Philosopher and essayist Aurel Codoban, a corresponding member of the Romanian Academy, told AGERPRES that Artificial Intelligence (AI) will win the Nobel Prize in the near future.

'I believe it will win [the Nobel Prize] and there are sound reasons for this. There is a project underway in this direction; in March, a Japanese-Indian team proposed building a version of an AI agent that would win the Nobel Prize in 2050. Thus, this is a real story, and what I will say next is that there are several Nobel laureates, as I call them, who see this as a possible achievement. The new type of researcher who wins the Nobel Prize will do so in partnership with AI,' Aurel Codoban said.

In his view, whether AI will benefit humanity or work against it depends on humankind.

'I do not know what else artificial intelligence will take away from us; that depends on us. I often refer to the Fermi paradox, which states that civilisations encounter a threshold in their evolution that they cannot overcome. I hope this year will be the threshold that our civilisation cannot overcome. (...) The right slogan is one that has already been circulated everywhere and sounds like a joke: intelligence is artificial, stupidity is natural. We suffer more from the natural stupidity of those who manage artificial intelligence. (...) I said a long time ago that it is not artificial intelligence, but artificial conversation, because it is actually built on language, and the great, astonishing discovery for us is that language simulates thought,' Codoban concluded.

Aurel Teodor Codoban is a philosopher and essayist whose work focuses on semiology, hermeneutics and the philosophy of religion. His books include 'Sacru si ontofanie' (Polirom, 1998), 'Semn si interpretare,' 'Amurgul iubirii' and 'Filosofia ca gen literar.' He has translated works by Sloterdijk, Flusser and Boris Groys from German. He is a corresponding member of the Romanian Academy.

On Friday, he delivered a lecture called 'Can Artificial Intelligence Win the Nobel Prize?' as part of the 'Cluj Academic Days.'

The Romanian Academy is celebrating 160 years since its foundation this year, with the milestone marked in Cluj-Napoca through the formal opening ceremony of the Cluj Academic Days, a long-standing event in the city's scientific life, now in its 39th edition.

The event in Cluj, which opened with the national anthem and Gaudeamus, performed by the 'Adoremus Dominum' Choir, was attended by numerous participants, including Doru Pamfil, President of the Cluj-Napoca branch of the Romanian Academy, Marius Andruh, President of the Romanian Academy, Nicolae Zamfir, Vice-President of the Romanian Academy, Ioan-Aurel Pop, President of the Romanian Academic Council and Boris Gaina, a full member of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Marius Septimiu Avram; EN - writing by: Rodica State)