Algorithmic unconscious
Why psychoanalysis helps in understanding AI
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21876986 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Luca M Possati (0000-0002-7110-6107, Universidade do Porto, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2020 |
| Volume | 6 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Publication date | 2020-04-24 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Palgrave Communications (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2055-1045 • E-ISSN: 2055-1045 |
| Publisher | Springer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1057/s41599-020-0445-0 |
| OpenAlex | W4214572192 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 16 |
| References cited | 22 |
The central hypothesis of this paper is that the concepts and methods of psychoanalysis can be applied to the study of AI and human/AI interaction. The paper connects three research fields: machine behavior approach, psychoanalysis and anthropology of science. In the “Machine behavior: research perspectives” section, I argue that the behavior of AI systems cannot be studied only in a logical-mathematical or engineering perspective. We need to study AI systems not merely as engineering artifacts, but as a class of social actors with particular behavioral patterns and ecology. Hence, AI behavior cannot be fully understood without human and social sciences. In the “Why an unconscious for AI? What this paper is about” section, I give some clarifications about the aims of the paper. In the “Unconscious and technology. Lacan and Latour” section, I introduce the central thesis. I propose a re-interpretation of Lacan’s psychoanalysis through Latour’s anthropology of sciences. The aim of this re-interpretation is to show that the concept of unconscious is not so far from technique and technology. In the “The difficulty of being an AI” section, I argue that AI is a new stage in the human identification process, namely, a new development of the unconscious identification. After the imaginary and symbolic registers, AI is the third register of identification. Therefore, AI extends the movement that is at work in the Lacanian interpretation of the mirror stage and Oedipus complex and which Latour’s reading helps us to clarify. From this point of view, I describe an AI system as a set of three contrasting forces: the human desire for identification, logic and machinery. In the “Miscomputation and information” section, I show how this interpretative model improves our understanding of AI
Cognitive science · Epistemology · Psychoanalysis · Sociology · The Imaginary · Unconscious mind · Computability, Logic, AI Algorithms · Computer Science · Cybernetics and Technology in Society · Mental Health and Psychiatry · Philosophy · Psychology · Artificial Intelligence · Ecology
Jungian analysis of the algorithmic unconscious
AI as Social Actor
The Scary Black Box
Artificial intelligence and psychoanalysis
Noise, Pre-Individual Potentialities, and the Post-Biological
Authenticity and the Poor Image in the Age of Deep Learning
How could body-augmenting technology enable human digital twins to facilitate spiritual experiences
Is it possible to relate with an AI? Techno-animism and distorted projective identification in generative anthropomorphic chatbots
Automated reassurance
Language without body, meaning without world
The autonomous choice architect
The Polyopticon
On the algorithmic unconscious
What Kind of Other Is AI? Symbolization, Desire, and Adolescent Development in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
AI alignment
Material calculation and its unconscious
| Unique citing works | 16 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 4 |
| Citation span | 2022 - 2026 (5) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 13 |