Artificial Intelligence and Going Beyond Cherished Assumptions

As artificial intelligence (AI) and related technologies develop, they increasingly question perceived human primacy and autonomy. This is particularly notable given that anthropocentric assumptions lie at the core of the Western intellectual tradition, portraying humans as uniquely active and their environment as submissive and open to exploitation. Such ideas have reached the present courtesy of the Enlightenment, with Cartesian dualist thought being paradigmatic. Hence, this chapter engages with posthumanist critique, which seeks to replace hierarchic power relations with an egalitarian horizontal alternative characterised by interdependence. It thus becomes evident that cherished assumptions about human exceptionality and independence are being challenged by AI, giving rise to the need for coping strategies. Nevertheless, as the posthumanist critique demonstrates, such lack of exceptionality has always been the case.