Ernst Fischer

Human Greatness in an Age of Perfect Machines

Another kind of imperfection is ethical: humans can be conflicted, tempted, or uncertain, and yet still must choose. That vulnerability is inseparable from responsibility. A machine can be consistent, but it does not carry guilt, remorse, or the inner experience of deciding to do right when doing right is costly. Literature often portrays this tension as the core of humanity; Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov (1880) is saturated with the idea that freedom includes the possibility of error. As machines become more dependable, Fischer implies that the human will be defined less by competence and more by accountability. Our greatness may lie in being the kind of creature for whom decisions matter—because we can fail, regret it, and try again. [...]