For the opening session of ai-phi 4.0, we’re trying a new format — and launching a new series.
Critical Perspectives on AI starts from a simple idea: criticising AI is one thing; understanding how criticism can help us think, design and act differently is another. The series will explore how critical perspectives can move beyond identifying problems to help formulate better questions, open alternative paths, and contribute to more constructive approaches to AI.
For this first episode, we’ll experiment with a live podcast, recorded in front of an audience at Sony CSL Paris.
Our first guest is François Levin, philosopher and author of L’intelligence par-delà l’anthropocentrisme. His work asks whether we can think about intelligence without taking human intelligence as its universal reference point — and what might follow if we stop treating artificial intelligence primarily as an imitation of ourselves.
His doctoral thesis, L’intelligence artificielle au défi de ses critiques philosophiques, takes a broader look at the philosophical critiques that have accompanied AI throughout its history. What exactly are these critiques objecting to? Have they changed as AI itself has changed? And can critique do more than point out limits — can it help us imagine and develop different forms of AI?
Together with David Colliaux, Adel Chaibi and Aïda Elamrani, François will discuss what we mean by intelligence in the first place; the continuing debates around computation, functionalism, embodiment and meaning; non-human forms of cognition; the possibility of a genuinely non-anthropocentric AI; and the political question of who gets to define what AI should become.
This conversation will be held in French. For our international community, we’re currently exploring the possibility of live English captions for the online stream. The recording will subsequently be released on YouTube with translated subtitles.
Speaker bio
François Levin is a postdoctoral researcher in philosophy at Grenoble Alpes University. He received his PhD in philosophy from École Polytechnique in 2024. His research focuses on the political and epistemological issues raised by artificial intelligence. He previously worked as a rapporteur at the French Digital Council (Conseil national du numérique) and was a member of the Villani mission on artificial intelligence.
François Levin est post-doctorant en philosophie à l’Université Grenoble Alpes. Il a obtenu un doctorat en philosophie à l’École polytechnique en 2024. Il travaille sur les enjeux politiques et épistémologiques de l’intelligence artificielle. Il était auparavant rapporteur au Conseil national du numérique et a été membre de la mission Villani sur l’intelligence artificielle.
Details
📅 Thursday, 8 October 2026 · 10:30–12:00 (Paris time, CEST)
📍 Sony CSL (Paris), 6 rue Amyot, 75005 Paris
🎙️ Critical Perspectives on AI #1 · Live podcast
🇫🇷 Discussion in French
Registration: Register on Luma.
Many thanks to Sony CSL (Paris) for hosting us.