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Gabriele Gramelsberger
Keynote: “Is Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) Possible?” (in German)
While successful AI applications such as large language models (e.g., ChatGPT) have a significant impact on many aspects of daily life, they are considered specialized AI. In contrast, Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) is supposed to be capable of performing a wide variety of tasks that typically require human intelligence. But what exactly is general artificial intelligence? What requirements must AI mechanisms meet to be considered “general”? What machine learning concepts would be necessary to achieve this? The lecture traces the development of AI from the perspective of these questions and provides an overview of current research in the field of AGI. The masterclass will examine these findings from a philosophical perspective. Starting from central philosophical arguments, we will discuss the fundamental questions of whether machines can be intelligent at all, whether this machine intelligence must resemble human intelligence, and whether we could even understand the latter.
Masterclass following Prof. Gabriele Gramelsberger’s keynote (in German)
Complementing the keynote address, this masterclass—limited to 25 participants—offers an intensive workshop and discussion format on the topic. It is explicitly open to all faculties and disciplines and provides an opportunity to reflect on one’s own research projects as well as to engage in direct dialogue with the invited speakers.
Recommended reading for the masterclass:
Alan M. Turing (1950): Computing Machinery and Intelligence, in: Mind 49: 433-460.
Further Reading (optional):
Gabriele Gramelsberger (2023): Philosophie des Digitalen zur Einführung, Hamburg: Junius.
About the speaker:
Prof. Dr. Gabriele Gramelsberger holds the Chair of Philosophy of Science and Technology at RWTH Aachen University. Her research focuses on the digital transformation of the sciences. Her goal is to develop a conceptual framework for the philosophy of computational sciences as well as an open-science infrastructure for computational sciences studies. In 2018, she founded the Computational Science Studies Lab (CSS Lab, https://www.css-lab.rwth-aachen.de/), supported by the NRW Digital Fellowship 2017 and RWTH Aachen University. She is a member of the Human Technology Center at RWTH Aachen University. In 2019, she became a full member of the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences and Arts. Since 2021, she has been director of the Käte Hamburger Kolleg “Cultures of Research”—an international center for advanced studies in the history, philosophy, and sociology of science and technology. Together with Sybille Krämer, Jörg Noller, and Jonathan Geiger, she leads the “Philosophy of Digitality” working group of the German Society for Philosophy (DGPhil) and is editor of the newly founded open-access journal “Philosophy & Digitality.” For significant and lasting contributions in the field of philosophy and computing, she was awarded the 2023 K. Jon Barwise Prize by the American Philosophical Association.
Latest publications:
Markus Pantsar, Frederik Stjernfelt, Gabriele Gramelsberger, Alin Olteanu (eds., 2025): Philosophy of Artificial Intelligence: Optimistic and Pessimistic Views, SAPERE Studies in Applied Philosophy, Epistemology and Rational Ethics 75, Springer.
Alexandre Hocquet, Frederic Wieber, Gabriele Gramelsberger, Konrad Hinsen, Markus Diesmann, Fernando Pasquini, Catharina Landström, Benjamin Peters, Dawid Kasprowicz, Arianna Borrelli, Phillip Roth, Clarissa Ai Ling Lee, Alin Olteanu, Stefan Böschen (2024): Software in science is ubiquitous yet overlooked, in: Nature Computational Science 4(6), 465-468.
Caja Thimm, Gabriele Gramelsberger, Maximilian Mayer, Frank T. Piller (eds., 2024): From Automation to Autonomy: Human Machine Relations in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, Special Issue for Human-Machine Communication 9.
Kaminski, Andreas, Gabriele Gramelsberger, Dirk Scheer (eds., 2023): Modeling for policy and technology assessment: Challenges from computerbased simulations and artificial intelligence, Special Issue for TATuP Journal for Technology Assessment in Theory and Practice 32/1.
Gabriele Gramelsberger (2023): Philosophie des Digitalen zur Einführung, Hamburg: Junius.
Gabriele Gramelsberger (2023): Künstliche Intelligenz, Computerspiele und Sozialität, in: Acta Historica Leopoldina (NAL-historica) 83, 21-37.
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