IPA Webinars 2024
Psychoanalysis and Artificial Intelligence
Friday 31 May | 4PM - 5:30PM (London time)
This webinar will explore the intersections between psychoanalysis and emerging artificial intelligence technology. It would examine how Freudian categories, particularly those related to unconscious processes, can be applied or reinterpreted in artificial intelligence, considering its capacity for data processing and autonomous learning. This seminar would also address the implications of AI on our understanding of reality and its impact on social bonds from a psychoanalytic perspective. Possible similarities and differences between human cognition and artificial intelligence will be discussed, especially regarding emotions, desires, and behaviors. Finally, the webinar would offer a space to reflect on the future of psychoanalysis in an era dominated by advanced technology, highlighting the ethical and theoretical challenges that arise from this convergence.
Panellists:
Fernando Castrillon Psy.D (USA)
Practicing personal and supervising psychoanalyst, faculty of the Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California (PINC), a licensed clinical psychologist, Professor Emeritus at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), and the founder of the Foundation of California Psychoanalysis (FCP). Dr. Castrillón is an Editor-in-Chief of the European Journal of Psychoanalysis and a member of the Istituto Elvio Fachinelli ISAP (Institute of Advanced Studies in Psychoanalysis) based in Rome, Italy. He serves on various editorial boards, is the co-editor of two books, and is the author of numerous articles in Spanish, German, Italian, Russian, and English.
Title: Shredding Subjectivities: Generative Artificial Intelligence, Ascertaining Veracity & the Future of a Delusion.
In my talk, I address the fundamental problem introduced by generative intelligence, namely the impossibility of ascertaining veracity. I discuss the implications for psychoanalytic writing and transmission and what this sea-change may augur for the practice of clinical psychoanalysis.
Luca Possati (Italy)
Assistant Professor at the University of Twente in the Netherlands, specializing in human-technology interaction. He is also a senior researcher for the international research program ESDiT (Ethics of Socially Disruptive Technologies). His research primarily focuses on the philosophy of technology and AI, postphenomenology, the psychology of technology, and AI ethics. Additionally, he engages in software studies. He has published numerous papers and books on phenomenology and the history of contemporary philosophy. He is the author of The Algorithmic Unconscious. How Psychoanalysis Helps in Understanding AI (Routledge, 2021).
Title: The psychological structure of technology.
The presentation aims to underscore the links between the Freudian notion of unconscious and AI, beginning with the inquiry: How does our unconscious evolve through interaction with machine learning technology?
Leora Trub (USA)
Associate Professor at Pace University’s doctoral program in School/Clinical-Child Psychology, where she runs the Digital Media and Psychology lab. She is the author of numerous papers and chapters on clinical practice in the digital age and the implications of digital technology for the development of the self, intimacy, and psychological functioning. Her research has been published in a range of research, clinical, and psychoanalytic journals, and has been reported on in the New York Times and other news outlets. She has a private practice in New York City, where she treats adolescents, adults, and couples.
Moderator:
Nicolle Zapien (USA)
Founder and host of the podcast Technology and the Mind, where she interviews psychoanalysts and technologists about their ideas about consumer technology and AI and how they may impact our minds, relationships, and society. She is an advanced candidate at PINC (The Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California) as well as a member of PINC's ethics committee, the co-chair of PINC's visiting scholar committee, the co-chair of APsA's Committee on Public Information and a member of the IPA communications committee. She has published 2 books and several articles on topics as wide-ranging as Ethics, sexual consent dynamics, infidelity, and consumer technology.