Author: Eric Bleys

              The power of artificial intelligence is rapidly changing the global economy. Artificial intelligence is typically understood as the ability of machines to demonstrate qualities of intelligence characteristic of humans. Given AI’s increasing capabilities, there are many skills that can be automated that previously were performed only by humans. Obviously, this begs the question of whether AI will reduce employment due to automated skills. 

              The question of AI and employment is extraordinarily complex. Diverse economic, political, cultural, and regulatory factors will continue to influence how AI impacts employment. AI also possesses the ability to increase economic productivity, which in many cases should increase employment because companies will have more money to spend on employees. Predicting the future is hard, but it is clear that AI will continue to radically reshape the job market. 

              Because AI is fallible, it is often necessary for humans to correct the mistakes that AI makes. Human workers will increasingly become managers of AI productivity, even if they are no longer the chief agents of productivity. Humans demonstrate qualities of judgment and social intelligence that might be difficult to automate, so there remains a necessary human component involved in moderating output generated by AI. 

              An analogy might be drawn with artists and art critics. If AI functions like an artist, human workers may soon function like art critics who critique the quality of work developed by AI. In such cases, scientific and philosophical understandings of humanity and its unique interests will be incredibly important for such judgments of quality. Like philosophers of aesthetics or ethics, human workers can be the conceptual and logical judgment makers for AI. 

              The human critique of AI is also a human critique of humanity. AI is a reflection of humanity; this conclusion can be drawn from the fact that AI is created by humans and trained from human created data. Unfortunately, the result is that AI often demonstrates the prejudices that are common within human culture. And yet humanity also retains the ability to critique prejudice through thoughtful reflections about intellectual objectivity, moral values, political circumstances, and social necessities. A human understanding of the humanities is useful for critiquing prejudice within AI systems. Due to changing circumstances, the humanities might become more useful than ever.

              Many of the most important scientific disciplines, theories, and discoveries of all time originated from Germany; for example, medical bacteriology, artificial fertilizer, quantum mechanics, and the theory of general relativity were all discovered primarily in Germany. 1, 2, 3 To understand how to create a scientifically advanced society, it is a promising idea to look at the history of science in Germany. In this quick read, I will explore three historical reasons why Germany became a scientific powerhouse. 

1.  The German Protestant Reformers

              The Protestant Reformation began in 1517, in Wittenberg, Germany, when Martin Luther published his ninety-five theses challenging parts of Roman Catholic doctrine. 4 The reformation was initiated by German theologians who emphasized the moral and salvational importance of literacy. Two doctrines in particular inspired greater commitment to literacy. One was the doctrine that the Bible is the only authority for establishing Christian doctrine. The other was the priesthood of all believers, meaning that all Christians are equally to be considered priests; importantly, this doctrine implies the necessity that all Christians should be able to read the Bible to teach the faith to others. 5 The Bible is a difficult, long, and complicated book; and hence support for Biblical literacy among the general public implied an extensive commitment to universal literacy in general. 

              Martin Luther directly advocated for equal education and literacy for women and girls. His emphasis on literacy for women and girls was very uncommon for his time period; it also inspired greater gender parity in literacy within Protestant parts of Prussia (modern day eastern Germany). 6 Because of this innovation, it became easier for science to flourish in Germany. 

              Universal literacy became one of the most essential foundations for the scientific revolution. This is because literacy allows research to be recorded more accurately and shared far more extensively, allowing for scientific communities to develop. For scientific research to be successful, it is incredibly useful to be able to refer to similar research from other scientists. By creating the foundation for literate research communities, the Protestant Reformers in Germany contributed to the foundations of modern science. 

• The Educational Reforms of Frederick the Great 

              Born in Berlin on January 24, 1712, Frederick the Great would grow up to be a modernizing force for Prussia. Frederick the Great was an Enlightenment oriented monarch who strongly favored education and the arts. Under his leadership, the eastern German nation of Prussia developed one of the first compulsory and government funded education systems. 7 

              The result of this history is that Prussia developed into one of the world’s best educated societies. By 1816, Prussia was the world leader in primary school enrollment. 7 Notably, Prussia developed a high literacy rate and became a center for many excellent universities, including the Humboldt University of Berlin. Prussia’s state funded mandatory education system allowed for it to industrialize quickly even though the industrial revolution began in Britain rather than Germany. 7 Furthermore, data shows that better educated Prussian counties were faster at adapting British industrial technology in comparison with less educated Prussian counties. 7

• The Humboldtian model of higher education 

              Wilhelm von Humboldt was born in Potsdam, Germany in 1767. Growing up, he was tutored by many leading figures within the Berlin Enlightenment scene. He was intensively educated in both Enlightenment and ancient Greek philosophy. 8

              From 1809 to 18010, Wilhelm von Humboldt worked hard to create a new blueprint for the Prussian education system. He emphasized a new concept of university life in which universities were supposed to pursue new knowledge through empirical experimentation, all the while encouraging the diverse skills of the liberal arts and unifying the practice of teaching with innovative practical experimentation. 9, 10

              Science exists as a community project. By sharing new research, scientists contribute to networks of information gathering that produce very efficient results. The Humboldtian model allowed universities to become a core part of the global network of scientific research. It was the Humboldtian model of higher education that first inspired research-intensive universities. Previously, many universities focused on merely conserving pre-existing knowledge. 

Summary

              Germany’s scientific advancement was caused by public policies which emphasized the importance of literacy, the synthesis of research with teaching, and the importance of exposing students to applied empirical experimentation. For any society to be scientifically successful, public institutions must sponsor and develop these forms of education among the general public. Creativity and applied empirical experimentation should be a prominent element within any education system. 

Citations 

1 

https://www.rki.de/EN/Content/Institute/History/rk_node_en.html

2 

https://ourworldindata.org/how-many-people-does-synthetic-fertilizer-feed

3

https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/einstein/legacy/quantum-theory#:~:text=Niels%20Bohr%20and%20Max%20Planck,won%20the%201921%20Nobel%20Prize.

4

https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/protestant-reformation/#:~:text=The%20Protestant%20Reformation%20began%20in,of%20Indulgences%2C%20or%2095%20Theses.

5

https://theconversation.com/on-the-reformations-500th-anniversary-remembering-martin-luthers-contribution-to-literacy-77540

6

https://d-nb.info/991484592/34

7

https://cepr.org/voxeu/columns/being-educational-world-leader-helped-prussia-catch-industrial-revolution#:~:text=As%20early%20as%201763%2C%20Frederick,6%20to%2014%20year%20old

8

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/wilhelm-humboldt

9

https://www.hu-berlin.de/en/about/history/huben_html/huben_html

10

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00501-022-01280-w#:~:text=The%20Humboldtian%20Model%20requires%20that,present%20within%20a%20given%20university.

Human nature is a complex topic. Countless works of literature, history, and psychology speak volumes about human nature. However, there are also some basic statements about human nature that are beyond dispute. Humans require food and drink for survival. Human nature is oriented around survival, reproduction, and self-defense. In contrast with other animals, humans are highly reliant on complex natural language for expression and collaboration. Humans are highly social animals that thrive from friendship and community. Additionally, humans are capable of highly abstract systems of reasoning such as algebra or philosophy, which do not seem to exist among other animals.

              Another factor that is characteristic of humans is technology. With technology, humans create material objects and systems that manipulate the natural world for accomplishing practical goals. Humans use technology for predicting the weather, waging war, producing food, lighting up the streets at night, and for traveling around the world. As technological power has increased, human welfare and prosperity have typically increased. However, technology is not always socially positive; in fact, there are some technologies that pose an existential threat to humanity. 

              Human nature aspires to understand and control its environment. As much as humans love the beauty of nature, we are also the supreme manipulators of nature among all animals that live on planet earth. We observe our raw resources and develop technological projects for enhancing and achieving human objectives. 

              Human nature is inherently creative. No other animal abstracts existing realities to create new possibilities to the same extent as humans. Creativity can be described as a mental process of imagining how systems could be different than they currently are. This process requires hypothetical reasoning, and hypothetical reasoning involves synthetic judgements about how combinations of factors would shape a given outcome. For example, when we are cooking, we often imagine the flavor of combining different food types into a single meal. Technology, like art, is an example of human creativity. It is likewise a highly practical type of creativity in the sense that it typically involves very specific goals such as transportation or providing energy services. 

              Even during prehistoric times, humans used stones and fires as tools of creative manipulation. This demonstrates that technological creativity is indeed an aspect of human nature, but this does not demonstrate that contemporary technology is an inevitable result of human nature. In fact, the historical development of technology testifies to how social, economic, political, and environmental factors shaped the development of technology. As humans, we have the power to choose for ourselves what type of technological society we would like to have. And this power of judgment is just as fundamental to human nature as our technological creativity. In other words, both technological creativity and human judgment of the value of diverse technologies, are both aspects of human nature. We are capable of guiding technology according to what is beneficial to human flourishing, and it is only reasonable that we should control technology according to the need for human flourishing.