Environmental Management by Artificial Intelligence: Challenges and Limitations of the Concept of Postnature
Bartłomiej KNOSALA
Silesian University of Technology, Gliwice , Polandhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-7839-081X
Abstract
This article attempts to critically analyze multidimensional effects of the proposals to delegate environmental management capabilities to artificial intelligence systems based on the so-called deep learning through reinforcement (DRL). The starting point is the concept proposed by Armin Grunwald, which, in order to make the potential public debate around NEST (New and Emerging Science and Technology) more transparent, advocates an assessment and analysis of the meanings that are attached to scientific and technological innovations at a very early stage of their development. The key idea within which the proposals to delegate management of the environment by artificial intelligence are situated is the concept of post-nature. As a result of the analyses carried out in this article, the concept in question shows its ambivalent character. On the one hand, it has an emancipatory potential, as it points to the role of values and narratives in the process of transforming our world. In this way, strategies aimed at securing a stable future for our planet can go beyond narrow scientific and technological solutions and we can begin to ask questions about the role of transformation within the broader culture. On the other hand, the concept of postnature can be used in a persuasive manner as a way through which it is easier to win acceptance of intensified technological interventions within the so-called natural environment.
Keywords:
environmental management, artificial intelligence, Anthropocene, postnature, narratives, techno-optimism, hermeneutic model of technology assessmentReferences
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