21 March 2022

The ‘philosophical consequences’ of artificial intelligence have been explored in a series of talks by pupils and experts, as Westminster opened its doors to the first ever Horizon’s Conference.

Philosophers and theologians alike joined the conference, an extension of the School’s successful Horizon’s Lecture Series, for discussions on political philosophy, ethics of AI, bioethics and aesthetics. Pupils from Westminster and Francis Holland School gave thought-provoking talks exploring topics from determinism in the law to the sentience of artificial intelligence.

Pupils were also given the opportunity to connect with leading academics at the conference, including Buki Fatona from the University of Oxford, who gave her keynote lecture on ‘Imagining the Infinite: Transcendent Models as a Fundamental Nexus between Science and Religion’, and Cambridge University’s Rupert Shortt, who delivered his keynote on ‘The Coherence of Christianity’.

 

Edmond (Remove, BB), who gave his talk on technocracy entitled ‘Can AI rule as the Philosopher King?’ said: “I have always been intrigued by Artificial Intelligence and in particular the philosophical consequences from both an ethical and political point of view. I wanted to dig deeper into the essences of the future of AI and what it means for humanity… Albeit uncertain, I believe the future of humanity remains a bright one.”

Vanessa (Remove, BB) added: “I found the event to be really interesting and gave me a really diverse outlook into the different topics explored on the day.”

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