Jamyang Buddhist Centre London in partnership with Science & Wisdom LIVE will host a live dialogue on Buddhism, AI, and the nature of mind titled “Can Thinking About AI Help Us Understand Our Selves?” The event will be held online and in person in London on 20 June.
“Geshe Tenzin Namdak, Jamyang’s resident teacher, and Murray Shanahan, Professor of Artificial Intelligence at Imperial College London, will sit down with Chris Scammell of the Buddhism & AI Initiative, who moderates the dialogue,” Jamyang Buddhist Centre London shared. “Together they will ask what these traditions have to offer as we try to understand this new technology—and whether thinking carefully about AI can change how we understand ourselves.
Jamyang London Buddhist Centre was established in 1978 to facilitate the study and practice of Tibetan Buddhism following the lineage of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The center is also affiliated with the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT) under the spiritual direction of Lama Zopa Rinpoche, and offers a structured curriculum of courses and classes on Buddhist philosophy and practice.
The upcoming dialogue will consider questions such as: Why can talking with AI feel like speaking with another mind? Does the system understand anything? And could it ever be conscious?
“Buddhist and Western philosophers have been working on the nature of mind and consciousness for thousands of years,” Jamyang Buddhist Centre London observed. “This evening brings two of those traditions into direct conversation.”
Geshe Tenzin Namdak is Jamyang Buddhist Centre London’s resident teacher. He was ordained by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and went on to become the first Westerner to complete the full 20-year geshe degree at Sera Jey Monastic University, followed by the one-year Vajrayana programme at Gyume Tantric College. He is pursuing doctoral research at Oxford on the Eight Difficult Points of Prasangika in the Gelug tradition.
Prof. Murray Shanahan is Emeritus Professor of Artificial Intelligence at Imperial College London and Principal Scientist at Google DeepMind. His work spans AI, computational neuroscience and philosophy of mind, with a long engagement with Buddhist thought.
Chris Scammell (moderator) is co-founder of the Buddhism & AI Initiative, which brings Buddhist practitioners, technologists and contemplative researchers into conversation on the future of AI.
“Buddhism and AI on the Nature of Mind: Can Thinking About AI Help Us Understand Our Selves” will be live-streamed at the following times:
Auckland: 5:30am, Sunday, 21 June
Canberra: 3:30am, Sunday, 21 June
Seoul, Tokyo: 2:30am, Sunday, 21 June
Beijing, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taipei: 1:30am, Sunday, 21 June
Bangkok, Jakarta: 12:30am, Sunday, 21 June
New Delhi: 11pm, Saturday, 20 June
Amsterdam, Berlin, Paris, Stockholm: 7:30pm, Saturday, 20 June
London: 6:30pm, Saturday, 20 June
Montreal, New York: 1:30pm, Saturday, 20 June
Los Angeles, Vancouver: 10:30am, Saturday, 20 June
“Expect a stimulating dialogue covering topics such as, consciousness and its absence, what ‘mind’ means outside a body, the Madhyamaka view of how things exist, and Murray Shanahan’s recent argument that thinking through disembodied AI systems leads toward something resembling emptiness in the Buddhist sense,” Jamyang Buddhist Centre London remarked, adding, “There will be time for questions from the room and from online attendees.”
Click here for full details and to register
Science & Wisdom LIVE is a project of Jamyang Buddhist Centre London in partnership with Mind & Life Europe, working to support dialogue between meditation practitioners and scientists on variety of topics discuss involving the intersections of scientific research, mindfulness practices, and the challenges of living on contemporary society.
“Science & Wisdom LIVE brings meditation practitioners in conversation with scientists to address the problems of contemporary society and come to new possible solutions,” said Science & Wisdom LIVE. “The dialogue between science and contemplative traditions can inspire positive action and inform an ethical response to the challenges of our times, grounded in the human values of cooperation, compassion and equality.” (Science & Wisdom Live)
See more
Science and Wisdom Live: AI and Buddhism
Jamyang London Buddhist Centre
Science & Wisdom LIVE
Mind & Life Europe
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