3. An Introduction to the Philosophy of Artificial Intelligence
Regine Rørstad Torbjørnsen, Miriam Kyselo
June 22, 2026 DOI: 10.18261/9788294167234-26-03 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that mechanistic and functionalist approaches to AI, based on the computer metaphor, are inadequate, and that an embodied, enactive perspective—where intelligence is grounded in living, situated beings—better accounts for subjective experience as a constitutive aspect of intelligence. |
Abstract
This chapter introduces key concepts and theories in the philosophy of artificial intelligence. The authors assess the difference between “natural” and “artificial” intelligence and discuss the assumptions under which it would make sense to describe AI as “intelligent” or “conscious”. The chapter critically reflects on mechanistic and functionalistic approaches to artificial intelligence and the computer metaphor for understanding intelligence and how it works. It contrasts this view with more recent, embodied perspectives where our understanding of intelligence is grounded in the context of the embodied and situated living beings. According to this, the guiding metaphor for understanding intelligence is the living body. Approaching AI as a complex system, the authors also discuss the entanglement of the technology with human agency. The chapter demonstrates that subjective experience is not merely relevant for interpreting science but may in fact be a constitutive aspect of intelligence. Keywords 4E cognition embodiment enactive approach mechanistic worldview mind–body problem