Prof. Dr. Vincent C. Müller
Is AI really about K and I?
Lecture on December 12, 2025
The heated debate surrounding “AI” has a lot to do with the term itself—we no longer talk about “pattern recognition,” “computer-assisted language analysis,” or similar concepts, but rather about “artificial intelligence,” which comes with a completely different set of expectations. I will explain what the two parts of this term actually mean, i.e., “artificial” and “intelligence,” and what would be necessary to create such a system on computers. Finally, I will consider the question of whether current, foreseeable, or conceivable AI systems deserve the term “artificial intelligence” in this sense.
Prof. Dr. Vincent C. Müller
Vincent C. Müller is Alexander von Humboldt Professor of Philosophy and Ethics of Artificial Intelligence and Director of the Centre for Philosophy and AI Research (PAIR) at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (6 postdocs, 6 doctoral students). He previously worked in Eindhoven, Thessaloniki, Leeds, Oxford, and Princeton. Müller's work focuses primarily on philosophical problems related to artificial intelligence, both in ethics and theoretical philosophy. His website is at www.sophia.de.
