Value-normative structure of the culture of artificial intelligence

Belikova Evgeniya Konstantinovna ORCID: 0009-0001-7575-024X PhD in Cultural Studies Associate Professor; Department of English; Lomonosov Moscow State University 119991, Russia, Moscow, Leninskie Gory str., 1, building 52 jkbelikova@yandex.ru Other publications by this author

Introduction

Artificial intelligence (AI) has become an integral part of not only the human world of being, which quickly and readily accepts all the amenities and opportunities provided by digital technologies in general and AI as their highest stage, in particular, but also the culture of society, understood as "a set of artificial orders and objects created by humans in addition to natural, memorized forms of human behavior and activity, acquired knowledge, images of self-knowledge and symbolic designations of the surrounding world" ^{[1, p. 354]}. AI has become the result of man's deep knowledge of the world, mastering the physical laws of its existence, and understanding the principles of vital activity. AI technology is based on many centuries of painstaking human work on mastering the environment, understanding its nature, structure, features and system of activity of all its components, including humans and their brains. All this is inherent in AI as a phenomenon that naturally appeared in the middle and second half of the twentieth century. Since then, it has been increasingly entering culture, complementing it, giving it new forms, transforming a significant number of its important components. The strong place of AI in culture serves to form an AI culture, the comprehension of which requires serious efforts by specialists from various humanities, primarily the philosophy of culture.

Literature review

The study of the cultural nature of AI was launched immediately after its appearance as a technological object, in the second half of the twentieth century. The first problem faced by scientific thinking was the possibility of computers and their intelligent systems that comprehend information and process data, the ability to think like a human, the intellectual properties of a human, his consciousness and reflection. Attempts to assess this possibility and its significance for civilization and culture were made by J. Searle ^[2], E. V. Ilyenkov ^[3], S. Russell and P. Norvig ^[4] and other Russian and foreign philosophers, cultural scientists, and specialists in other humanitarian disciplines.

Researchers considered the ability to acquire human consciousness to be the most important for AI, which is reflected in the very first definition of this phenomenon, formulated by D. McCarthy in 1956 and proposed to understand AI as "the property of intelligent systems to perform creative functions that are traditionally considered the prerogative of man" ^[5]. Scientists have rarely expressed doubts about this ability of AI ^{[6; 7]}, but in the scientific and near-scientific environment there have always been and continue to be suggestions about the hostility that AI will begin to show towards its creators as soon as it becomes aware of itself ^[8]. Although in the middle and second half of the twentieth century, the formation of strong AI seemed to be a matter of the near future, this still does not happen, and AI exists in its weak form, subordinate to humans, unable to think independently and not showing hostility towards its human creators. It is precisely this type of AI that requires cultural and philosophical understanding, which forms its own culture in the information space.

In modern Russian science, the influence of AI on modern culture (the creation of new cultural products with its help, the optimization and improvement of cultural institutions, etc.) ^[9], on science and art ^[10], on the creative sphere of man ^[11], on the fields of pop and fan culture ^[12] is discussed. They also analyze the social threats that AI poses to modern society ^[13], the problem of trust in AI technologies ^[14], etc. Thoughts are often voiced about the predominantly negative impact of AI on culture, as a result of which "threats to cultural identity arise, interethnic and intercultural ties weaken; a person loses cultural and historical memory, breaks away from national roots and traditions" ^{[15, p. 102]}, about such cultural risks associated with it as "loss of creative individuality and increasing inequality in access to cultural values" ^{[16, p. 28]}, which emphasize the relevance of a thoughtful analysis of the cultural and value essence of AI. We consider the definition of the value-normative structure possessed by AI culture to be one of the most important cultural and philosophical issues.

The purpose of the article is to consider the value–normative structure of AI culture, paying attention to the degree of conformity of AI culture with traditional values of a non-existent, "higher", "eternal" values, the system of which has developed throughout the history of mankind and is significant for its further development.

The results of the study

The phenomenon of AI culture is significant for this study and has not yet received a regular and unambiguous interpretation in science. We understand this phenomenon as a layer of modern culture, within which AI is interpreted as a subject of the value space, a significant functional element that enters into close interactions with cultural meanings and values, with other subjects and objects of culture.

A certain value-normative structure is characteristic of any cultural phenomenon. By this concept we mean those values on which the phenomenon is based, which are reflected in it, under the influence of which the cultural phenomenon (in our case, the culture of AI) develops in the cultural space of society. The starting point of our research is the assumption that a phenomenon acquires the status of a cultural phenomenon if it conforms to certain values and norms existing in a given culture.

A person tends to reflect on the value system that determines his existence, and on its stability. It is the value system that dictates a person's actions, determines his opinions, assessments and reactions. A person has concerns about innovations appearing in the value system, or new cultural phenomena that can shake the habitual value system, since only the stable position of this system seems acceptable and guarantees stability. Among the system of values, there are existential, lying in everyday reality, and "higher", "eternal", characteristic of philosophical thought of all periods of human existence.

Any new phenomenon that appears in the cultural field, starting to interact with its other components and influence its structure and development, deserves to be evaluated in terms of its value-normative structure, its compliance with the criterion of value-normative certainty in general and each of the values included in the system, in particular. AI, on the basis of which a certain culture is formed, refers to phenomena of a large-scale nature, the value and cultural parameters of which are assumed to be ambiguous in the light of the technological, existential, cultural complexity of the phenomenon itself.

AI perfectly interacts with the system of values related to the human sphere of existence, his daily interests and needs. It is best applied to ensuring communication between members of society, to helping them in the process of consumption, moving in space, organizing family interactions and caring for offspring, in entertainment, housing and household arrangements, in medicine and much more. We are motivated to make this statement by observing the process of AI "embedding" into the cultural system, into everyday life and daily existence of a person: AI provides the use of social networks and messengers that make communication more convenient and easier for a person; purchases are organized with the help of AI (Internet services study people's requests, offer advertising, help make choices, and then they build logistics for the delivery of the selected product); specialized AI-based services help people organize entertainment; the Smart Home system facilitates household chores, etc. It is this applicability that determines the fact that modern society is characterized by a very contradictory reaction to AI and related objects, processes, and phenomena. The undoubted convenience of AI and its widespread use to ensure human comfort dictate a person's desire to accept AI culture, while doubts about its value-normative legitimacy encourage hesitation and rejection.

The values of the "higher" good, which we consider important for establishing the value-normative nature of AI, include the meaning of being, the idea of the ultimate goal of human existence, the connection between man and nature, human interaction with the cosmos, humanism, spirituality, immortality. Their system is defined both by the history of the development of philosophy and culture, and by the personal reflective experience of each person. These values are associated with the process of ordering reality, making sense of human life, they are traditional and relate to values that are important and relevant to each subject in an ontological, essential way. They primarily concern the sphere of spirituality, not beingness, but they cannot but affect beingness too.

Each of these cultural and philosophical values receives a special refraction in the culture of AI.

The meaning of being as a value presupposes a person's constant search for an answer to the question of what constitutes the meaning of his life. AI culture serves as a catalyst for a new round of thinking about this issue. In particular, AI forces a person to think about his nature, about human identity, because a person compares himself with AI. It was the fear of losing identity and essential traits that became one of the first things for humans provoked by the advent of AI. One of the options for the meaning of life in an AI culture for humans is the preservation of their own biological species, the value of which helps to realize the essential threat posed by AI. It is becoming clearer that the ultimate goal of human existence is related to its independence as a species, with the ability to develop freely, without being artificially limited by anything, including AI.

The connection between man and nature as a value is also becoming more clearly understood thanks to the AI culture. Being a natural being, a person feels the need for unity with nature and at the same time, in the course of civilizational development, gradually moves away from it, denies it. AI is perceived as the highest point of separation of man from nature, as the quintessence of "anti-naturalism", which largely determines the fear of it. At the same time, it must be admitted that AI, compared with previous technological innovations, is much more environmentally friendly, has a less negative impact on the natural world, and serves to mitigate human destructive actions towards nature. AI is neutral, indifferent from the point of view of nature, it is purely material and at the same time speculative; interacting with it, a person moves away from the natural world and at the same time approaches it. The connection between man and nature in AI culture still needs to be understood, but there is no doubt that AI encourages people to think more about their biological, natural nature, and therefore potentially become closer to nature.

Human interaction with outer space, understood as a global space (including including nature, but more extensive, broad, comprehensive), has also received new facets in connection with the culture of AI. From the point of view of human existence, it is valuable to find your place in space, to explore, to "conquer" space, to make it safe (less dangerous). According to K. E. Tsiolkovsky, the basis for space exploration is the human mind, which opposes cosmic unreason and inertia: "If unconscious nature establishes a living relationship between the stars, then what is its power if it is overshadowed by the light of the highest reason!" ^{[17, p. 84]}. The cosmos is more powerful, but it cannot be stronger than man with his intelligence and spirituality, which the cosmos does not possess.

Interaction with space, cosmism is one of the essential values that look most organically in the context of AI culture. In the system of space objects, AI acts as a phenomenon that arose naturally and reflects the idea of spreading human influence over increasingly vast outer spaces. A person armed with AI technologies is able to accelerate his path of space exploration in every sense. It is not only and not so much about going into space and conquering the starry spaces (although this meaning is also present). AI culture helps a person to master the noosphere, an information space that, thanks to AI, becomes more filled, systemic and generally material. At the moment, the digitization of the noosphere is taking place, the transfer of all the knowledge accumulated by mankind over its history into a digital format. A person has access to the information field, which he can use at any time. The information field itself is becoming more coherent and systemically organized. For example, with the help of AI, the European project "Time Machine" is currently creating a digital model (virtual copy) of Venice as a city, with all its cultural baggage. In the future, we will create a digital model of the whole of Europe, based on its culture and history of the last two thousand years.

AI in its weak version is a human servant, completely submissive to him, fulfilling all his commands and wishes, anticipating them. This increases a person's faith in their own power, that is, in their cosmic properties, strengthens the position of the human species, outlines its prospects more positively, which supports the idea of cosmism, the gradual expansion of human space, the expansion of its presence in the world, expansion.

The values of humanism and spirituality are significant for the cultural development of civilization. Humanity has followed the path of their introduction into culture throughout its history, gradually overcoming savagery and arming itself with ideas about the importance of human life, the need to rely on moral values, on "higher" ideals. In Russian philosophy, humanism and spirituality originally had Christian foundations, but at the moment they have gone beyond faith in God, Divine revelations, and expanded their boundaries. The period of reliance on the Divine helped to see in man his original purity and righteousness, given by the Lord, the desire to free himself from sin, which was not originally characteristic of him.

Despite its external inhumanity (neutrality towards humans), indifference to what humane and spiritual or completely opposite values it will implement with the help of technology, AI is potentially capable of being a carrier of the humane principle embedded in it by humans. At the same time, the embodiments of humanity and spirituality, and the actions that contribute to their development, become more extensive, deep, and diverse in AI culture.

AI in its weak version, which has become widespread at the moment, is fully focused on the realization of any human desire, on turning it into a central figure of being, self-valuable in its every thought, every need and intention. AI facilitates human life, creates comfortable living conditions for people, serves development and entertainment, successfully and promptly satisfies any needs, physical, communicative, moral, etc., anticipates desires, studies previous actions in order to help in the future. AI, being neutral, is human-oriented, acts towards a person as a caring guardian who does not contradict him, does not criticize and is ready to accept him as he is.

Although there is clearly a humanistic orientation in AI culture (albeit at the level of everyday life), its spiritual component is less clearly expressed. On the contrary, AI focuses on the material, physical, and physical in human needs, without highlighting the inner, deeper, spiritual. In S.L. Frank's terminology, this is "profane" humanism, "a view that has dominated human thought for the past two centuries" ^{[18, p. 35]}. By obeying humans, AI reflects their own concepts of the spiritual and spiritless and is ready to follow any human whims without a doubt. It depends only on the person whether the orders sent to the AI will be humane or inhumane.

The spiritual sphere, which goes beyond the limits of "profanity," still turns out to be much more difficult to regulate, depending solely on a person and programming them in accordance with their understanding of all technological systems. Spirituality is an area of human responsibility that cannot be transferred to any entity, including artificial intelligence. In defense of AI culture, in this regard, I would like to argue that humanity in any form, even "profane", is much better than inhumanity and still leads to spirituality, albeit along a more complex, indirect path. However, the path to spirituality cannot be direct, as there are no additional systems that can simplify this path for a person.

Immortality has always been recognized by mankind as a value, but at the same time it was the most speculative, ideal and unattainable of all values. Immortality is included in the concept of the meaning of life and is one of the possible goals of human existence. Various religious cults, including Christianity, are based on the idea of the immortality of the human soul, the possibility of its existence in the afterlife and reincarnation in new lives in the future. The idea of resurrection was presented in a new way in the philosophy of N. F. Fedorov. In his work "Philosophy of the Common Cause", the philosopher expressed confidence that in the future, at the final point of humanity's existence, the ancestors "will come to life, of course, materially, apparently, palpably" and will gain "full knowledge and a lasting, immortal existence" ^{[19, pp. 169, 172]}.

Immortality is a value that has found its most successful realization in the AI culture. It is now, thanks to the culture of AI, that a person has a real opportunity to gain, if not physical or spiritual, but informational immortality. Already today, every person leaves a digital footprint in the information space that does not disappear after his death. The idea of cybernetic immortality has not yet been realized, but it is being discussed and interpreted in various fantastic literature, according to which human consciousness can be permanently preserved in digital form through AI technologies, a person will receive the ability to exist out of body or move his consciousness into a new body. If we talk about the idea of immortality, then AI acts as a technology, as if it was created for this very purpose.

In general, the claim about the mandatory compliance of AI culture with value and regulatory requirements is, in our opinion, somewhat overstated and unfounded. In the context of modern AI culture, compliance already consists in the fact that AI, by its very nature, is not aimed at violating these requirements, being a neutral and value-driven person. Modern AI culture does not include harming the value-normative system, and this alone makes it consistent with ethical rules.

We believe that modern culture is a fairly successful self-regulating system. During the development of civilization, each of its components has been thoroughly tested, a single cultural field has been formed that has a stable value-normative structure and is ready to accept every new cultural phenomenon that arises in society and claims to possess value-normative certainty. We have no reason to distrust this system, moreover, distrust of it would mean denying the entire historical development of human culture, the long and difficult path it has traveled.

Conclusion

Being a value-normative structure, AI culture creates a unique cultural relief and is one of the tools ensuring its continuous progressive development, its transmission to future generations in the combination of traditional and innovative components. Of course, the development of AI and its integration into human life is an incomplete, complexly regulated, chaotic and contradictory process, which must be continuously monitored and understood by scientists. However, his desire to conform to the established cultural value-normative system cannot be denied.

AI culture undoubtedly correlates with everyday values such as knowledge, intellectual capital, education, science, creativity, initiative, etc., which allows us to speak about its compliance with the criterion of value-normative certainty. The relationship of AI culture to values of a "higher" order is a more complex problem.

In terms of a number of values, AI culture looks contradictory. The spread of AI systems encourages people to think about the meaning of life, unity with nature. These values are affected by AI culture (actualizing the idea of human identity, the future of humanity as a species, and the relationship with nature, which man denies, even though he is a part of it), which already speaks to the value orientation of this type of culture. Humanism and spirituality as values are not directly related to AI, but the idea of the leading role of humans in achieving these values is being strengthened in AI culture. The relationship with space as a value is actualized in connection with the culture of AI, which reflects cosmism, helps a person expand his influence on large volumes of space, primarily information. In addition, AI culture is aimed at ensuring human immortality, which is also an important "higher" value.

The prospects of the research conducted in this paper consist in further analysis of AI culture as a dynamic value-normative structure, rapidly developing, constantly updated with new assessments and meanings and therefore requiring continuous reflection.