ABSTRACT
In this chapter, I consider one such description of human nature that incorporates yet eludes individual capacities, the concept of the “zoon politikon” or political animal, that is central to Aristotle’s concept of the human (e.g. Tuncel 2012). Given that the definition of the human as a political animal has a long pedigree, reaching back to classical roots, it is surprising that recent discussions have not taken up the uniqueness of the political aspects of humans versus robots. Particularly in an era where algorithms, computerized systems, and “bots” are deeply embedded in the political (Orr 2002; Zuboff 2019), questions of the political nature of AI are highly salient to understanding how such systems complement, enable, or alternatively threaten or even substitute for human nature.
