Public Dialogues

YHouse continues its program of lectures, events, and conversations on exciting and provocative topics at a number of venues around New York City.

Consciousness Club NYC

YHouse invites you to the Consciousness Club, a study group to promote broadly transdisciplinary discussions on the neural and computational bases of consciousness, and how these concepts can be applied to other fields of interest. Our weekly meetings are for you if you are into awareness, science, technology, philosophy, art, and design.

For more information and meeting schedule, check out our Facebook page, or tune in to our Twitter updates.

Although the meetings are open to all, we encourage technical and scientific discussions for this series of meetings.

Cognition Lunch Salon

YHouse continues to organize informal Lunch Salon events hosted by the Program in Interdisciplinary Studies at the Institute for Advanced Study, 1 Einstein Drive, Princeton, N.J., West Building Seminar Room, 2nd floor. The format is an informal chat, followed by longer open-ended discussions among the participants, on the topic of consciousness and cognition. This event is by invitation only. To request an invitation, please email us at info@yhousenyc.org

  • WeWork Park South (map)
  • 110 East 28th Street, 10th-Floor Lounge
  • New York, NY, 10016
  • United States

Consciousness Club #34: Buddhists and the Trolley Problem—Implications for AI Ethics

Speaker: Kin Cheung (Moravian College)

Abstract: A 2017 article in The Atlantic by Alexis C. Madrigal is titled “If Buddhist Monks Trained AI.” The subheading is “Monks take on the trolley problem, a classic moral dilemma that has big implications for driverless cars.” Buddhists are outliers in their responses to the trolley problem sets because they would push the large person. I explore possible reasons for their position including the role of intention and the impact of karma. Though there are scholars who argue Buddhist ethics is most closely matched with virtue ethics, consequentialism, or even deontology, I hold the position that Buddhist ethics is interesting precisely because it does not fit neatly into one of the three main Western ethical systems. This talk investigates Buddhist stances and their implications for the development of autonomous vehicles and AI ethics in general.

Entrance is free. Eventbrite registration is required. Click here to register.