Can generative artificial intelligence be considered a cognitive subject? An analytic analysis

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Abstract
This paper examines whether contemporary generative artificial intelligence (GAI), especially large language models (LLMs), can be regarded as a “cognitive subject” in the epistemic sense relevant to the production and endorsement of knowledge claims. GAI systems increasingly participate in writing, research, and decision-making workflows and can display striking competence in information processing and task-directed problem solving. Yet, the thesis that GAI is a cognitive subject is stronger than the observation that GAI contributes as a cognitive tool. Therefore, we propose an explicit set of necessary and sufficient conditions for cognitive subjecthood and evaluate each condition in light of recent philosophical and empirical scholarship. The analysis supports a two-part conclusion: (i) present-day GAI can reasonably be described as a cognitively significant contributor to knowledge production, but (ii) it does not satisfy the conditions for cognitive subjecthood , largely because robust intentionality, metacognitive self-representation, and consciousness-related indicator properties are not established.
Funding Information
  • Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT Individual CEEC Project 2022.02527.CEECIND)
  • Universidade do Porto

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