Seminar – 12th February 2025
Book Now: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ai-and-phenomenology-seminar-tickets-1139884016779?aff=oddtdtcreator
We would like to invite you to a seminar titled
Calculating Experience? A New Role for Phenomenology in the Development and Application of Artificial Intelligence.
at St Catherine’s College, Oxford, or online,
on the 12th of February 2025.
A Phenomenology and Mental Health Network seminar (in partnership with the Philosophy Special Interest Group at the Royal College of Psychiatrists & IDEAS NCBR, Warsaw)
This seminar will reflect on the possibilities of integrating phenomenology (with its focus on embodiment, enaction, engagement, intersubjectivity, values, and empathy) with “conscious-less” artificial intelligence technologies. In particular, it will explore the potential of the phenomenological approach to contribute to computational approaches to psychopathology and vice versa to advance synthetic phenomenology for mental health care.
Time Topics Speakers
09:30 Coffee + Registration
10:00 Introduction – Bill Fulford & Marcin Moskalewicz
10:15 Session 1
LLMs and the Patterns of Human Language Use – Christoph Durt (Munich)
LLMs, Cognitive Biases, and the Path to Cognitive Humility – Marcin Rządeczka & Maciej Wodziński (Lublin)
11:15 Discussion – Discussant: TBA
11.30 Q&A
11:45 Break
12.00 Session 2
Psychopathology and AI: How Analytic German Idealism May Bridge the Gap – Peter Schönknecht (Leipzig)
Quantifying Borderline Experience – Marcin Moskalewicz, Marta Sokół, Anastazja Szuła, Anna Sterna (Poznan/Warsaw/Lublin)
13:00 Discussion – Discussant: Anastasios Dimopoulous (London)
13.15 Q&A
13:30 Lunch
14:30 Session 3
Limits of Formalization. Which Aspects of the Human Experience Can Enter Algorithmic Models? – Marianne Broeker (Oxford)
Computational Phenomenology and Deep Learning – Pierre Beckmann (Lausanne)
Computational (Neuro) Phenomenology – Maxwell Ramstead (London/Montreal)
16:00 Discussion – Discussant: Philipp Schmidt-Boddy (Heidelberg)
16:15 Q&A
16.30 Closing Remarks
The standard phenomenological approach toward the developments in AI-assisted healthcare underscores its drawbacks. It is argued that large language models behind virtual therapeutic agents
lack embodied know-how and authentic engagement, that simulated subjectivity has no intentionality and style, and that mimicking empathy is not care. At the same time, a phenomenological interpretation of artificial neural networks as representing the dynamic nature of consciousness is conceivable, and it allows us to imagine the possibilities of computational phenomenology in silico. This seminar shall explore the possibilities for critically integrating phenomenology with artificial intelligence, and in particular, issues related to:
· Implementation of AI systems for qualitative phenomenological research, quantitative analysis of lived experience, and specification of phenomenal states
· Enhancing affect recognition and minimizing bias reinforcement in chatbot design for vulnerable groups; conceptual/linguistic vs embodied/enacted resonance and understanding
· The role of simulated care and meaning-making, digital empathy, and semblance of agency for the safe and effective use of AI in mental health care
· Integration of AI tools with values-based practice; alignment with human values and reverse alignment of human self-understanding and care
Book Now: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ai-and-phenomenology-seminar-tickets-1139884016779?aff=oddtdtcreator
