When the Human and the Artificial Collide
Our fears about technology reflect what we value about personhood: Your weekly guide to the best in books
Humanism is a tradition that prizes, above all, the irreplaceable experience of being a person. In her new book, Humanly Possible, Sarah Bakewell aims to revitalize the philosophy’s emphasis on morality, reason, and optimism. But Bakewell’s book has landed at a: Her way of thinking is imperiled by a changing culture—especially recent developments in artificial intelligence. As these advancements threaten to upend the primacy of “the faculties of the independent mind, the very core of intellectual personhood,” Foer writes, humanism could use a champion. (Unfortunately, Bakewell’s defense fails to meet the moment.)
