AI and Humanity: What our Machines Say About Us - The Mind and the Machine: Episode 10

Can artificial intelligence really think, understand, or know anything at all? And if not, what does our relationship with AI reveal about who we are as human beings? In this tenth and final episode of The Mind and the Machine: Aquinas on AI, philosopher Dr. Michael Augros (Thomas Aquinas College) brings the series to a close by exploring the deeper human and philosophical implications of artificial intelligence. Building on the conclusions of the previous nine videos, this episode argues that AI does not truly think, understand, or perform any real cognitive act. From there, it asks five crucial follow-up questions that shape how we should live with and use AI: • How should we talk about what AI does? • Are human beings superior or inferior to AI? • Is AI a tool, assistant, teacher, or something else entirely? • What can comparing AI to ourselves teach us about human cognition? • Will AI ultimately promote or suppress human goods like wisdom, creativity, freedom, friendship, art, and science? Drawing on Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas, Dr. Augros explains why human beings are essentially and permanently different from AI systems, even the most advanced large language models. He clarifies why AI is best understood as an instrument and extension of human intelligence, not a new kind of living or thinking being. This episode also examines: • Why AI can outperform humans in speed, precision, and data processing without possessing intelligence • The dangers of anthropomorphizing AI as a “friend” or “teacher” • Why human creativity, wisdom, and genuine understanding cannot be automated • How AI may ultimately clarify what is truly human rather than replace it Whether you are interested in AI ethics, philosophy of mind, Aquinas, Aristotle, technology and humanity, or the future of artificial intelligence, this final lecture offers a rigorous and deeply human framework for understanding AI without hype or fear. This concludes the full lecture series: The Mind and the Machine: Aquinas on AI.