Deep thinking in an age of artificial thought

Imagine pushing a button and watching as a digital philosopher chooses a topic, does the research and writes a professional-level, publishable work—all without human intervention. It’s an intriguing idea that’s currently being explored by Kevin Scharp, professor and research director at the Department of Philosophy, and fellow philosophy professor Benjamin Levinstein, who are using over 50 different calls to various AI systems to pursue that singular task.

Admittedly, said Scharp, they’re not there yet. Which means that—at least for now—human philosophers will have to do the heavy lifting when it comes to understanding how AI and other advanced technology are shaping our world. And that’s a good thing, according to Robin Kar, the department’s interim director

“Artificial intelligence is clearly one of the most important developments in technology impacting every facet of human society,” said Kar.  “There are so many different implications of how it’s going to affect our lives that if there isn’t human thought—thinking deeply about what’s right, what’s wrong, what are human values,
and how are they are aligned with technology—then that human thought is going to quickly be replaced. And that could be very bad for all of us.”

Given the global race to create more advanced AI, perhaps even super-intelligent machines that could initiate human extinction, Kar believes it’s critical to establish centers where philosophy can be brought to bear on the subject. And the Department of Philosophy at Illinois is striving to be one of them

You might think a field of study that began when togas were the latest fashion would have little appeal in the digital age. But according to Kar, that couldn’t be further from the truth—at least not at Illinois, where the number of philosophy majors has tripled in the last six years. That big upswing is due in part to the CS + Philosophy major, an innovative collaboration between the Philosophy Department and The Grainger College of Engineering that helps students develop critical thinking while preparing to excel in a highly technical field.

Last fall the department broadened that initiative, launching an Ethics of AI Certificate that’s open to all campus students, regardless of their major. The three-course program, available entirely online, is designed to help students understand the risks of AI while also harnessing its benefits. And it couldn’t come at more crucial time.

“AI is having huge implications in almost every sphere that you can imagine, whether it’s politics, engineering, or labor,” said Kar. “And it’s moving so fast that it’s very hard for legal and regulatory mechanisms to keep pace with the rapid change.”

At the same time, there’s little financial incentive for companies to regulate themselves, which means that important decisions about AI’s use and development could ultimately be left to individuals who need to understand the implications of their actions.

To make sure they’re ready for the task, the department has recruited a number of faculty with expertise in this area. That includes Levinstein, the recipient of a major Mellon grant exploring how AI makes decisions, whether AI has beliefs, and how we can tell what they are.

“It’s very tempting to let AI do more and more, so having a theory of when it’s appropriate to delegate—and when it isn’t—is important,” said Levinstein. “As soon as something becomes competent, you might want to outsource, but if you can’t really trust it to do the thing you want, then you might be in bad shape.”

In 2023, the department hired professor Alison Duncan Kerr, an expert in emotion theory who is engaged in projects examining the emotions toward AI, Scharp said. She also studies feminist philosophy and philosophy of sex and gender, and how those social and political issues are affected by AI.

John Schwenkler, who focuses on the philosophy of action, has been tapped to lead another big department initiative—the Forum on Human Flourishing in a Digital Age. Launched in February, the forum will explore how AI and other advanced technology is impacting our daily lives through a mix of middle and high school outreach programs, undergraduate courses and cross-disciplinary seminars for graduate students and advanced undergrads.

“There are massive literatures on philosophy and AI,” said Schwenkler. “But they’re not always dealing with the questions that actually interest people working in fields like engineering, medicine, journalism, and education who stand to be massively impacted by AI technologies. Part of what I want to do in the context of this amazing university is try to think through not just the questions that philosophers have, but also the questions that really matter to these groups.” Ultimately, Schwenkler said, those explorations could be used to change how future generations are taught.

It’s a large endeavor. Led by a department that’s used to thinking about things in a very big way.

Editor's note: This story first appeared in the Spring 2025 issue of The Quadrangle.