The starting point of this idea is an obvious problem: AI is ready to answer almost any question that may arise in the field of general and higher education in a few seconds. In this regard, the question of the value of "knowledge", "competences", etc., if the individual human level of proficiency in them is a priori lower than the level of most neural network answers?
Some hint at a new strategy for social and humanitarian education is given by the fact that neural networks are already quite well trained in producing knowledge, cope much worse with modeling the process of thinking or reasoning, and are still extremely ineffective in reproducing specific states, in all their internal complexity (cognitive, emotional, psychomotor and other aspects). Speaking in the categories of J. Lacan, neural networks are very effective in modeling the "Symbolic", encounter problems in producing the "Imaginary", and are only taking the first steps in recreating the "Real". Accordingly, the question arises – isn’t this what sets the prospects for the transformation of humanitarian education: shifting the focus of attention from the actual Symbolic aspects (existing or synthesized knowledge) to the structure of the Imaginary (exchange of meanings and connotations) and – further – to the reconstruction of the Real?
Отправной точкой для формулировки этой идеи является очевидная проблема: ИИ готов дать в течение нескольких секунд практически на любой вопрос, который может возникнуть в сфере общего и высшего образования. В этой связи, вопрос о ценности «знаний», «компетенций» и т.д., если индивидуальный человеческий уровень владения ими будет априорно ниже уровня большинства ответов нейросетей?
Некоторый намек на новую стратегию социально-гуманитарного образования дает тот факт, что нейросети уже достаточно хорошо натренированы на производство знаний, гораздо хуже справляются с моделированием процесса мышления или рассуждения, и пока еще крайне малоэффективны в воспроизведении конкретных состояний, во всей их внутренней сложности (когнитивные, эмоциональные, психомоторные и иные аспекты). Говоря в категориях Ж.Лакана, нейросети весьма эффективны в моделировании «Символического», сталкиваются с проблемами в продуцировании «Воображаемого», и делают только первые шаги в воссоздании «Реального». Соответственно, возникает вопрос – не это ли задает перспективу трансформации гуманитарного образования: перемещение фокуса внимания с собственно Символических аспектов (имеющихся или синтезированных знаний) – на структуру Воображаемого (обмен смыслами и коннотациями) и – далее – к реконструкции Реального?
Your question about applying Jacques Lacan’s structural analysis to teaching humanities in the era of AI is both intriguing and highly relevant. You’ve highlighted a crucial challenge: while AI excels at producing and organizing knowledge (the Symbolic order in Lacanian terms), it struggles with aspects of human experience related to the Imaginary and the Real.
Lacan’s Framework and AI’s Limitations:
A New Strategy for Humanities Education:
Incorporating Lacanian structural analysis could indeed provide a novel framework for teaching humanities in the AI era. Here’s how:
Your Turn:
- Could the Imaginary and Real be incorporated into AI training to make it more effective in educational contexts?
- What role should educators play in guiding students to recognize the limitations of AI when engaging with complex humanistic topics?
- How might Lacanian theory help in developing new pedagogical approaches that address the challenges of AI-dominated education?
Dear Alexandre Bermous ,
Drawing from the resources of psychoanalysis and critical media studies, in this article we develop an analysis of large language models (LLMs) as ‘automated subjects’. We argue the intentional fictional projection of subjectivity onto LLMs can yield an alternate frame through which artificial intelligence (AI) behaviour, including its productions of bias and harm, can be analysed. First, we introduce language models, discuss their significance and risks, and outline our case for interpreting model design and outputs with support from psychoanalytic concepts. We trace a brief history of language models, culminating with the releases, in 2022, of systems that realise ‘state-of-the-art’ natural language processing performance. We engage with one such system, OpenAI's InstructGPT, as a case study, detailing the layers of its construction and conducting exploratory and semi-structured interviews with chatbots.
Preprint Structured Like a Language Model: Analysing AI as an Automated Subject
Artificial Intelligence (AI), with its inherent interdisciplinary nature, uniquely straddles the line between science and fiction. The emergence of embodied AI forms designed to emulate and surpass human intelligence underscores this point. This is largely due to AI’s deep-rooted origins in a rich tapestry of fantasy and popular science, elements of which have been philosophically scrutinized since antiquity and have manifested in various guises throughout Western thought and literature. Consequently, it often becomes challenging to distinguish where the scientific facet of AI commences and where fiction concludes.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-024-03857-x
Regards,
Shafagat
Aparna Sathya Murthy What i see in Lacan's work - is the deepest problematizing of what we mean by "Reality", the "Inner" and "Outer" aspects etc. And, in fact, a lot of Lacan's perceptions may be attributed to AI processes (for example, the difference in the "Imaginary" and the "Real"; if even asking AI to explain how any conclusion was formulated, it's likely to invent some "hallucinatory path" having nothing common with the real process of "thinking")
Shafagat Mahmudova Dear Shafagat! It is more than just interesting and important. I am not competent in technical appropriation of AI, but, in fact, i may conclude that the philosophy may become an experimental science, and we can observe "in vitro" some aspects, which were traditionally treated as substantially humanitarian phenomena! May we try together to invent some "experimentum crucis" for understanding some mysteries of subject and personality?
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