AI-Philosophes


AI-Philosohes

A Blend of AI and Enlightenment Philosophy

I came up with AI-Philosophes while tinkering with ChatGPT in early 2023. My fascination with philosophy, especially the French Philosophes of the Enlightenment, sparked an idea: could AI help us explore philosophical questions in today’s world? I wanted to see if this technology could make old wisdom resonate with our current challenges.

So, I started a YouTube channel named AI-Philosophes. The first big project was a 25-minute film inspired by the early 2023 earthquake that rocked Turkey and Syria. This event reignited debates in that region on the nature of God, good vs. evil—topics philosophers like Epicure, David Hume, Avicenna, and Leibniz had plenty to say about. Using AI, I “interviewed” these four minds, bringing their thoughts into the context of the earthquake and our modern quest for understanding.

For the film, I dived into several AI tools: ChatGPT for scripting (back then using GPT 3), MidJourney for visuals, 11 Labs for voice cloning (I cloned my own voice and friend’s voices), D-ID for video creation (animating my and the philosophers’ images), and Descript for editing. It was my first crack at making something like this, and honestly, the learning curve was steep but exciting.

AI-Philosophes turned out to be more than just a project for me. It was a real journey into the possibilities AI offers to creativity and philosophical enquiry. I had no prior experience in filmmaking, yet here I was, producing content that merged technology with deep philosophical inquiry, a 25-film with ‘OK’ quality.

This experience taught me a lot—not just about AI and philosophy but also about the joy of learning and creating. It’s thrilling to think about how these tools can help us engage with important questions in new ways. And who knows? Maybe AI can indeed help us bring a new enlightenment, making philosophy more accessible and relevant to our lives today.