How ancient philosophers would shape AI | Brendan McCord

**🌍 Humanity Stands at the Shore of a New Continent — AI. What Now?** For 200,000 years, humans were the smartest beings on the planet. But today, **AI is forcing us to question what it *really* means to live a human life**. From **Copernicus** to **Darwin** to **Einstein**, science has repeatedly humbled us — displacing us from the center of the universe, showing us we are animals, and revealing that our intuition is flawed. Now, in the **age of Turing**, it’s AI’s turn to push us toward philosophy again. --- ### 🤖 From Tool… to Architect? For centuries, technology served *us*. It helped us *do* things — but it never told us *what to do*. That’s changed. Today, algorithms decide what you read, what you watch, and even how you think about right and wrong. Tomorrow, **AI might diagnose disease, invent cures, and guide global decisions**. But what if it doesn’t just assist us — what if it begins to **shape our very goals**? --- ### ⚖️ The Big Risks 1. **Convenience becomes dependency** — we outsource thinking, creativity, even values. 2. **Governance structures built to protect us** become the very systems that **control us**. 3. **Human freedom — our core superpower — slowly erodes**. --- ### 🧭 Three Steps Toward a Human-Centered Future #### **Step 1: The North Star – Human Flourishing** We must re-orient AI not around power or profit, but around helping each person **realize their potential**. > Not to build gods. Not to build replacements. > But to build *tools* for better lives. #### **Step 2: The Compass – Principles for Progress** A new AI philosophy must be built on three pillars: - **Autonomy**: The freedom to think and act without manipulation. - **Reason**: The ability to weigh ideas, debate, and discover truth. - **Decentralization**: Power spread across many, not hoarded by a few. These are the values that **preserve our humanity** in a world shaped by machines. #### **Step 3: Navigate the New World – From Philosophy to Code** Just like America’s founders built a **philosophy-to-law pipeline**, we need a **philosophy-to-code pipeline**. Enter: 🧪 **The Human-Centered AI Lab at Oxford** — the first lab dedicated to building open-source AI aligned with human flourishing. --- ### 🧠 The Future Needs a New Kind of Technologist One who combines: - **World-class AI skills** - **And deep philosophical grounding** These pioneers will prototype systems where **tech empowers humanity**, not erases it. --- ### 🚀 Final Thought We are at a pivotal moment. A once-in-a-civilization inflection point. Like setting foot on a new world — with no map. But with a **North Star to guide us**, and a **Compass to keep us grounded**, we can build a future where technology serves humanity — not the other way around. > From Copernicus to Turing, it’s time to once again **find our place in the cosmos** — > **not as obsolete beings**, > but as stewards of the future. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices