标签：humanities

If Scholars Don’t Use AI, That Counts as Academic Corruption

AI & Scholarship2026.05.09
If Scholars Don’t Use AI, That Counts as Academic Corruption
AI’s New Advances At the end of last year, at someone’s request, I wrote a piece, Will AI Restructure the History of Science?. That happened to coincide with the release of gemini 3.0, and I thought it marked a watershed, the point at which AI moved from the level of a student to the level of a professional researcher. Less than half a year later, the AI tool landscape has once again shifted dramatically; gemini long ago ceased to be leading, and claude and chatgpt have reclaimed the lead in capability. More importantly, claude’s cowork and chatgpt’s codex have both undergone qualitative leaps forward too (perhaps spurred on by openclaw),…
technology history of science scholarship freedom
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2026年5月9日
Will AI Restructure the History of Science?

AI & Scholarship2026.03.24
Will AI Restructure the History of Science?
Published in Xinrui Weekly, issue 162; the original draft is posted here. 1 AI accelerates iteration: from assistant to master I received this commissioned piece in September, but I procrastinated until December to write it. Yet that delay also meant I waited for the November 18 release of Gemini 3.0, a milestone that marks the restructuring of academic research by AI as having entered the present continuous tense. It is not that Gemini 3.0 overturned my previous views; rather, many of the “AI will…” statements I had discussed before now have to be rewritten as “AI can already…”. The previous major milestone was probably at the beginning of 2025, when…
philosophy history of science scholarship history
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2026年3月24日
What Is Technology? (Transcript of the 25th Session of the Jishi Lecture Series)

AI & the Future of Technology2023.08.17
What Is Technology? (Transcript of the 25th Session of the Jishi Lecture Series)
In June I gave a long lecture for Ji-shi Capital, and recently they finished the transcription and released it in three installments. The text was transcribed by them; I went through it, but there may still be a few scattered errors. I’m posting the complete collected version here for the record. The original texts of the three installments can be found here: Why is our education devoted to producing copies?; Where does technology come from? Looking at Watt’s steam engine to see our misunderstanding of technology; If the AI revolution is similar to the Industrial Revolution, we will face a very terrifying situation. In fact, the three installments correspond to…
technology history of science history of technology AI
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2023年8月17日
On Transhumanism, the Logic of Blockchain, and Huawendao: A Dialogue at SeeDAO

Chinese Civilization & the Way of Chinese2023.05.08
On Transhumanism, the Logic of Blockchain, and Huawendao: A Dialogue at SeeDAO
Many thanks to the SeeDAO friends for organizing this conversation, which helped me revisit the core ideas of Huawen DAO (Huawendao) in a new context. I hope it can generate even greater influence. Guest Introduction 丨Speaker: Hu Yilin Hu Yilin is an associate professor in the Department of History of Science at Tsinghua University. He received his PhD in philosophy from Peking University. His research focuses on the history of technology, philosophy of technology, and media ecology. He is the author of A Strong Program for Media History, What Is Technology, Introduction to the Philosophy of Technology, and others. 丨Host: baiyu Prelude When Nietzsche cried out “God is dead, the…
culture China Peking University tradition
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2023年5月8日
An Interview on Science and Technology in the Magazine China Youth

AI & the Future of Technology2018.01.24
An Interview on Science and Technology in the Magazine China Youth
This is a written interview that was published in the first issue of China Youth magazine in 2018. When it was published, it seems several questions were deleted, but the answers that were used were scarcely edited at all (especially the last answer), though a few sentences were added for me in a couple of places. Here I am posting the original version. 1、By the end of June 2017, among the world’s top ten internet companies by market capitalization, five were Chinese, and among the world’s 221 emerging “unicorn” companies, Chinese firms accounted for nearly 30 percent. In contemporary China, technological力量 represented by the “new four great inventions” (high-speed rail,…
technology China history of science philosophy of science
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2018年1月24日
Course Plan: How Technology Shapes Our Daily Lives

Teaching & Courses2017.07.05
Course Plan: How Technology Shapes Our Daily Lives
Again invited by 706 Youth Space, I am preparing to open a course during the summer vacation, starting in late July, once a week, for about 5 to 6 classes. They are experimenting with the “project-based learning” format. I don’t know it in depth; broadly speaking, it is nothing more than a course form centered on students, guided by questions, and distinguished by interactive discussion. I am also willing to explore a livelier teaching format. Know Thyself The course I plan to teach falls within the fields of the history of science and philosophy of technology. On the one hand, this field is extremely profound; on the other hand, its…
philosophy everyday life technology history
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2017年7月5日
Why Fear Artificial Intelligence? — Some Musings on AlphaGo

AI & Scholarship2016.03.13
Why Fear Artificial Intelligence? — Some Musings on AlphaGo
AlphaGo’s Go battle with Lee Sedol is now underway, and artificial intelligence has won 3:0; two honor matches remain, but the outcome is basically beyond doubt already. Whatever the final score may be, the historical significance of this match is beyond question. The significance of this match is mainly symbolic. In fact, since AlphaGo already defeated the European Go champion last year, proving that its Go-playing strength had reached the level of a professional player, its total victory over humans was only a matter of time. Of course, we might also say that ever since Deep Blue dominated chess, the AI conquest of Go had only been a “matter of…
philosophy technology history of science commentary
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2016年3月13日
The Whole-Nation System and the Pursuit of Excellence

Culture & Public Commentary2012.08.03
The Whole-Nation System and the Pursuit of Excellence
At Olympic season, it feels awkward not to talk about the Olympics; but four years ago, in “Four Takes on the Olympics”, I already said more than enough, and for the moment I don’t particularly feel like rewriting anything. As for the recent badminton match-fixing-through-passivity incident, I’ve said quite a lot about it on Weibo. First of all, this match was of course disgraceful; the question is whose disgrace it was. Obviously not the athletes’—the athletes were simply trying to adopt the best possible strategy for eventual victory, which is perfectly understandable. The first to be embarrassed is the International Badminton Federation’s bullshit rule: setting up such a weird rule…
culture commentary education pursuit
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2012年8月3日
I Won’t Date in Cafés.

Life & Notes2009.02.18
I Won’t Date in Cafés.
Coffeehouses are not, properly speaking, places for dates, but places for encounters. Whether in the broad sense or the narrow sense, I won’t be arranging any dates in a coffeehouse this year. Nowadays, coffeehouses seem to have been fashioned into places with a special “atmosphere,” seemingly best suited to friends meeting up, especially couples on a date. But I want to revive the spirit of the coffeehouse and restore coffee to its original face. What I mean by not dating in a coffeehouse chiefly contains two layers of meaning. First, with regard to the broad sense of “dating,” I will not meet anyone at any agreed time in a coffeehouse….
philosophy everyday life blog humanities
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2009年2月18日
A “Systematic Study” Plan for Philosophy of Science

History of Science & Scholarship2008.08.05
A “Systematic Study” Plan for Philosophy of Science
Recently, a number of friends have gradually found me through KKBBS and blogs and the like, hoping to consult me about the graduate entrance examination and about systematic methods for studying philosophy of science and technology. I’m sorry to say that, as a lazy student admitted by recommendation, I know virtually nothing about the graduate entrance examination; as for studying philosophy of science and technology, while I can hardly claim to have no experience at all, I am still, after all, only at the beginner stage—at most I can offer and share some beginner’s-beginner experience. But most of the people who come seeking help need guidance at the beginner level…
China science scholarship philosophy of science
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2008年8月5日