[465 Professor's Eye] The Present Asks, the Classics Answer!

   A year and a half after the emergence of ChatGPT, the world is experiencing a social transformation greater than any in its past. Once reliant on human input, AI is now collecting and analyzing data autonomously, marking a shift towards the “humanization” of AI. As AI evolves, our attitudes toward its impact on society f luctuate between optimism and skepticism. While independently acting AI offers convenience and progress, they also raise concerns about the threat they may pose to human existence. 

   The unprecedented speed at which AI processes information forces us to confront new, previously unconsidered questions. These questions revolve around the nature of human essence, intelligence, and emotion. Throughout human history, we have never encountered a being with intelligence surpassing our own. Thus, our inquiries have always reinforced human- centric values. However, the arrival of AI and rapidly advancing technologies now challenge us to reconsider the meaning and value of human existence from an entirely different perspective.

   As the boundary between humans and machines blurs and the AI era threatens humanity’s role, what should we as humans prioritize? One compelling answer lies in the need to reconsider the role of the humanities as a guide and  support for maintaining a human-centered way of life. As a field that explores human nature, the humanities face entirely new challenges in this post-human era. Yuval Harari’s observation that “history began when humanity invented gods, and it will end when humanity becomes one” suggests that humanity, which used imagination to conceive transcendent beings and chart new paths, has now reached divine capabilities through AI. However, what future awaits a humanity that has achieved god-like powers? The hope left for humanity, having opened Pandora’s box with AI, may lie in the humanities’ exploration of human life and its conditions.

   The humanities address the age-old questions of “Where did we come from, what are we, and where are we going?” Through evolutionary biology, we now understand that human intelligence is a product of evolution. Humans, with their biological genes, developed consciousness and created cultures, continuing the progression of civilization. According to Harari, what made the cognitive revolution possible was the capacity for fictional narratives. Through myths, histories, and ideologies—stories that do not exist in reality—selfish individuals evolved into altruistic communities. Humanity possesses the power to create not only the physical world but also an imagined world, and it is this imagined world that has shaped civilization and led us to the development of AI.

   Science enabled the possibility of AI, and mathematics enabled science. Mathematics quantified nature through an imaginary system of symbols, just as AI was built through digital algorithms—combinations of 0s and 1s. Now that humanity has achieved this divine power, the most critical question remains: What do we truly want? This is where humanistic ref lection and a return to the humanities become crucial. As Faust remarked, “Humanities do not make the carpenter, but they make the carpenter human.” The humanities cultivate the essence of being human. They address consciousness, which is the act of thinking about thought.

   The classics hold universal ideas and values that transcend time and space, containing the collective wisdom of humanity. To read the classics is to engage in a dialogue with this accumulated wisdom, a process of self-ref lection that helps us grasp their relevance today. Reading the classics is a journey that exposes us to humanity’s vast repository of knowledge and ideas. By recognizing patterns in these texts, we acquire algorithms essential for navigating life. Through this process, we raise countless questions, and in seeking answers, we find a compass that points us toward what we desire and the direction of our lives.

   As we embrace the conveniences AI offers, I hope that students at our university will not neglect their capacity to “think about thinking” and continue to engage deeply with their humanity.