In Defense of Awe, Astonishment and Curiosity

The technological tsunami that moves faster every year (every month, every week, every day, every hour) feels unprecedented. But even though the adoption of advances like Artificial Intelligence (AI) feels inevitable, it’s vital to recognize that even the notion that there is nothing new under the sun isn’t, itself, new.

Quite the contrary. “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes, 1:9).

While tools and technologies can and do evolve, the essence of human endeavor, creativity and intellectual curiosity remain timeless. The USD College of Arts and Sciences has been tackling big ideas for several years surrounding the ways that higher education can find inventive and grounded approaches to use this intersection of humanity and technology to build well-rounded world citizens.

“We’ve been all-in on this, pre-COVID,” says Dean Noelle Norton, PhD. “We didn’t just jump in when ChatGPT came along. We aren’t on the cusp of it. We’re at the front of it.”

Back in 2019, Philosophy Professor and A. Vassiliadis Director of the Humanities Center Brian Clack, PhD, interviewed novelist Ian McEwan about his book Machines Like Me at USD’s Shiley Theatre. “He was really remarkable,” Dr. Clack recalls. “He talked about ideas like, ‘How do we interact with a machine that looks like us, that appears to have emotions, desires and intelligence?’ At their best, novelists present us with possibilities to think through, scenarios of the present and the future, where we come to terms with deeply philosophical themes.”

“We started with René Descartes and philosophers from the Enlightenment period, which was centuries ago,” says Norton. “Humans have always been dealing with the question, ‘What's a machine and what's human?’” Readings included Alan Turing’s seminal 1950 paper, “Computing Machinery and Intelligence,” which first introduced what has come to be known as the Turing Test to the public. The test seeks to answer the question, “Can machines think?” 

“It was eye-opening for me, as a political scientist who studies American institutions, to go back and see that we have always wondered what our relationship was to technology. The question the Turing Test seeks to answer is one we’ve always been building toward,” Norton reflects.

The USD College of Arts and Sciences released its second annual Arts & Sciences magazine this fall. In the pages of this magazine, you will discover exciting new programs and initiatives, meaningful and impactful stories, and inspiring student, faculty and alumni spotlights

Read the full article on page 29 of the Arts & Sciences magazine (Fall 2024 issue).

— Story by Julene Snyder