August/September 2019 ●Philosophy Now 5Brainy Monkeys
In an attempt to better understand human
intelligence, Chinese scientists have
implanted human genes in monkey brains.
The gene microcephalin (MCPH1),
thought to play a crucial role in human fetal
brain development, was implanted in the
brains of eleven rhesus monkey embryos by
means of an engineered virus. Their brain
development took longer than normal but
the six who survived to adulthood
performed much better than their peers in a
control group when tested for short term
memory and reaction times.
The study by Lei Shi and others,
published in the Beijing journal National
Science Review , was a collaboration
between Kunming Institute of Zoology in
Yunan, the Chinese Academy of Sciences
and the University of North Carolina.The Poison, the Fish & the Solution
In order to demonstrate that a chemical
substance is not harmful to humans or
animals, the European Union requires
extensive tests, among them data that show
at which concentration the substance will
kill 50% of fish. Toxicological tests that
yield such information kill millions of fish
per year both in the EU and the US, a
moral issue of which many practical ethi-
cists are not aware.
Kristin Schirmer, professor of environ-
mental toxicology in Dübendorf, has found
a solution. She proposes using cells from
the gills of rainbow trout instead of live
fish. The new measure of toxicity would be
about showing at what point 50% of the
gill cells die. Her method has passed all
initial institutional and scientific hurdles
and may well replace the old procedure
within the next two years.Michel Serres
Influential French philosopher Michel
Serres died on 1 June at the age of 88. The
author of more than fifty books, Serres was
a pacifist and champion of dialogue
between the sciences and the humanities.
Hailing from Agen in the south of France,Serres studied Philosophy and became
professor for the history of science at the
Sorbonne in 1969. From 1984 onwards he
also regularly lectured at Stanford Univer-
sity. In 1990 he became a member of the
prestigious Académie Franc ̧aise. On being
awarded the Meister Eckhart Prize in
Germany in 2012 he was lauded for his
“brilliant insight into the structures of
thought.” We will publish a full obituary in
our next issue.People are Nicer Than You Think
Swiss and US scientists have published
surprising results of an international study
in the journal Science. They conducted an
‘honesty’ test in 355 cities in 49 different
countries, which, though simple, is reveal-
ing in its conclusions. They left wallets
lying in the street to observe if finders
would ignore, keep or try to return them to
their rightful owners. They used about
17,000 wallets, all equipped with the name- Michel Serres •Transgenic monkeys
- Humans “quite nice” say researchers
News reports by Anja Steinbauer News
and contact details of their ‘owners’, some
including keys, some without but most
with differing amounts of money.
The greatest surprise was that the
higher the amounts of cash involved were,
the more likely it was that they would be
returned. Of the wallets with no money
about 40% were returned to their owners.
Amounts of about €12 increased this
percentage to 51. In further tests in Poland,
the US and the UK with amounts of €80,
71% were returned. The pattern was the
same in all test countries.
Furthermore, the researchers asked
members of the public, including top
economists, whether they thought that
wallets with money would be handed back.
The overwhelming majority believed that
particularly higher amounts would be kept
rather than returned. “The study demon-
strates that our image of human beings is
too negative,” commented coauthor Chris-
tian Lukas Zünd of Zurich University.AI Exhibition Review
Ever wanted to smell the flowers of a tree
that humans cut to extinction in 1912? Or
to give your therapist a Turing Test?
Then the Barbican, London, is where you
need to be right now. Co-curated by
philosopher Dr Suzanne Livingston and
running until 26 August, AI: More Than
Human is a thought provoking, thor-
oughly interactive exhibition.
It opens by placing the pursuit of Arti-
ficial Intelligence within the context of the
perennial human desire to awake the
inanimate. Traditional Shinto beliefs, the
Jewish Golem, alchemy, and Frankenstein
are all explored as expressions of this
desire. Visitors are then treated to a thor-
ough history of AI as we know it today,
from Ada Lovelace to AlphaGo. The
timelines and reading materials are plenti-
ful here, but neatly presented on interac-
tive screens. Those that don’t need a
history lesson can simply enjoy the
impressive collection of historical arte-facts, prototype robots, and examples of
AI on display.
The second half of the exhibition
reveals and revels in the vastly varied
world of contemporary artificial intelli-
gence. Interacting with this world, visitors
can contribute to the aesthetic education
of AI, create data about the emotional
experiences of drivers, watch a digitally
synthesised Obama deliver a real speech
on TV, communicate face-to-face with
the eerie Alter 3, and much more. Many
of the exhibits draw out philosophical
questions ranging from the ethical to the
linguistic. Others point towards a future
that is sometimes frightening and always
fascinating. Fittingly for the Barbican,
there is a slight emphasis on the artistic
avenues of artificial intelligence and this
delivers a fresh take on the accelerating
technology. AI: More Than Human leaves
you feeling that the world of AI can offer
beauty, the sublime, and new ways of
creatively understanding the world. TBG