Here are a few reasons why the philosophy of AI is important and how classical thinkers like Aristotle and Zhuangzi can provide useful perspectives:
1. AI raises new ethical issues around things like bias, transparency, accountability, and control that require philosophical analysis. Classical virtue ethics traditions like Aristotle's could help guide ethical thinking and policymaking about AI.
2. Concepts of mind, consciousness, and intelligence are being transformed by AI, prompting philosophical questions about what it means to be human. Ancient skeptical traditions like Zhuangzi's question assumptions we make about the nature of intelligence and knowledge.
3. AI has social and political impacts that philosophy can help reason about in terms of justice, power dynamics, and human flourishing. Aristotle's political philosophy could give insights into how AI might transform social structures and governance.
4. Metaphysical questions arise about whether an advanced AI could have a "mind" or "spirit" of its own. Perspectives from Aristotle's hylemorphism or Buddhism's non-dual philosophies may be newly relevant.
5. Epistemic and logical foundations of rationality and reasoning themselves are implemented in AI systems, requiring new self-referential and metaphysical examination. Zhuangzi offers a profound epistemological skepticism we must grapple with.
In general, the wisdom of ancient philosophies gives diverse vantage points for questioning assumptions and critical reasoning about the nature and impacts of advanced AI. Both Aristotle and Zhuangzi compel us to examine AI - and ourselves - in new lights.