- Warsaw University of Technology
Faculty of Administration and Social Science
Plac Politechniki 1
00-661 Warsaw
Poland
- Technische Universität München, Munich Center for Technology in Society, Department Memberadd
- For a short bio, description of research interests and a more comprehensive list of publications, plus some additional downloads, please go to https://hajo-greif.net/edit
This monograph is a thoroughly revised and edited version of my venia thesis. It has now been published with Routledge, London, in the "History and Philosophy of Technoscience" series, edited by Alfred Nordmann. An Open Access version... more
This monograph is a thoroughly revised and edited version of my venia thesis. It has now been published with Routledge, London, in the "History and Philosophy of Technoscience" series, edited by Alfred Nordmann. An Open Access version funded by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) under project ref. PUB488-Z24 is available here.
Research Interests:
The aim of this paper is to grasp the relevant distinctions between various ways in which models and simulations in Artificial Intelligence (AI) relate to cognitive phenomena. In order to get a systematic picture, a taxonomy is developed... more
The aim of this paper is to grasp the relevant distinctions between various ways in which models and simulations in Artificial Intelligence (AI) relate to cognitive phenomena. In order to get a systematic picture, a taxonomy is developed that is based on the coordinates of formal versus material analogies and theory-guided versus pre-theoretic models in science. These distinctions have parallels in the computational versus mimetic aspects and in analytic versus exploratory types of computer simulation. This taxonomy cuts across the traditional dichotomies between symbolic / embodied AI, general intelligence / cognitive simulation and human / non-human-like AI.
According to the taxonomy proposed here, one can distinguish between four distinct general approaches that figured prominently in early and classical AI, and that have partly developed into distinct research programmes: first, phenomenal simulations (e.g., Turing’s “imitation game”); second, simulations that explore general-level formal isomorphisms in pursuit of a general theory of intelligence (e.g., logic-based AI); third, simulations as exploratory material models that serve to develop theoretical accounts of cognitive processes (e.g., Marr’s stages of visual processing and classical connectionism); and fourth, simulations as strictly formal models of a theory of computation that postulates cognitive processes to be isomorphic with computational processes (strong symbolic AI).
In continuation of pragmaticist views of the modes of modelling and simulating world affairs (Humphreys, Winsberg), this taxonomy of approaches to modelling in AI helps to elucidate how available computational concepts and simulational resources contribute to the modes of representation and theory development in AI research – and what made that research programme uniquely dependent on them.
According to the taxonomy proposed here, one can distinguish between four distinct general approaches that figured prominently in early and classical AI, and that have partly developed into distinct research programmes: first, phenomenal simulations (e.g., Turing’s “imitation game”); second, simulations that explore general-level formal isomorphisms in pursuit of a general theory of intelligence (e.g., logic-based AI); third, simulations as exploratory material models that serve to develop theoretical accounts of cognitive processes (e.g., Marr’s stages of visual processing and classical connectionism); and fourth, simulations as strictly formal models of a theory of computation that postulates cognitive processes to be isomorphic with computational processes (strong symbolic AI).
In continuation of pragmaticist views of the modes of modelling and simulating world affairs (Humphreys, Winsberg), this taxonomy of approaches to modelling in AI helps to elucidate how available computational concepts and simulational resources contribute to the modes of representation and theory development in AI research – and what made that research programme uniquely dependent on them.
Research Interests:
This is a critical exploration of the relation between two common assumptions in anti-computationalist critiques of Artificial Intelligence: The first assumption is that at least some cognitive abilities are specifically human and... more
This is a critical exploration of the relation between two common assumptions in anti-computationalist critiques of Artificial Intelligence: The first assumption is that at least some cognitive abilities are specifically human and non-computational in nature, whereas the second assumption is that there are principled limitations to what machine-based computation can accomplish with respect to simulating or replicating these abilities. Against the view that these putative differences between computation in humans and machines are closely related , this essay argues that the boundaries of the domains of human cognition and machine computation might be independently defined, distinct in extension and variable in relation. The argument rests on the conceptual distinction between intensional and extensional equivalence in the philosophy of computing and on an inquiry into the scope and nature of human invention in mathematics, and their respective bearing on theories of computation.
[Full text manuscript available here: http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/17449/]
[Full text manuscript available here: http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/17449/]
Research Interests:
Two aspects of cognitive coupling, as brought forward in the Extended Mind Hypothesis, are discussed in this paper: (1) how shall the functional coupling between the organism and some entity in his environment be spelled out in detail?... more
Two aspects of cognitive coupling, as brought forward in the Extended Mind Hypothesis, are discussed in this paper: (1) how shall the functional coupling between the organism and some entity in his environment be spelled out in detail? (2) What are the paradigmatic external entities to enter into that coupling? These two related questions are best answered in the light of an aetiological variety of functionalist argument that adds historical depth to the “active externalism” promoted by Clark and Chalmers and helps to counter some of the core criticisms levelled against this view. Under additional reference to conceptual parallels between the Extended Mind Hypothesis and a set of heterodox theories in biology—environmental constructivism, niche construction, developmental systems theory—an argument for the grounding of environmentally extended cognitive traits in evolved biological functions is developed. In a spirit that seeks to integrate extended functionalism with views from cognitive integration and complementarity, it is argued (ad 1) that instances of environmental coupling should be understood as being constitutive to cognitive functions in either of two distinct ways. It is further argued (ad 2) that the historically and systematically prior environmental counterparts in that coupling are features of the natural environment. Language and linguistically imbued artefacts are likely to have descended from more basic relations that have an extension over the environment.
Research Interests:
There have been attempts to subsume Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution under either one of two distinct intellectual traditions: early Victorian natural science and its descendants in political economy (as exemplified by Herschel,... more
There have been attempts to subsume Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution under either one of two distinct intellectual traditions: early Victorian natural science and its descendants in political economy (as exemplified by Herschel, Lyell, or Malthus) and the romantic approach to art and science emanating from Germany (as exemplified by Humboldt and Goethe). In this paper, it will be shown how these traditions may have jointly contributed to the design of Darwin’s theory. The hypothesis is that their encounter created a particular tension in the conception of his theory which first opened up its characteristic field and mode of explanation. On the one hand, the domain of the explanandum was conceived of under a holistic and aesthetic view of nature that, in its combination with refined techniques of observation, was deeply indebted to Humboldt in particular. On the other hand, Darwin fashioned explanations for natural phenomena, so conceived, so as to identify their proper causes in a Herschelian spirit. The particular interaction between these two traditions in Darwin, it is concluded, paved the way for a transfer of the idea of causal laws to animate nature while salvaging the romantic idea of a complex, teleological and harmonious order of nature.
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Hajo Greif Versuche, die Welt zurückzugewinnen. Die Kontroverse über die Handlungsfähigkeit der Dinge" in den Science and Technology Studies 1. Im Westen nichts Neues? Will man, um sich in den science wars zurechtzufinden, die... more
Hajo Greif Versuche, die Welt zurückzugewinnen. Die Kontroverse über die Handlungsfähigkeit der Dinge" in den Science and Technology Studies 1. Im Westen nichts Neues? Will man, um sich in den science wars zurechtzufinden, die Frontverläufe entlang traditio-neller ...
Research Interests:
To speak of participation today raises a series of questions on how the presence and use of new media affect modes of social participation. From a variety of theoretical, empirical and methodological perspectives, the contributions in... more
To speak of participation today raises a series of questions on how the presence and use of new media affect modes of social participation. From a variety of theoretical, empirical and methodological perspectives, the contributions in this volume explore participation in different social realms - from everyday life, interpersonal relationships, work and leisure activities to collective and political action. This collection demonstrates that participation is a localised notion, assuming a multitude of shapes under a variety of technological, political, socio-economic, linguistic and cultural conditions.