Machines & Meaning
Angel Evan
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S2E1 Ayn Rand and the Dark Side of AI Efficiency
Using Ayn Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism, we examine how AI’s efficiency gains are made possible by ignoring the quiet awareness of claiming skills we don’t fully possess.
S1E12 Ibn Khaldun’s Warning: When Tools Become Purposes
Episode Description: Using Ibn Khaldun’s concept of asabiyyah (ah-sa-BEE-yah), a word derived from Arabic that roughly translates to tribal solidarity or social cohesion, we examine how AI is being…
S1E11 Credibility Deficits: Miranda Fricker and the Illusion of AI Literacy
Using Miranda Fricker’s concept of testimonial injustice, we examine how AI creates new hierarchies of who gets taken seriously and how the credibility we assign (or don’t) affect people’s lives.
S1E10 AI’s Aesthetic Trap: Søren Kierkegaard’s Three Spheres of Existence
Exploring how Kierkegaard’s three spheres of existence reveal why AI might be creating the most sophisticated trap for authentic human development by appearing to create fulfillment while preventing…
S1E9 Hannah Arendt and AI’s Collective Thoughtlessness
Exploring how Hannah Arendt’s concept of “thoughtlessness” reveals why AI systems create the perfect conditions for systematic harm that emerge from widespread non-engagement with consequences.
S1E8 Aristotle’s Phronesis and the Wisdom to Judge Ourselves
Exploring how Aristotle’s concept of practical wisdom reveals the meta-cognitive skills professionals will need to remain valuable in an age when AI can perform most technical tasks.
S1E7 Permanent Intermediates: Martin Heidegger and AI’s Erosion of Mastery
Exploring how artificial intelligence systematically undermines the conditions necessary for developing human expertise, creating what we might call “permanent intermediates,” people who achieve…
S1E6 The Accountability Threshold: Thomas Aquinas’ Doctrine of Double Effect.
Exploring how Thomas Aquinas’ Doctrine of Double Effect helps us understand our complex relationship with AI’s unintended consequences.
S1E5 Universal Laws: Kant’s Categorical Imperative and AI’s Immutable Rules
Exploring how Immanuel Kant’s concept of the categorical imperative parallels our current challenge of creating immutable ethical rules for artificial intelligence.
S1E4 The Detriment of Constructs: Simone de Beauvoir and Our AI Categories
Using Simone de Beauvoir’s philosophical framework on categorization, we examine how rigid binary thinking and over-compartmentalization limit our ability to understand and govern A.I.
S1E3 The Calculation Default: What René Descartes Teaches Us About Reasoning Models
Using Descartes’ framework for how we acquire knowledge, we examine what happens when AI reasoning models confront problems where mathematical certainty isn’t enough.
S1E2 Who’s Adapting to Whom? Lewis Mumford’s Warning for Technics.
We explore Lewis Mumford’s concept of ‘technics’ to answer an essential question in AI: are we creating technologies that adapt to serve human needs, or are we increasingly adapting ourselves to…
S1E1 The Narrative Machine: LLMs Through the Eyes of Alasdair MacIntyre
We explore Alisdair MacIntyre’s concept of narrative fragmentation and whether large language models (LLMs) contribute to it through their underlying architecture.
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Machines & Meaning has published 13 episodes since December 2024, covering topics in Philosophy, Society & Culture.
Machines & Meaning is currently highly active with new episodes monthly. Average episode length is 14m.
