Democracy Café: June

June 2025

A smaller group than usual assembled at the Library for this month’s Café, but the discussion was still diverse and considered. The first topic chosen was “What are the costs and benefits of AI?”

One member noted that he had written an article back in 2016 on the subject and, rereading it, had found it surprisingly relevant. A review of the piece had some good recommendations.  Most members were of the view that AI had great benefits in terms of saving time on processing but were concerned about regulation.  A dissenting member observed that it was too late for such concerns, as AI had developed way beyond the ability of humans to control it – into the level of “general intelligence”.

Apocalyptic visions aside, the debate was generally about the possible effects of using the power of AI to increase productivity but remove jobs.  Some found ChatGPT useful, particularly for scientific research; but mistakes can occur, and there were concerns about whether AI could overcome this.

At a more philosophical level, it was felt that AI would remove free will, or at least lead a trend away from individualism.  The implications for art were considered.

On regulation, it was questioned whether AI could regulate itself; the more advanced view was that AI would be concerned with its own survival and would evade regulatory interference.  This led on to a discussion of machine consciousness and thus human consciousness and how far we understand either.   Complex questions, but a stimulating debate.

The second topic for discussion was “Should we increase defence spending to 3% of the total?”

The consensus was that more spending on weaponry was pointless but the defence of the realm was still important.  The reason for the proposed increase was questioned, particularly the demand from the US that Europe as a whole should take on more of the burden.  Some agreed that we have had defence on the cheap.  There was also some debate about the UK’s role, bearing in mind that we have not always been able to demonstrate that we are a major power nor have much influence in the major conflicts. Our role as a seller of arms was also questioned.  It was generally felt that the Strategic Defence Review was not a useful contribution to the debate.

Andrew Hemming

NEWS

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