Artificial Intelligence as a Metaphor, Object, and Subject of Philosophical Analysis

The article examines epistemological, ethical, anthropological, and other aspects of understanding self-learning programs called “neural networks” or “artificial intelligence”. The problematic nature of the latter is addressed in the research by reviewing three dozen studies of the idea of artificial intelligence, which were presented on April 4, 2024, at a joint scientific conference of the Center for Phe­nomenological Philosophy of the Russian State University for the Humanities and the Sector of Social Epistemology of the Institute of Philosophy, Russian Academy of Sciences. Based on the materials of the conference, this article examines artificial intelligence from the perspective of the history of philosophy and futurist literary images in comparison with human and other conceivable consciousness, both possessing free will as well as lacking it. Another aspect of this research provides an understanding of the problem areas of the theology of artificial intelligence and the place of artificial intelligence in modern theo­logy, as well as providing an analysis of the technical side of the implementation of existing and expected computer systems claiming to be “artificial intelli­gence”. The conference proved to be an important event for discussing philo­sophical and ethical issues related to the development of artificial intelligence and provided a platform for further research and understanding of the impact of AI on society and human individuality. This article outlines the general per­spective of the conference and, more specifically, selected theses