虛擬人格的哲學：深偽、數位分身與人工智慧陪伴者

Recent advances in generative AI are giving rise to what we might call virtual persons: digital entities that can convincingly represent, or simulate, human individuals. These new technologies raise important philosophical, ethical, and social questions about identity, authenticity, consent, and trust. What does it mean to recreate a person digitally? Who owns the data that makes such recreations possible? And how should we relate to artificial agents that can speak, remember, and respond like people we know - or once knew? Virtual persons take several forms. Deepfakes are AI-generated images, videos, or audio recordings that imitate real individuals and pose serious risks of deception and manipulation. Digital clones or doppelgängers are interactive systems trained on person-specific data to recreate an individual’s voice, appearance, or style, sometimes even after death - giving rise to so-called griefbots or deathbots. AI companions, by contrast, simulate conversational partners or friends without aiming to replicate a specific individual, offering new forms of intimacy, support, and companionship. This graduate seminar introduces students to the philosophy and ethics of virtual persons through engagement with a rapidly growing body of contemporary literature. We will examine both the potential benefits of these technologies and their ethical and epistemic risks. Through readings, discussion, and written assignments, students will develop a rigorous philosophical understanding of how virtual persons challenge our concepts of personhood, autonomy, authenticity, and truth - and will be encouraged to articulate and defend their own positions on these emerging issues.

Basic English language skills, willingness to engage in careful philosophical reflection

Readings & lecture slides will be posted on the course page on Google Classroom. Google Meet will be used if the course needs to be held in hybrid mode.

We will be reading and discussing one book chapter or article each week. The assessment scheme will involve three components: • Class participation and attendance (25% of the overall grade): attendance, completion of required readings & participation in seminar discussion. • First written assignment (35%): - Written paper (betw. 3,000 and 4,000 words long, in English) on any topic discussed between weeks 2 and 7: 25%; - Oral presentation and discussion of draft: 10%. • Second written assignment (40%): - Written paper (betw. 3,000 and 4,000 words long, in English) on any topic discussed between weeks 9 and 15: 30%; - Oral presentation and discussion of draft: 10%.

All the readings & other supporting materials for this course will be made available to students on Google Classroom. The course does not require students to purchase any textbooks. Reading list for the seminar: Bakir, V., & McStay, A. 2025. Move Fast and Break people? Ethics, Companion Apps, and the Case of Character.ai. AI & Society. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-025-02408-5. Buben, A. 2025. Digital Replacement of the Dead: a Legitimate Worry? Philosophy & Technology, 38, 90. De Ruiter, A. 2021. The Distinct Wrong of Deepfakes. Philosophy & Technology, 34, 1311-1332. Earp, B. D., & al. 2024. A Personalized Patient Preference Predictor for Substituted Judgments in Healthcare: Technically Feasible and Ethically Desirable. American Journal of Bioethics, 24 (7), 13-26. Eaton, P. 2026. Virtuous Friendship, Recognition, and Subservience: the Limits of Chatbot Friends. AI & Society, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-026-02900-6. Elder, A. 2020. Conversation from Beyond the Grave? A Neo-Confucian Ethics of Chatbots of the Dead. Journal of Applied Philosophy, 37 (1), 73-88. Fabry, R. E. & Alfano, M. 2024. The Affective Scaffolding of Grief in the Digital Age: The Case of Deathbots. Topoi, 43, 757-769. Habgood-Coote, 2023. Deepfakes and the Epistemic Apocalypse. Synthese, 201, 103. Iglesias, S., & al. 2025. Digital Doppelgängers and Lifespan Extension: What Matters? American Journal of Bioethics, 25 (2), 95-110. Kaczmarek, E. 2024. Self-Deception in Human–AI Emotional Relations. Journal of Applied Philosophy. Lindemann, N. F. 2022b. The Ethics of 'Deathbots'. Science and Engineering Ethics, 28. Malfacini, 2025. The Impacts of Companion AI on Human Relationships: Risks, Benefits, and Design Considerations. AI & Society, 40, 5527-5540. Öhman & Floridi. 2018. An Ethical Framework for the Digital Afterlife Industry. Nature Human Behaviour, 2, 318-320. Rini, R. 2020. Deepfakes & the Epistemic Backstop. Philosophers’Imprint, 20 (24), 1-16. Rini, R. & Cohen, L. 2022. Deepfakes, Deep Harms. Journal of Ethics and Social Philosophy, 22 (2), 143-161. Schwitzgebel, E., Schwitzgebel, D. & Strasser, A. 2024. Creating a Large Language Model of a Philosopher. Mind & Language, 39, 237-259. Story, D. & Jenkins, R. 2023. Deepfake Pornography and the Ethics of Non‑Veridical Representations. Philosophy & Technology, 36, 56.

地點

Room 315, IPMC, Zhi Xing Building, NYCU Or online

時間

By appointment

聯絡方式

alexerler@nycu.edu.tw