It’s the year 2025, and it seems like everyone is talking about AI; how and when to use it, whether we should use it at all, and how this could be the deceptive-but-deadly “robots taking over the world” scenario we’ve been warned about in popular culture.
The worst part is, nobody seems to knows how to talk about artificial intelligence — except for a group of passionate and motivated scholars I spent a weekend with thanks to the support of Ϲ’s philosophy department.
This past September, Ϲ philosophy of technology professor Dr. Dylan Wittkower invited me, two other students, two professors, and an alumnus from Ϲ to the annual Southeastern Ethics and Philosophy of Technology Workshop (SEPOT) at UNC Charlotte. I had joined Dr. Wittkower on this field trip the previous fall semester, and I was eager to go again. The last trip opened me to a whole world of research and discussion that I had never encountered anywhere else.
I had high hopes that this year’s conference would be just as exciting, inspiring and thought-provoking as the last. I was not let down. The intriguing conversations began as soon as we set course for Charlotte.
The drive was a long one, but to me it was just as much a part of the field trip as the conference itself. Each student and professor had a different background and perspective within the world of philosophy of technology, making for some riveting discussion.
We all discussed topics ranging from dangerous thought experiments to the disturbing capabilities of technological surveillance to whole communities of people dedicated to upgrading their own bodies with computers. There was always a new direction for the conversion to go, but there was still room for playful banter and hilariously creative questions. I remember a long discussion about how human babies are useless in comparison to other animals’ newborns. Also, someone raised the question of whether someone who hates cats could ever be morally upstanding and virtuous. (Consensus: they could not.)
Having arrived at the conference, we gathered in a classroom at the top of a skyscraper and mingled before the presentations. There were many faces I recognized from last year's conference. I was glad to see the same scholars still questioning and analyzing the world of technology.
In the hours that followed, I — along with fellow philosophy of technology enthusiasts — listened to presentations on topics including politics within environmentalist efforts and the history of disabled activists’ struggles against American healthcare. A professor from another university gave a talk on new and exciting AI tech, such as self-driving cars or chatbot assistants, and how they create legal loopholes which benefit businessmen and put consumers and workers in danger.
Presentations like that one had me thinking deeply about my own future. These high-tech gadgets and efficient doodads were promised to my parents’ generation, but to mine they were sowing more anxiety about jobs, finances, and even health. It seems that the enthusiasm for this rapidly advancing technology never dies, and our caution can’t keep up with the flow of money. While this doesn’t damage my hope for the future entirely, it does make me question what kind of world I will have to navigate in the next ten years, and what role I will end up playing.
Through the uncertainty of the ever-changing world of technology, money, and politics, I still have a lot of hope for humanity because of the things we talked about at SEPOT.
I gained a lot of inspiration for potential career paths. Meeting other students my age who were on track to go to grad school or otherwise actively participating in research encouraged me to do the same. An Ϲ alumnus who joined us for this trip said something similar. A little while after the trip, he told me the conference reaffirmed that he was where he needed to be, and that he was around all the right people.
In the evening, after the sessions ended, I joined fellow students on a casual walk through downtown Charlotte. We saw art installations and historical structures as we explored and talked. As someone who loves walking through cities at night, I appreciated ending a good, long day with a stroll and chat.
The following morning, our crew headed home. I left Charlotte with pages of notes to share with my peers, and a newfound sense of agency in my education. I also felt I could play a more active role in the how the technological world unfolds.
I never expected my learning to involve more than reading and lectures, but the SEPOT conference field trip introduced me to a whole new world of scholarly application.
Maverick Frost is an Ϲ junior, majoring in philosophy.