About
I am a research assistant in the Ethics and Critical Theories of Artificial Intelligence research group at the University of Osnabrück. In my current research and teaching I am interested in the societal impacts and ethical challenges of digital technologies as well as in social philosophy of the climate crisis. Particularly, in my current work I am interested in how AI technologies are structurally connected to the climate crisis.
My work focuses on critical social philosophy, ethics of artificial intelligence, philosophy of the climate crisis, philosophy of technology and media studies.
My work focuses on critical social philosophy, ethics of artificial intelligence, philosophy of the climate crisis, philosophy of technology and media studies.
Latest
Paper: „The Problem of Sustainable AI“
Paul Schütze
This paper critically questions the conception of sustainable AI. Drawing on philosophy of technology and critical materialist thinking, it aims to uncover the dominant interests and hegemonic narratives driving sustainable AI developments.
I show how the promises of sustainable AI largely rely on narratives of efficiency and progress, and work by invoking myths and images of a super-intelligence saving humanity. Sustainable AI is the technical solution to the climate crisis from a techno-solutionist vantage point simply reproducing the status quo. The enthusiasm for sustainable AI primarily serves hegemonic interests, rather than genuinely aiming for resource-friendly and ethical solutions. The paper concludes with the observation that if we want true climate action, sustainable AI is not the way to go.
I show how the promises of sustainable AI largely rely on narratives of efficiency and progress, and work by invoking myths and images of a super-intelligence saving humanity. Sustainable AI is the technical solution to the climate crisis from a techno-solutionist vantage point simply reproducing the status quo. The enthusiasm for sustainable AI primarily serves hegemonic interests, rather than genuinely aiming for resource-friendly and ethical solutions. The paper concludes with the observation that if we want true climate action, sustainable AI is not the way to go.
April 2024 | Weizenbaum Journal of the Digital Society
Paper: „The impacts of AI futurism: an unfiltered look at AI’s true effects on the climate crisis“
Paul Schütze
This paper provides an in-depth analysis of the impact of AI technologies on the climate crisis beyond their mere resource consumption. To critically examine this impact, I introduce the concept of AI futurism. With this term I capture the ideology behind AI, and argue that this ideology is inherently connected to the climate crisis. This is because AI futurism construes a socio-material environment overly fixated on AI and technological progress, to the extent that it loses sight of the existential threats ahead. In that way, the perceived significance of the planetary reality is softened, and the unsustainable paths charted by the AI industry remain opaque.
March 2023 | Ethics and Information Technology
Podcast: „KI und Klimakrise – Über Big Tech und Datenextraktivismus“
Paul Schütze
In diesem Podcast spreche ich über meine aktuelle Arbeit, in der ich unter anderem das Konzept einer nachhaltigen KI radikal in Frage stelle und für einen grundlegenden Perspektivwechsel der akademischen Philosophie im Angesicht der Klimakrise plädiere. In der Episode geht es neben diesen Aspekten u.a. darum, was KI, Big Data und Big Tech eigentlich sind, in welchem Verhältnis der Datenextraktivismus zum fossilen Extraktivismus steht, und wie KI unsere individuellen und gesellschaftlichen Verhältnisse zur Klimakrise beeinflusst.
November 2023 | Narabo – Philosophie im 21. Jahrhundert