Hillsdale’s third 2024-2025 Center for Constructive Alternatives will cover artificial intelligence.

The event will run from Feb. 2-5 and will include speeches from Erik Larson, journalist and author of “The Myth of Artificial Intelligence: Why Computers Can’t Think the Way We Do”; Erik Prince ’92, founder of the private military company Blackwater Worldwide; and Aaron Kheriaty, fellow and director of the Program in Bioethics and American Democracy at the Ethics and Public Policy Center

Nathan Herring, assistant professor of physics, said he believes most of the talks will focus on the relationships between humans and AI on both the individual and societal level. 

“Think of the ramifications of artificial intelligence on the experience of being a human,” Herring said. “How does what it means to be human in our various foibles and deficiencies — the things that make us human — interact with the notion of a virtual utopia that you may be able to make with AI?”

Qianying “Jennie” Zhang, associate professor of finance and economics, said she is looking forward to hearing Prince’s lecture about AI on the battlefield. 

“I teach quantitative machinery, so I find this very interesting,” Zhang said. “It’s fascinating to see how we’ll apply the algorithms in the army and on the battlefield.” 

Kheriaty’s speech will focus on the relationship between transhumanism — the belief that human condition can be enhanced through technology — and AI.

Junior Nathan Dilliner said he is looking forward to learning more about this topic.

“The interaction between artificial intelligence and the philosophy that I’ve studied here at Hillsdale is really peculiar because it brings into question what a human being is,” Dilliner said. “After all these years of hypothesizing about what it is, finally with this technology, rubber meets the road.”

Herring will sit on the faculty roundtable at the end of the CCA and said he wants to clarify both the consequences and benefits of AI as well as clarify the definition of the term itself. 

“In my comments, I want to make sure we understand the full picture of both the positives and negatives of this technology so that we don’t overreact,” Herring said. “What are the positive things that can come from artificial intelligence technologies while also acknowledging the risks and recognizing that they come from many different kinds.”