PT-AI 2011 - Philosophy and Theory of Artificial Intelligence (PT-AI 2011)

The theory and philosophy of artificial intelligence has come to a crucial point where the agenda for the forthcoming years is in the air - this conference will try to set that agenda and to gather many of the key players.

Artificial Intelligence is perhaps unique among engineering subjects in that it has raised very basic questions about the nature of computing, perception, reasoning, learning, language, action, interaction, consciousness, humankind, life etc. etc. - and at the same time it has contributed substantially to answering these questions (in fact, it is sometimes seen as a form of empirical research). There is thus a substantial tradition of work, both on AI by philosophers and of theory within AI itself.

The classical theoretical debates have centered around the issues whether AI is possible at all (often put as “Can machines think?") or whether it can solve certain problems (“Can a machine do x?”). In the meantime, technical AI systems have progressed massively and are now present in many aspects of our environment. Despite this development, there is a sense that classical AI is inherently limited, and must be replaced by (or supplanted with) other methods, especially neural networks, embodied cognitive science, statistical methods, universal algorithms, emergence, behavioral robotics, interactive systems, dynamical systems, living and evolution, insights from biology & neuroscience, hybrid neuro-computational systems, etc. etc. We are now at a stage, where we can take a fresh look at the many theoretical and philosophical problems of AI, including social and ethical issues - and at the same time shed light on philosophical problems from AI. This must be a joint effort with people from various backgrounds, but it must centrally involve AI researchers.

Proposals for special theme workshops under the umbrella of the conference are welcome.