The question of how machines perceive, interpret, and understand the world challenges our traditional concepts of knowledge. This session explores the philosophical foundations of knowledge, drawing on Immanuel Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason to examine the boundaries of human and machine cognition. Kant famously argued that our understanding of the world is shaped by innate structures of thought, which mediate our experience of phenomena and prevent us from directly accessing the "thing-in-itself" (noumena).
In parallel, AI systems process data through algorithms and predefined structures, interpreting information in ways that are both similar to and different from human cognition. How do Kant’s epistemological conclusions about the limits of knowledge apply to AI’s capabilities? Can AI transcend the boundaries of human understanding, or does it merely replicate the cognitive constraints of its creators?
