Initiative Contesting Computer Anthropology

Renaissance Foundation, Switzerland

CCA engages the question of what it means to be human in the digital age in light of the emergence of new technologies like “artificial intelligence” and “artificial life”. CCA questions the dominant frame of mind of today, which tries to understand human beings in terms of a “computer-anthropology” and is thus prone to anthropomorphising digital technology. It will do this in three steps:
1. A critical analytical, conceptual and historical investigation of computer-anthropology.
2. The articulation of possible and plausible alternative anthropologies, which are thought through in terms of their practical and social implications, and introduced to contrast the findings of the first step.
3. Findings will be communicated to the broader public by a variety of means: journalism, podcasts, video-essays, documentary films, edited book series, art projects and school projects. This will promote deeper discernment of meaningful applications of AI and AL.
Thus, CCA undertakes academic, inter- and transdisciplinary research at the intersection of computer science, medicine, law, sociology, history, philosophy, and theology, with a focus on creating interactive platforms of engagement with its findings.
At the Institute for IS & Society we developed a measurement instrument to measure and isolate posthuman belief structures in contemporary populations. The measurement instrument can be replicated and we plan to replicate it in a global comparison study.