI technology as aiming at “super-intelligence” is misguided, both undesirable and misunderstanding important aspects of society and culture. Instead, he’s an advocate of viewing AI as a cultural technology. What grabbed my attention was his further claim that, as a cultural technology, it can help us map and appreciate cultural differences, and cultural similarities, in ways that line up with, and support, liberal principles like pluralism, tolerance, and understanding.

It’s a big claim, and a fascinating one, and it lead to really fun and illuminating discussion.