Humanism is thought to be based on the qualitative analysis of humans while posthumanism is said to quantitatively think the human. This is not really true. Humanism seems to be based on an exaggerated notion of exceptionality of humans while posthumanism is a rerun to reality of being human. Martin Heidegger had indicated that humanity has forgotten its finitude. Posthumanism brings humanity back to it’s feet or ground. Looking at AI through the lens of humanism makes us think that they have the supreme virtue of humans. We think that they are intelligent as the human. But they are infinitely quick and efficient. This speed and accuracy makes us think that they will simply replace humans. But it is not really so. We do have to take human intelligence as a bench mark to understand machine intelligence. There are different forms of intelligence and human intelligence is only one kind of them. What is important in this context is to scrutinize what this new intelligence that we call AI is doing us.
We are fast becoming Homo Digitalis. Perhaps, it is the next stage of Darwinist evolution. This change is also a rapture. Hence, it is a mixed bag. Digitization of world has its impact on the way we live as humans in the world. Digitization has digitalized us. It has made us Homo Digitalis. Just as Herbert Marcuse proclaims the appears of one dimensional man because of the domination of the logic of technology, we may say that the coming of the digital logic or rationality has led to the evolution of Homo Digitalis. The rapture recognized by Marcuse under the domination of technology is alienation of humanity from creation and itself ( humans). He indicates that it has led to a process of de-aesthetics or deformation of our sense that makes possible repression and manipulation of humanity. Digitisation accelerates this process of alienation and de-aesthetization of humanity. Consequently, as Marcuse tells us since the thinking is done for us by the others, our critical thinking which is the basis of our freedom itself is undermined. Hence, the challenge is to work not to surrender our critical thinking to the AI that is mushrooming in the digital world.
We have already passed from the mass media dominated Homo Videns ( seeing man) to Homo Digitalis . In his book, Homo Videns: Television and Postmodernism Giovanni Satori indicates that television had profoundly changed behaviour, cognition and culture of humans. This rapture had led to a new human evolution that he called Homo Videns who has become more credulous and naïve and has lost his/her critical sense. He indicates that television had massified humans as it builds the capacity of the crowd or the demos. It made humans passive and felt that they belong to the large crowd, nation, caste, race. We fall into what Heidegger calls the ‘ They Self ’. This means Plato’s criticism of democracy can be still applied to our digitized society. We have become a mass of ignorant people taking our decisions based on opinion ( Doxa) rather than knowledge ( episteme) . Hence, it may be that we as Homo Digitalis are once again trapped into a Platonic cave chained and cut off from the real world. But without joining the nay sayers who proclaim the death of humanity and coming of transhumans on the wings of the digital and AI revolution, we have the challenge to take up a critical ask not to lose sight of the real world as we begin to navigate the phigital ( physical and digital) world blooming around us.
We, therefore, cannot forget that Homo Digitalis is a human being. Homo Digitalis is not a transhuman zombie. Homo Digitalis lives with the Internet Of Things (IOT) . It enables Homo Digitalis interacts without borders. This new environment provides new opportunities as well as has new threats to us humans. Hence, one has the challenge to hold one’s feet on the ground without thinking that one has become Homo Deus. Homo Digitalis is not certainly a Homo Deus as Yuval Noah Harari will want us think. We are infinitely vulnerable and have the task to protect our privacy and intimate information that might reach the hands of those who play Deus. This is why we do have the challenge to evolve into Homo Disruptus that would resist acute dehumanization of humans in a digital age.
Homo Disruptus is a rebel. I see Homo Disruptus is same Homo Digitalis but as one that does not submit to the vulnerabilities produced by the new condition introduced by the fourth revolution. We have the challenge to be rebellious disrupters and to be disrupters we have to embrace critical thinking. The posthuman critique is, therefore, the need of the hour. Posthuman critique will enable us not to lose sight of physical while living with the phigital. It will enable us not to lose our own individual selves and our communities of flesh and blood while we engage digital avtars of our own as well as interact with virtual communities in the web. Posthuman critique does have the critical acumen to be rooted yet open to the digital and the AI world that is producing a thundering storm around us. Religiously, particularly from Christian point of view rebellion of Homo Disruptus can be viewed as a new way of being prophetic in the world. Critical thinking requires us to be always alert and discerning about the growing digital technology and positively harness its benefits while prophetically and rebelliously resist its adverse consequences. Although it might appear with the digital revolution and the coming of AI that we have reached the confusion of new Babel yet we have the strength and courage of the Homo Disruptus that will enable us to humanize humanly in the fast growing digital and growing AI world.
