Organized by Dr. Christoph Durt and Dr. Lucy Osler
for the Foundation for Philosophical Orientation.

This online seminar meets every other Monday, beginning on September 15, 2025. There will be at least 8 seminar sessions. Meeting time: 9:30 a.m. – 11:15 a.m. (US Central Time). The beginning corresponds to: 7:30 a.m. San Francisco, 10:30 a.m. New York, 11:30 p.m. Rio de Janeiro, 3:30 p.m. Lagos, Lisbon, London, 4:30 p.m. Berlin, Madrid, Rome, 8:00 p.m. New Delhi, 10:30 p.m. Beijing, Manila (but please double-check your local time).

CONTENT

Artificial Intelligence (AI) transforms not only how we find our way on the internet and in the world, but also how we relate to each other and how we conceive of ourselves. In all these ways, AI becomes increasingly intertwined with human orientation, which it thus transforms. This raises new philosophical questions. How does human intelligence differ from artificial intelligence? How do these differences apply to concepts such as consciousness, thinking, understanding, and communication? Who are we as a species, and what is our relationship to technology?

In this third seminar on “Artificial Intelligence and Human Orientation,” we will focus on how new technological developments impact and reshape our understanding of reality and discuss several key topics:

• The technologies behind Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT
• The notion of ‘understanding’ in the context of embodied organisms vs. AI
• The conception of ‘truth’ in artificial vs. human intelligence
• AI-altered forms of communication and their impact on power and politics

We will build on concepts from Werner Stegmaier’s What is Orientation? A Philosophical Investigation (2019) and connect them to contemporary papers on AI and its impact on language, understanding, embodiment, and democracy. Some of the authors we discuss, as well as an LLM specialist, will join the respective seminar sessions (names will be announced here soon).

This seminar is discussion-based; this means participants are expected to read the respective passages before each session. The seminar is free, but the number of participants may be limited to ensure quality discussion. Please apply by September 8, 2025, via the application form below by briefly explaining 1.) your affiliation and your professional/academic background, 2.) your philosophical interests, and 3.) your motivation for joining the seminar (max. 100 words per field).