Generative AI, agency, and the imperative of virtuosity: a Buddhist perspective

Talks / Ideas / Philosophy

In this talk, Peter Hershock argues that humanity is nearing an evolutionary and ethical tipping point—an existential crisis that is most clearly manifest along the agential frontiers of human-AI interaction. He will first problematize the individual-biased conceptions of agents and agency that currently dominate in AI discourse and offer an alternative, relational conception of agency based on Buddhist causal and ontological insights. Hershock will then draw a distinction between tools and technologies to explore the agential tradeoffs occurring along the frontiers of human-AI relations and both critically and creatively interpret these tradeoffs in light of intersections between contemporary evolutionary theory and Buddhist soteriology. He will conclude by outlining an ethics of responsive virtuosity as a Buddhist contribution to the global ethical ecosystem that will be needed for humanity to turn existential crisis into both ethical and evolutionary opportunity. Sponsor and organiser This event is organised by the SOAS Centre of Buddhist Studies . It is part of the Yin-Cheng Distinguished Lecture Series in Buddhist Studies, which is kindly sponsored by The Tzu Chi Foundation.