"What if hybridization were the major trend of the world to come?" - Lecture by philosopher Gabrielle Halpern at Tongji University in Shanghai

During her trip to China for a series of conferences on artificial intelligence, philosopher Gabrielle Halpern spoke to students, teachers and researchers at Tongji University - an academic partner of ESCP Business School where she was appointed Senior Fellow - to share her philosophy of hybridization and its implications for rethinking society and the economy.

"Our society is bursting at the seams that divide us, the labels we spend our lives sticking on each other, the boxes we confine others to and ourselves within. We have spent centuries viewing the world in a fragmented way, and this has influenced our organization of work, our industries, the development of our sciences and technologies, our education systems, our public policies, the organization of our supply chains, and even our territories. It's time to learn how to hybridize worlds!", Gabrielle Halpern

« Why do we struggle so much with things that don't fit into our categories? Why are we anxious about situations, places, and projects that are difficult to label? Is this complicated relationship with hybridity and hybridization unique to France, or is it found in other European countries? Is it a hallmark of the West, or is it an eminently universal issue? », Gabrielle Halpern

"Regarding artificial intelligence, the public debate is torn between technophiles and technophobes, and obsessed with the question of replacement—will we be replaced by artificial intelligence or not?—but as a philosopher, it seems more interesting to explore what artificial intelligence reveals about us, our society, our humanity, our relationships with others, our ways of doing things, and our professions. My research has convinced me of one thing: artificial intelligence reveals blind spots, shining a spotlight that shines a harsh light on essential questions that we have unfortunately stopped asking ourselves", Gabrielle Halpern

"If a generative artificial intelligence tool like Chat GPT, Copilot, Le Chat, or DeepSeek has more empathy than doctors, more patience than teachers, more imagination than lawyers, more kindness than our neighbors, more tolerance than our friends, and a better capacity for listening than our parents, shouldn't this shake us up, prompting us to relearn patience, empathy, listening, tolerance, kindness, and imagination? The real question we must ask ourselves regarding artificial intelligence is this: haven't we, as human beings, abandoned the realm of humanism, and isn't it hypocritical to now cry scandal about the great replacement of human beings by technology? Lacking the courage to embrace our humanity, isn't it too easy to delegate it to artificial intelligence?", Gabrielle Halpern

"In his novel "The Master and Margarita"—a true masterpiece—the Russian writer Mikhail Bulgakov tells the story of the devil's arrival on Earth, where he interferes in human affairs and turns everything upside down, revealing their greed, superficiality, and wickedness. Exposed to their worst selves, the characters are forced to ask themselves: isn't it time to repent and stop behaving badly? Paradoxically, it seems as if the devil is compelling them to become better people", Gabrielle Halpern

"Generative artificial intelligence shines a spotlight on our failings, our contradictions, our absurdities. By playing the role of our "guilty conscience," it radically challenges us. By teaching us humility, but also tolerance, listening, attentiveness, kindness, and patience, artificial intelligence may help us, if we have the courage, to rediscover and embrace our humanity", Gabrielle Halpern

To have more information : https://en.tongji.edu.cn/p/#/

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