The 5th International Conference on Philosophy of Information ^†

Abstract

This is a closing speech of the Fifth International Conference on Philosophy of Information, which summarizes the outcome of this conference and makes some comments.

1. Introduction

Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Fourth Summit of the International Society for Information Study (IS4SI) was held online from 12 September to 19 September 2021. As a sub-conference of the IS4SI2021 Summit, the 5th International Conference on Philosophy of Information (5th ICPI) was also held at the same time.

Due to the fact that the epidemic situation is under good control in China, the Chinese branch of the IS4SI, the International Research Center for Information Philosophy at Xi’an Jiaotong University, the Research Base for Information Philosophy and the Basic Theory of Intelligence Society at Xi’an Jiaotong University, and the Association of Natural Dialectics of Shaanxi Province collectively hosted the Fifth International Conference on Philosophy of Information and the Third Global Forum on Artificial Intelligence from 17 to 19 September 2021 in a way that combined offline and online platforms at Xingqing campus, Xi’an Jiaotong University, China. The two conferences hosted by the Chinese branch attracted many famous international and domestic scholars, as well as young scholars and graduate students.

This paper gives a brief report on the Fifth International Conference on Philosophy of Information.

2. Review of Previous Conferences

The previous four ICPI conferences were held at Xi’an, China in 2013, Vienna, Austria in 2015, Gothenburg, Sweden in 2017 and Berkeley, USA in 2019.

The themes of the previous four sessions were: to explore the basic theory of information philosophy and its contemporary significance and value; the interaction and integration of information science and information philosophy—the prospect of unified information science–philosophy; philosophical spirit in the information age; information philosophy and the development of an intelligence society—the philosophical foundation and institutional demands of an intelligence society and the new evolution of human beings.

Based on the themes and relevant achievements of the previous four sessions, and in accordance with the new development of information philosophy and information and intelligence society around the world, the themes of this meeting were “for a better life of human beings, to meet the challenges brought by the information and intelligence society, and to develop a philosophy reflecting the spirit of our new era”.

Those themes are not only unified, coherent, cohesive, and extended, but also expanded, pioneered, and progressive.

3. The Summary of the Contributed Paper of the 5th ICPI

In total, there were 73 submissions, and 66 were accepted for presentation. Compared with the previous four sessions, the quantity of contributions in this conference was the largest, and the contents mainly comprised two characteristics: first, the topics were more concentrated. Second, the interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary tendencies were more obvious.

The submissions concerned many hot topics and valuable ideas, including the following:

The difference and connection between matter and information;

Connections among many concepts, such as information, knowledge, data, intelligence, semantics, practice, information paradigms, and information civilization;

The history of information philosophy in China;

Comparative studies between the philosophy of information, philosophy of language, philosophy of cognitive science, philosophy of intelligence, philosophy of life, philosophy of consciousness, and the philosophy of Marxism;

The quantum manifestation of information and the philosophical significance of the second quantum revolution;

Limitations to the development of contemporary artificial intelligence technology;

The significance of transdisciplinary studies between bioengineering and artificial intelligence;

The construction of a reasonable system for an intelligence society, social evolution and human fate, and new opportunities for the overall development of human beings;

The challenges and opportunities presented by the development of an intelligence society to education reform and the information war and its influence on the construction of the future social system;

New forms of artistic creation and expression, informational aesthetics and the meaning and value of poetry, painting, calligraphy, music, dance, and martial arts against the backdrop of artificial intelligence;

Although the meeting took a special form, participants’ enthusiasm remained unabated. Ideological debate took place between experts and scholars alike, and the exchange of views took place online and offline, and audience benefited greatly from this.

4. Comments by Wu

Professor Wu Kun presided over the meeting and delivered opening and closing speeches for the meeting.

In his closing speech, Professor Wu Kun emphasized that:

In the most basic and general sense, the traditional theory and framework of human knowledge are constructed in the material paradigm, and some scattered and individual information ideas are mostly hidden in the haze of the relevant material paradigm. The information paradigm highlighted by modern science provides a new dimension for us to observe things. The world we face is a world of dual existence and dual evolution of matter and information. Our observation and research on all things should be interpreted from such a dual dimension. This determines that the investigation dimension of the new information paradigm will inevitably have the possibility and necessity to re-examine and reconstruct the relevant contents, viewpoints, theories, methods, and systems of human traditional knowledge. This will undoubtedly lead to a new revolution in the field of human knowledge, from philosophy to science, from science to technology, and from technology to engineering. It not only comprehensively transforms the ways and methods with which we know the world, but also comprehensively transforms the ways and methods with which we transform the world.

If we can calmly think about all kinds of contradictions in the contemporary world, we can find that the irreconcilable conflicts in these phenomena all stem from the narrowness, isolation, and fragmentation of the traditional, material way of thinking. Different from the traditional, old way of thinking, the information way of thinking is to think and deal with relevant problems from the concept, process, and mechanism of connection, structure, organization, interaction, symbiosis, dynamic evolution, and development.

As a philosophy that can embody the spirit of the information age, information philosophy is not only a new philosophy, but should be a philosophy pointing to social practice. The concept of social development it points to must be a new concept that can guide mankind towards more freedom, democracy, peace, happiness, and prosperity.