The sciences of life and information share with Buddhism a fundamental belief: there are no truly singular, permanent agents. Buddhism, however, uniquely argues that this insight into “no self” is intrinsically linked with compassionate care for all beings—and that this care, in turn, fuels intelligence. In this talk at the Centre of Buddhist Studies, University of Hong Kong, Thomas Doctor explores the potential for synergy between Buddhist Studies and AI science. Using the Center for the Study of Apparent Selves as a case study, he addresses both the challenges and promising opportunities that arise from this radically transdisciplinary approach. In the final part we introduce an emerging model of care-driven intelligence developed at CSAS. The model proposes a framework applicable to any intelligent system, whether based on biology, technology, or a hybrid of the two.
