Welcome to the Center for Science and Thought
The Center for Science and Thought (CST) is a radically interdisciplinary platform designed to address urgent questions that arise at the intersection of philosophy and various natural sciences.
The CST is located at Konrad-Zuse-Platz 1-3, 53227 Bonn.
Current News of the CST
In her new article "The Absolutism of Data: Thinking Artificial Intelligence with Hans Blumenberg" (Mind and Matter, Volume 21, Number 2, January 2024, p. 167-190.) Dr. Audrey Borowski shows how Hans Blumenberg offers a positive but also more nuanced approach to the question of indeterminacy than current algorithmic systems, whilst offering a corrective to its potential metaphysical drifts and dangers.
Contact: Dr. Audrey Borowski (aborowski@uni-bonn.de)
This summer semester, most of the sessions of the CST AI research group will be convened by Audrey Borowski, as part of her "AI and the Digital" Seminar Series.
Ahead of the World Summit AI 2023, Dr Ilievska gave an exclusive interview with the World Summit AI team, providing insights into the future of AI.
Contact: Dr. Ana Ilievska (ilievska@uni-bonn.de)
Here you can find additional press releases.
Events of the CST
Since Chat GPT we are witnessing another global AI hype. In his public Mercator-lecture Swiss philosopher Walther Ch. Zimmerli, at present Mercator Visiting Professor for Artificial Intelligence in the Human Context at the Center for Science and Thought (CST), tries to unveil the hidden mechanism behind the undeniable success-stories of AI by reconstructing its history of recurring hype-cycles beginning with what he calls the„Dartmouth Conspiracy“ and Turing’s „rehabilitation of deception“. The underlying suggestive power of the idea of AI, however,must be attributed to its mythical character as is demonstrated both by contrasting the Gartner hype-cycle theory with the philosophy of myth (Blumenberg), and by semiotically explaining it in terms of analogies and metaphors as well as contrasting it with the Singularity- and the Posthumanism-Myth (Kurzweil).
This seminar series sets out to probe the more theoretical ramifications and implications of ‘AI and the Digital'. Together with international experts, participants are invited to discuss the entanglement of thought and technology.
Convened and hosted by Dr Audrey Borowski
A conference on "Humanism and AI" will be held at the CST on May 23–24.
The advent of generative AI has sparked a global interest in human-centered AI, leading to discussions about ethics, privacy, and humanity's role in the AI era. This has resulted in the resurgence of Humanism, with various initiatives worldwide exploring its contemporary form. The conference seeks to delve into the characteristics of this new Humanism, its ties to traditional versions, and its expressions in today's culture, industry, and media.
Here you can find more events.
Research projects of the CST
Here you can find information about our research.
Register here for our AI-Mailinglist:
The aim of the project is to develop procedures to examine generally accepted standards for AI systems and their verification, as well as to explore business models for an AI certification. Our research investigates the ethical-philosophical significance of these dimensions.
Rethinking AI for Just and Sustainable Futures.
We investigate how to design AI (artificial intelligence) and other digital technologies in a responsible way, placing the questions of social justice and environmental sustainability at the very heart of our work.
Our research program is a collaboration between the Universities of Cambridge and Bonn and numerous international partners, and is funded by the Mercator Foundation in Germany.
The 'Towards New Demarcation Criteria for Borderline Consciousness' Project is an interdisciplinary project involving a collaboration between philosophers of Bonn and Cambridge and neuroscientists from the epilepsy clinic in Bonn. Its main purpose is to create an international research forum to develop new criteria for determining whether and when non-human entities, such as non-linguistic animals, new brain organisms, or advanced AI systems can be considered conscious.