Motivations for Artificial Intelligence, for Deep Learning, for ALife: Mortality and Existential Risk
Open accessAbstract
We survey the general trajectory of artificial intelligence (AI) over the last century, in the context of influences from Artificial Life. With a broad brush, we can divide technical approaches to solving AI problems into two camps: GOFAIstic (or computationally inspired) or cybernetic (or ALife inspired). The latter approach has enabled advances in deep learning and the astonishing AI advances we see today—bringing immense benefits but also societal risks. There is a similar divide, regrettably unrecognized, over the very way that such AI problems have been framed. To date, this has been overwhelmingly GOFAIstic, meaning that tools for humans to use have been developed; they have no agency or motivations of their own. We explore the implications of this for concerns about existential risk for humans of the “robots taking over.” The risks may be blamed exclusively on human users—the robots could not care less.
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Generative technologies do not qualify as autonomous agents.
“However, generative technologies do not qualify as autonomous agents [Barandiaran and Almendros, 2024, Gubelmann, 2024, Harvey, 2024].”
From Generative midtended cognition and Artificial Intelligence: thinging with thinging things (2025) · cites this paper as Harvey, 2024
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Generative midtended cognition and Artificial Intelligence: thinging with thinging things
Barandiaran, X. E., & Pérez-Verdugo, M. (2025) · Synthese · doi:10.1007/s11229-025-04961-4 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
“However, generative technologies do not qualify as autonomous agents [Barandiaran and Almendros, 2024, Gubelmann, 2024, Harvey, 2024].”
- Authors
- Harvey, I.
- Affiliations
- University of Sussex (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Harvey, Inman
- ORCID
- Harvey, Inman
- Venue
- Artificial Life
- Publisher
- MIT Press
- Published
- 2024
- Volume
- 30
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 48-64
- ISSN
- 1064-5462 (ISSN-L)
- 1530-9185
- OpenAlex
- W4391757052
- Cited by
- 6
- References
- 45
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 4
- FWCI
- 2.50
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Artificial Life (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Safety Research › Ethics and Social Impacts of AI
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History and Philosophy of Science › Cybernetics and Technology in Society
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Artificial Intelligence › Psychiatry, Mental Health, Neuroscience
- Keywords
- artificial intelligence, deep learning, existential risk, mortality, AI agency, societal risks of AI, human-AI relationship
- MeSH terms
- Deep Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Humans, Motivation
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