Faced with the challenges of Artificial Intelligence, there is a need for a mutation in the DNA of human intelligence, as was the case with the techno-cognitive revolutions of the past.
An initial response to this need for profound change is foreshadowed by the anthropological paradigm of Homo Extensus, which, moreover, is entirely still to be constructed.
The men of this generation will have to be able to govern the evolutionary leap in human intelligence, with the profound realization that Homo Extensus will not be a dependent effect of technological innovation, but rather a reaction of human genius that must know how to interpret, control and use the potential of such innovation to its own advantage.
The scale of the challenge is similar to previous historical periods, in which the generations of that time could not even imagine the intellectual forms of subsequent generations: Dante could never have conceived the cosmology of Galileo and Newton, Canaletto could not have imagined the abstract art of Kandinsky, the mythical pre-literate man could not have envisioned Greek philosophy and later science. It takes a great deal of imagination, but also of creative planning: some traits of the new human intelligence can already be vaguely sensed in the emerging experiences of multimodal creativity, incremental dialectics, predictive projection, sensoriality, and augmented entrepreneurship.
Undoubtedly Homo Extensus is an inescapable anthropological model in pedagogy, which must aim to extend human intelligence, certainly not artificial intelligence.
The idea of Extended Intelligence is also proposed as a guideline for the proper design of Artificial Intelligence models and solutions, which must be aimed at serving and not replacing humans, reducing risks and increasing opportunities offered by new technologies.
In the face of dystopian visions of the technological Singularity and Transhumanism, Homo Extensus expresses the need for an anthropocentric conception of artificial intelligences, in line with the principles and values of Europe and the humanistic and Christian philosophical tradition.
Artificial Intelligence is about to impact across all dimensions of society and culture: schooling, business, medicine, media, science, technology, politics, religion, and art.
We are at the beginning of a profound revolution, which requires a collective commitment to critical analysis, design skills, technological expertise, strategic vision, and inventive creativity.
There is a need to design and promote a nascent cultural and creative movement that places at the center the exciting challenge of contributing to a new evolutionary leap in Human Intelligence.
This open, free and newly conceived movement can have different thematic and disciplinary declinations, depending on the areas in which it is applied:
- A broad critical debate, open to journalists, pundits, and readers, can be opened in the field of mass media about the need for the evolution of human cultural and intellectual forms to control the development of Artificial Intelligence.
- In the pedagogical context, it will be necessary to raise awareness among educational institutions, pedagogists, teachers, and in general the entire educational community about the risks and opportunities of AI and the need to find new anthropological models and identify educational goals for developing extended intelligence.
- Communities of artists, authors, and creative people have the opportunity to experience the empowerment of creativity in cultural production, and to bring the challenge of Homo Extensus to the field of art as well.
- Developers of Artificial Intelligence applications, from small to large tech companies, have a responsibility to design solutions that enhance rather than depress human intelligence.
- Those in charge of policy and macroeconomic processes cannot ignore their responsibility to learn and govern the increasingly rapid and overwhelming evolution of Artificial Intelligence from a humanistic perspective.
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