Empowering thinking: Humans and AI
Is AI here to stop us thinking? Or can we use AI to help us to think better? Do LLMs signal the end of human cognition, or are they just the latest development? To what extent can we use the same critical thinking skills, the same skills of discussion, negotiation, feedback and persuasion that we use when evaluating the thoughts and ideas of our fellow human beings?
If we want our thinking to be truly empowered in today's world, then we need to be able to think effectively alongside AI. These workshops look at how we can best do this.
Thinking alongside AI
This is about the problem of human-AI configuration, from the point of view of cognition (this is very broad, so the focus is on idea generation, evaluation and execution)
This workshop is about the problem of human-AI configuration, from the point of view of cognition. We focus on idea generation, evaluation and execution.
Idea generation: humans are naturally, restlessly curious and creative. But our brains are also designed to be lazy - to avoid thinking when they don't need to. To what extent is it prudent to allow idea generation to be performed by AI? What do we gain or lose by doing this? If all we do is select from ideas presented to us by machines, are we losing our autonomy and agency? Are we just reacting to content, rather than producing it? Is there a way to combine our creativity, with the instant and infinite recombinations that AI can provide? We consider issues of confidence, motivation and expediency around generating new ideas, content or solutions.
Idea evaluation: To It is easy to be impressed by the output of AI - but how can we ensure that the quality check still goes on, that ideas are still challenged? Can we replicate the same cut and thrust that we get when humans exchange ideas? Can we make the process even smoother?
Execution: How can we have the confidence to stand by our own ideas in the face of the power of AI?
Sharing Thinking - with people and machines
This workshop is about how we communicate our thinking, the issues around doing this (a) with other humans; (b) with machines (are the problems the same? The advantages and disadvantages? The solutions?)
This workshop considers:
The social (human-to-human) side of thinking: Our thinking has evolved to take place within a social context; we consider to what extent our thinking needs to be "aired and shared"; to what extent do we like/ need/ value pushback; how well do critical thinking skills work in a human-human context? Psychological and sociological dimensions of thinking: problems around our need for validation and groupthink, and how best to overcome these - can we use them as a feature, not just a bug?
To what extent does human-AI change this? To what extent does the human-AI relationshop pick up on/ exaccerbate/ even potentially RESOLVE some of the issues around thinking, whether thinking independently or collaboratively? (IS human-AI thinking a form of independent thinking, or collaborative thinking, or something altogether different, perhaps between the two? Advantages and disadvantages of human-AI thinking. Put simply: does it put a stop to our thinking - or can it enhance it? How do the problems and solutions around independent or human-human collaborative thinking apply in this human-machine relationship? What if anything do we need to do differently?
Critical Thinking and AI
This workshop focuses specifically on the need to critically evaluate AI output - and also the challenges we face in doing this. To what extent do 'traditional' critical thinking tools and concepts apply to non-human generated content?
This workshop is about the importance of maintaining a critical distance with regard to AI output. We look not just at how to do this, but also when - part of the value of AI is that it saves us time and effort, so we need to decide when it's pertinent to engage with it critically. We then need to think about how we can do this. To what extent do traditional critical thinking approaches still apply? Which concepts or strategies are the most relevant to use? Are there new techniques we need to adopt?