2034: Humans and Technology. Paul Humphreys.
The seminar will address the effects of rapid technological advances on what it means to be human and the possibility of humans being supplanted as the primary creators of knowledge. The seminar’s focus will be philosophical, although no particular philosophical background will be assumed. Components of the course will examine potential changes in our concept of personal identity as a result of biological and cognitive enhancements; the loss of privacy resulting from massive data tracking and permanent video surveillance in major cities; changes in the roles of scientists and mathematicians as a result of automated instrumentation and computationally based simulations and proof methods; the effects, primarily on financial markets, of high frequency trading and quantitative modeling; and the extent to which these trends can or should be resisted.