Autonomy, Intention, Performativity: Navigating the AI Divide

We are living in an age defined by technology. Recent developments in machine learning have put the main agenda of Artificial Intelligence back into mainstream consciousness: to create machines that exhibit “artificial general intelligence” (AGI), with some claiming that we are actually making strong progress towards that goal. But such a goal has always been ambiguous, and already many AI systems can perform complex tasks that are difficult or even impossible for the best humans. In this chapter, I look at a number of issues raised for creative applications of current large generative AI models. These include issues of ethics and moral rights, the notions of “knowledge”, “knowing”, and “intelligence” expressed in these models, and aspects of cultural homogenisation and parasitism as possible consequences of widespread use. Most relevant is that current models achieve their impressive results without many of the most important aspects that define and support human intelligence: embodiment, situated cognition, and being-in-the -world.