Philosophy of Artificial Intelligence: From Turing to Large Language Models

‘This is both a magnum opus reflecting deep scholarship, and also a jolly good read. Gillies and Gillies take us on a journey rooted in Alan Turing’s work, but reaching back to earlier philosophical insights and forward to the implications of current technology.’– Alan Dix, Cardiff Metropolitan University, and Swansea University, Wales, UK

‘This book combines a rich account of the development of AI with a discussion of the main philosophical questions about AI. It sheds light on the close connections between AI and philosophy of science, and discusses topics such as creativity, explainability, the ethics of AI, existential threats and the threat of mass unemployment. This is essential reading for anyone wanting to understand the deeper implications of AI.’– Jon Williamson, University of Manchester, UK

‘From its opening contention that Turing was a philosopher-mathematician like Descartes before him, to its discussions of the epistemology of machine learning, and the aesthetics and ethics of AI, this excellent book remains informative, thoughtful, and nuanced throughout. Gillies and Gillies clearly show how illuminating and productive the interaction between philosophy and artificial intelligence has been historically, and will continue to be.’– Professor Brian Ball, Computational Philosophy Lab, Northeastern University London

Donald Gilliesstudied mathematics and philosophy at Cambridge as an undergraduate. In 1966 he began graduate studies in Professor Sir Karl Popper’s department at the London School of Economics, and he completed his PhD on the foundations of probability in 1970 with Professor Imre Lakatos as supervisor. From 1968 to 1971, he was a Fellow of King’s College, Cambridge, and thereafter followed a career at London University until his retirement in 2009. He is currently Emeritus Professor of Philosophy of Science and Mathematics at University College London. Donald Gillies developed an interest in the philosophy of AI in the 1990s, participating in two AI projects, as well as organizing two further projects in the philosophy of AI.

Marco Gilliesis a Professor of Computing at Goldsmiths, University of London, and an expert on AI virtual humans for virtual reality. After completing his PhD at the University of Cambridge, he did post-doctoral work, and, in 2005, he published one of the first papers to apply machine learning to virtual humans. At Goldsmiths, a creative university famous for the Young British Artists Movement, he has helped pioneer the application of AI to the arts, including founding the Creative Computing Degree in 2008. His work since then has focused on human-centred and interdisciplinary AI, including working with dancers, psychologists, game developers, clinicians, and education researchers. His current work focuses on augmenting large language models (LLMs) with body language for natural communication.