At a time when algorithms, data analysis, and relentless innovation are not merely tools for efficiency but are actively reshaping the very fabric of human existence, rapid technological development extends beyond optimizing systems to reach the potential optimization of humans themselves. This immense technological challenge brings sharply into focus the field of "human enhancement" and prompts us to re-examine the philosophical concept of "care of the self" and reconsider the contemporary ethical frameworks for our digital lives.
Featuring guests Dr. Theofanis Tasis (Alpen-Adria-Universität), a contemporary philosopher specializing in digital ethics and the impact of technology on our contemporary reality, and Mr. Andreas Stavropoulos, Partner at Threshold Ventures – a venture capital firm with deep roots in Silicon Valley possessing decades of experience in identifying and scaling early-stage technological innovations – we will have the unique opportunity to delve into pivotal issues at the intersection of technology, philosophy, and society.
What are the ethical frameworks, historical background, and existential implications of altering human nature and of the practice of self-cultivation and care of the self in the digital age? How does technological innovation affect our increasingly algorithm-dependent world? Where do the possibilities for communicating the image of the self may lead, and what are the strategies for the conduct of life within contemporary globalized reality?
Prof. Theofanis Tasis teaches Contemporary Practical Philosophy at Alpen-Adria-Universität in Austria and is a visiting professor at the University of St. Gallen. He has been a Stanley J. Seeger Fellow at Princeton, a Marie Curie Fellow in Brussels, and an Erasmus Fellow in Berlin. His research focuses on the relationship between the art of living, artificial intelligence, and human enhancement, aiming to shape a digital humanism. He introduced the concept of the "iconistic society" (εικονιστική κοινωνία) to describe the hybrid (digital and material) condition of the contemporary world. He has been honored twice with the Kaftantzoglio Prize, while his work Digital Humanism was nominated for the State Prize for Essay.
Andreas Stavropoulos is a partner at Threshold (formerly DFJ) Ventures, where he serves on the boards of a number of private companies, including several in the artificial intelligence and the enterprise infrastructure space, in addition to his involvement with other enabling platform technologies. Before joining DFJ, Andreas was with McKinsey & Company's San Francisco office, where he worked with senior management teams of corporate clients with an emphasis on information technology. Andreas is a summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Harvard College in computer science. He also holds an MS degree in computer science from Harvard University and an MBA from Harvard Business School, where he was a Baker Scholar and graduated first in his class. In terms of public and non-profit service, Andreas currently serves on the High-Level Committee for AI in Greece, he is the Vice Chairman of Endeavor Greece, and the Immediate Past President of the Alumni Board of Harvard Business School.
