How the Enlightenment Ends
Article

How the Enlightenment Ends

Henry Kissinger
The Atlantic, 2018
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Recommendation

Most people associate former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger with old-school political realism. In a new essay in The Atlantic, however, he strays from his usual foreign policy expertise to warn about a novel threat that has remained below the radar of most international relations experts: the rise of artificial intelligence. Although his article betrays that Kissinger is treading on new territory, his conclusion about the social implications of intelligent machines are worth considering. getAbstract recommends familiarizing yourself with Kissinger’s concerns.

Summary

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in a growing number of human endeavors won’t only transform society and politics but will also challenge modern Western concepts of what it means to be human. Since the 18th-century Enlightenment, humans have placed individual insights over dogma, favored knowledge acquisition through the scientific method, and placed great faith in the human capacity to reason and reflect. 

The advent of the Internet has altered the way people acquire knowledge. Online search algorithms, including personalized search...

About the Author

Henry A. Kissinger served as national security adviser and secretary of state to US presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. He wrote widely on American foreign policy and diplomatic history.

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