Examining the AI revolution through a humanistic lens

John Harlow and Jonathan Riggs | October 21, 2024

Like so much else, AI is dividing us. Will artificial intelligence make us happier, healthier, smarter? Or merely unemployed? Is it simply another case of “Enough with the so-called improvements to life already?” It’s a reckoning that’s been 70 years in the making. 

The pursuit of helpful machines that are actually smarter than we are was born in the 1950s, limping through “AI winters,” times when the hype failed and research stalled. But since 2012, software breakthroughs, faster chips and market appetites have converged to usher in a new age that is both awe-inspiring and also, well, spooky. Now it’s not just sci-fi movie directors who are speculating about what AI could mean for all of us. 

An in-depth exploration in the fall issue of UCLA Magazine draws insights from disciplines across the campus — from computer science to law, from business and psychology. And, of course, from the Humanities Division. Read observations from UCLA Humanities faculty below, and dive into the full story on the UCLA Magazine website.

Carol Bakhos, Center for the Study of Religion, on the search for meaning

“AI is going to be very important for many people. But [in the 2013 movie “Her,” which will be discussed in a course Bakhos teaches] the film’s final answer is not to look for meaning in AI technology, but in the people around us. In those who can touch us. And that thought, in a world being remade at a distance by AI, is very cheering.”

Laura Hartenberger, Writing Programs, on teaching and learning

“It feels like AI could either change everything about the way we teach and write, or nothing. The current generation of students have had plagiarism warnings drilled into their heads and tend to view [using] AI to draft essays as cheating. But it will be interesting to see how AI impacts the kids who are learning to write now, in elementary school, and whether they will have a different understanding of plagiarism by college.” 

Todd Presner, European Languages and Transcultural Studies, on ethics

“Technologies and data are never neutral or value-free. AI can be a tool of both democratization and disenfranchisement. Ethical issues need to be at the foreground of our engagement with it, especially as these tools reshape our collective social world and even ideas about humanity.”

Danny Snelson, English, on inevitability

“It’s impossible not to be working with AI tools in one way or another. But there are so many concerns.”

Vida Yao, Philosophy, on maintaining humanity

“Whether it’s in art or in relationships, we need to find a way to distinguish between what AI produces and what comes from the heart. Otherwise, there is a great danger that we shall lose what makes us human.” 

Adapted from UCLA Magazine. Read the complete fall 2024 issue here.