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Artificial intelligence (AI) has become a socially discussed topic. Jan Romportl, the AI Personality of the Year 2024, currently working at the Department of Philosophy at the Faculty of Arts of the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen, has been working on it for years.

According to the expert, it is impossible to say whether AI has consciousness or not: "We will never know," he added. "If this system is not inherently in line with human values, it is probably the end for humanity. Because our human values are based on our biological nature, and we are creating a non-biological intelligence here that is more competent than we are. So we must always do it in such a way that AI is just our tool, otherwise it will probably destroy us," Romportl said. This is where he says we as humans are in an ethically difficult situation: "If we assume that this system will have consciousness, we are creating a deliberately conscious system that we have to ensure is permanently a slave to humans."

And is it even worth studying in an age when almost everything can be answered by artificial intelligence? According to Jan Romportl, studying itself is important for the development of every human being. "We should not look for the meaning of life in economic activity in relation to the outside world, but in the cultivation of man as an individual," he said. According to the expert, the study of the field of AI is very necessary at the moment. "It is necessary to start studying this field today, tomorrow at most," he said. Also, according to him, it is not possible to study the field of AI separately from a disciplinary point of view. "It is extremely important to have the ability to think philosophically and the technical competence linked, because now the two cannot be separated."

Here is the interview in Czech: