Artificial Intelligence

This Day in Philosophy — 12 August: IBM unveils the personal computer

The IBM PC went on sale on 12 August 1981. The passage of computing power from institutions to individuals also altered arguments running from the philosophy of mind to the theory of knowledge.

Schwitzgebel and Pober: consciousness may not be specific to carbon

A study in Philosophers' Imprint argues that consciousness is 'substrate flexible': it could arise in silicon- or sulphur-based structures that carry enough complexity.

Eric Schwitzgebel, Jeremy Pober

Philosophy Now publishes its August/September issue

The news section of the magazine's 175th issue leads on philosophers being hired by AI companies and on the reading of the Herculaneum scrolls.