Column2 – HAIIA

量質混同と知性の副作用

「AIを学ぶにあたり、一番重要な哲学者は誰か？」
一般的にはソシュールの言語哲学か、ラッセルやウィトゲンシュタインといった論理系の哲学者になると思うけど、個人的には量と質の違いを突き詰めたベルクソン。人間はほぼ無意識でこの区別をしているからこそ、当然すぎて難解になる。特に現代人においては時間の把握がズレている。「時間の本質は人生であり、それは質である」と言い切ったのがベルクソン。けど、彼の本は難しいので、ミヒャエル・エンデの『モモ』を読んだ方が腹落ちできる。

人間が質と量を混乱するのは、量の変化が質的変化だと勘違いするから。木材でできた箸は小さいと爪楊枝になり、大きいと家の大黒柱になる。これは質変化におもえる。ほんとうは用途の変化だけど・・・。人間がこのように誤解するのは、知性が用途を無意識で考えるから。これを二十歳の頃に気づいた。AIの実装においては、明示的に量質変化を扱う必要がある。

Confusing Quantity and Quality: A Side Effect of Intelligence

“Who is the most important philosopher for understanding AI?”

Most people would probably point to Saussure’s philosophy of language, or to logical philosophers such as Russell and Wittgenstein. Personally, however, I would choose Bergson, who explored the distinction between quantity and quality more deeply than anyone else.

Humans make this distinction almost unconsciously. Precisely because of that, it becomes so obvious that it is surprisingly difficult to recognize. This is especially true in our understanding of time. Bergson argued that “the essence of time is life, and life is qualitative.” His writings, however, are not easy to read. If you want to grasp this idea intuitively, I would recommend reading Michael Ende’s Momo instead.

Humans confuse quantity with quality because they mistake a quantitative change for a qualitative one. A small piece of wood becomes a toothpick; a large one becomes the central pillar of a house. At first glance, this seems like a qualitative change. In reality, however, only its use has changed. This misunderstanding arises because intelligence unconsciously interprets objects in terms of their use.

I realized this when I was twenty years old. For AI systems, the distinction between quantitative and qualitative change should be represented explicitly rather than left implicit.