Jul 2026· International Conference on Control, Decision and Information Technologies· pp. 2188-2192· 0 citations· 42 references
Abstract
The rise of artificial intelligence has revived a fundamentally Cartesian question: what conditions must hold for something to count as genuinely thinking? This paper examines the relationship between cognitive delegation and the Cartesian cogito, arguing that contemporary AI systems challenge not the logical validity of the cogito itself, but its cultural and epistemic centrality. Drawing on a methodological distinction between functional, Cartesian, and agential forms of thinking, the paper develops what is termed the "Cartesian paradox": while humans increasingly delegate judgment and reasoning to AI without necessarily ceasing to exist, machines increasingly reproduce the external markers of intelligence without thereby becoming res cogitantes. The analysis shows that the cogito guarantees certainty of existence through first-person self-presence, but does not imply that the suspension of reflective thought entails ontological annihilation. At the same time, the paper argues that AI systems, despite their growing functional sophistication, remain forms of res extensa insofar as they lack subjective self-awareness and agential self-relation. The conclusion is that the real danger posed by AI is not the replacement of human beings by conscious machines, but the progressive reduction of thinking to operational performance, externalized computation, and algorithmic delegation.
The concept of “alienated intelligence” is introduced to critically examine contemporary cultural perceptions of artificial intelligence to argue that certain visions of AI function as cultural projections of human cognitive capacities that become externalized, idealized, and reified in technological systems.
The question of whether artificial intelligence (AI) systems can attain consciousness remains central ontological challenge within interdisciplinary discourse spanning AI, philosophy of mind, and cognitive neuroscience. This study investigates the metaphysical status of AI systems by interrogating the explanatory clarity of their existence and the potential emergence of subjectivity from non-biological matter. Employing an integrative methodology that combines a comprehensive literature review of scholarly texts and recent empirical findings with philosophical critical analysis, the research explores the conditions under which AI systems might be considered conscious entities. Findings suggest that the expanding societal integration of AI necessitates a re-evaluation of consciousness and cognition beyond anthropocentric parameters. The study posits a novel interpretive framework for addressing the ontological problem of AI, one that implicates future legal, moral, and interactive structures surrounding conscious non-biological agents. This conceptual repositioning invites a deeper inquiry into the criteria for recognizing, engaging with, and regulating advanced AI systems. By grounding design principles in ontological clarity, the framework offers guidance for constructing AI systems capable of reflexive processing, minimal phenomenality, and ethically aligned behavior that bridges conceptual analysis with implementation pathways.
Andreas Yumarma, Wan Sen· IAES International Journal o...· 0 citations
The very notion of consciousness has begun to transform from an abstract computation tool, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has morphed into a defining transformative agent that is remodelling the cognitive framework in which identity and decision-making occur at all human levels. Approaching both from the methodologically less selective angle of a Philosophical Psychology that attends separately to certain aspects and then weaves them into a fused together understanding, this study raises questions on how current AI-related advances influence our insights into consciousness, selfhood, agency, intentionality and cognition.
Employing a qualitative conceptual research design based on philosophical inquiry together with a systematic interdisciplinary literature search (2015-2025 within Scopus, Web of Science, PsycINFO, JSTOR, IEEE Xplore and PhilPapers), evidence from cognitive science, neuroscience and AI ethics was synthesised. The analysis revealed six significant emergent themes:
• AI as cognitive augmentation and "second brain"
• There is re-definition of consciousness and phenomenological experience
• Selfhood and Privacy: Changing identities
• Re-evaluations of human agency and moral accountability
• Psychological effects of prolonged human - machine dialogue; and
• The importance of a harmonised philosophical-psychological paradigm
The results suggest that, although modern AI does not yet possess the subjective consciousness experience of humans, it is radically altering how people think, remember, decide and construct identity. AI operates more as a cognitive partner, which leads to urgent ethical questions of autonomy, authenticity and accountability. We find that AI is no lointelligenceew technology but active overwriting of the cognitive and psychocultural context in which people encounter new data modalities through new "intelligences". Key implications include the urgent requirement for adaptive curricula, ethically sound policy-making and anticipatory psychological practices to maintain human agency and critical thinking in the longer term.
G. R. N. Gunarathne· International Journal of Lat...· 0 citations
It is argued that contemporary artificial intelligence is best understood as a symptom and accelerator of modern nihilism rather than as a neutral instrument or proto-subject because it allows values to persist as calculable effects rather than contested commitments, thereby insulating human agents from the burden of judgment.
It is argued that anthropology requires a new conceptual framework for understanding the contemporary social life of artificial intelligence (AI), and "the magic of AI" is proposed as an analytical concept that shifts attention from AI's technical capacities to the beliefs, uncertainties, and sociotechnical imaginaries through which it acquires authority and efficacy.
M. Baas, Roanne van Voorst· Anthropological Theory· 2 citations