Over 500 International Scientists Attended International Kant Congress
Scientists and academics from all around the world came to Kaliningrad, Russia, to discuss Kant’s ideas and use them to tackle modern challenges.
As a keeper of the world philosophic heritage, Russia hosted the International Kant Congress celebrating the 300th birthday of the renowned philosopher, with more than 500 participants from 21 countries.
The International Kant Congress wad held at the Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University, which is located in Russia’s westernmost city — Kaliningrad. It was attended by top scientists, experts, politicians,and proponents of Kant’s philosophy from Russia, the USA, Germany, Uzbekistan, Italy, Belarus, Iran, Columbia, Azerbaijan, Ireland, China, Cameroon, Denmark, South Africa, Spain, Serbia, Armenia, Argentina, France, Brunei, Sweden, Kyrgyzstan.
Kant and Critique of Artificial Intelligence
The first plenary session was dedicated to the problems of matter and perception within the framework of AI development. The session was chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko, who also curates Russian Artificial Intelligence federal project.
The Congress was also attended by Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education Konstantin Mogilevsky, Governor of the Kaliningrad Region Anton Alikhanov, Russian academics, as well as chairman of the Observer Research Foundation Sunjoy Joshi, who acted as experts.
“Kant challenges the notion that human cognition merely follows a set of complex instructions that can be coded into algorithms for intelligent machines to run on,” Mr. Joshi says, “We can today safely leave Standard Operating Procedures to Intelligent Machines but Human intelligence itself is more than just following a set of coded rules. ”
The speakers stressed that the first thing that technological breakthrough and new technologies faceis traditional moral values, that’s why it is important to determine their place and role in the life of society.
“Artificial intelligence is increasingly popular in higher education,” Mr. Mogilevskiy says, “For example, AI can accomplish a wide range of tasks from creating educational programmes and courses to managing a university. At the same time, the risks of using artificial intelligence in higher education are not as much related to AI as to human nature itself. In this respect, there is no difference between a student or a graduate student who uses AI to write a research paper or a dissertation and the ones who have paid another person to write a research paper or a dissertation in their stead. In these cases, it is not AI ethics butscientific ethics that we should speak about.”
For this end, Russia introduced an AI Ethics Code in2021. It was signed by more than 360 commercial and government entities, including 26 foreign organisations. And as of March 2024,by order of the President, 10 Russian leading organisations signed aDeclaration on the Responsible Development and Use of Generative AI.
Additionally, Russia has established a National AI Development Strategy for the period until 2030. It envisages eight key tasks and 10 indicators, the main of which is to achieve a GDP growth of 11.2 trillion roubles ($119.84bn) through the implementation of AI technologies and products with such technologies.
Relevance of Philosophical Education
A foundational course of philosophy is compulsory in all Russian universities. Another compulsory course “Foundations of Russian Statehood” makes it possible for students to familiarise themselves with Russian philosophical schools. Postgraduate students study History and Philosophy of science in depth. And there are more than 3700 graduate students who have taken a special course “Philosophy, Ethics and Religious Studies”. Moreover, representatives of universities, specialized organisations and the Russian Ministry of Science and Higher Education have recently taken part in a meeting to update approaches to the implementation and vectors of development of modern philosophical education.
Kant's Perpetual Peace and International Relations
The Valdai International Discussion Club has become another platform for international dialogue. Representatives of educational and scientific organisations from Russia, Great Britain, Canada, China and Norway have discussed the prospects of modern civilisations, trajectories of historical development, modern values of civilisations and their differences.
Food for Thought
At the end of the first day, the participants visited the Kaliningrad Cathedral on Kant Island to commemoratethe outstanding philosopher and lay flowers at his tomb.
The Congress continued until April 25th. According to the organisers, philosophy is a universal science that teaches us how to think, that’s why the Congress covers a wide range of subjects, becoming an impetus for the development of new solutions and approaches. The programme featured 19 philosophical sections.
The Congress was organized by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation together with the Government of the Kaliningrad Region. The Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University housed the key events.