2.1: Emergence and Systems Thinking

Artificial Intelligence Policy

Author

Prof. Jack Reilly

Published

S2026

🧠 Think

Is “intelligence” an emergent phenomenon? Or something different? What does it mean to be “intelligent”? What about consciousness? When do we start treating a system as more than the sum of its parts, and why?

📖 Read

Goldstein, Emergence as a Construct: History and Issues

🌐 Browse

Krakauer, “What is Complexity?” Santa Fe Institute Lecture.
Schultz, “Flocking together: Study shows how animal groups find their way”
Roose, “A Conversation With Bing’s Chatbot Left Me Deeply Unsettled” NYTimes.

📚 Additional Resources

Boden, “Autonomy and Artificiality” from The Philosophy of Artificial Life
Bedau, Mark. “Weak Emergence”
Johnson, “Eliminating the mystery from the concept of emergence”
Hofstadter, “Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid”
Holland, John. Emergence
Wolfram, A New Kind of Science
Simon, Herb. Sciences of the Artificial
“Emergent Properties”, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

📝 Submit

Discussion question to course chat

Tip

“📖 Read”, “🎧 Listen”, and/or “📺 Watch” items are required content for the day, and should be read/heard/watched before class on that day.
“🌐 Browse” items should be briefly looked at but do not need to be read deeply.
“📚 Additional Resources” do not need to be looked at; they are there to serve, if useful, as further references for your debates, final projects, and general edification later.