ABSTRACT / Humanity has lost its first mainstream contact with AI, which has been acting as a content curator over the past decades. The new era of generative AI means that content can be not only curated but also created for everyone individually. The latest advancements initiate questions about the future of life and whether we can regulate new technologies so that they serve humans and not corporations or machines.
This public lecture takes a deep dive into the rapidly evolving world of Artificial Intelligence (AI), providing an overview of its origins, current advancements, and potential future trajectories. We will explore the various forms of AI, their wide-ranging applications, and the milestones that have defined the course of AI research. In addition to highlighting the numerous advantages AI brings to society, we will also confront the challenges and threats it poses, including its effects on employment, privacy, and the potential for exploitation. The ethical dimensions of AI will be discussed, focusing on issues such as AI responsibility, legal frameworks, and the vital role of public engagement in shaping the development of this influential technology.
At the end, the open question will be posed: should Recommender Systems (RecSys) and General Artificial Intelligence (AGI) be public good and what are the necessary steps we must take to ensure a balanced, ethical, and sustainable approach to harnessing its transformative power.
BIO / Ljubisa Bojic is a communication scientist, social psychologist, futurist, and author of The Metaverse through the prism of power and addiction: What will happen when the virtual world becomes more attractive than reality? and Culture Organism or Techno-Feudalism: How Growing Addictions and Artificial Intelligence Shape Contemporary Society. Born in Serbia in 1983, Bojic received his Ph.D. from the Institute for Political Studies (Sciences PO Lyon) at the University of Lyon II, France in 2013 and is currently a research fellow and coordinator of the Digital Society Lab, Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, at the University of Belgrade. Bojic was elected a fellow of the Institute for Human Sciences Vienna (IWM). He has written more than 50 scientific papers, some of them published in leading journals, such as the European Journal of Futures Research, Communications: The European Journal of Communication Research, and Interpersona: An International Journal on Personal Relationships. Previously, Bojic was engaged as founder at Web Journalism School Journalist Association of Serbia, a contributor to Global Voices Online founded at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University and worked at SmartTone News, which was the first news platform for smartphones launched in Hong Kong. Ljubisa Bojic’s research focuses on the assessment of emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, algorithmic creativity and decision-making, virtual and augmented reality, blockchain, social media, and recommender systems.