This seminar will explore the multiple transformations of the conception of the “human” in the face of the current scientific, social and technological challenges, focusing on those related to recent digital technologies and practices. The lectures will be delivered by researchers from ETH and abroad, with different disciplinary backgrounds in the humanities and the social sciences.
Learning objective
By the end of the course, students will be able to describe and compare different conceptions of the human at work in multiple fields of the humanities and the social sciences. They will be able to evaluate both the differences and the convergences between those conceptions, and critically assess their relation to current trends in science, technology and society, particularly in the context of new digital practices.
Content
The remarkable development of AI in the past decade has brought about a renewed urge to rethink our image of the "human". In this way, computer science and technology join other scientific disciplines having experienced the same need in the face of current challenges, such as climate change or the global pandemic, which question the place of the human in its environment. Such circumstances reveal that a science of the human is today more necessary than ever. For this reason, the Turing Centre's lecture series of this year will be dedicated to exploring the multiple images of the human at work across the human sciences and their transformation as a consequence of the current global challenges. In line with the Turing Centre's activities, the focus will be on challenges related to recent digital technologies and practices. Various researchers from ETH and abroad, with different disciplinary backgrounds in the humanities and the social sciences, will present what they consider crucial concepts, methods, challenges, and limits in our investigations about the human and its relation to machines, animals and nature.
