The philosophic turn for AI agents

Replacing Centralized Digital Rhetoric With Decentralized Truth-Seeking

Bibliographic Data

ID6442604
AuthorsPhilipp Koralus (0000-0002-7271-1448, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume24
Issue2
Pages563-586
Publication date2025-07-08
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueMind & Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1593-7879 • E-ISSN: 1860-1839
PublisherSpringer Science+Business Media (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1007/s11299-025-00326-z
OpenAlexW4412369068
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited23

In the face of rapidly advancing AI technology, individuals will increasingly rely on AI agents to navigate life’s growing complexities, raising critical concerns about maintaining both human agency and autonomy. This paper addresses a fundamental dilemma posed by AI decision-support systems: the risk of either becoming overwhelmed by complex decisions, thus losing agency, or having autonomy compromised by externally controlled choice architectures reminiscent of “nudging” practices. While the “nudge” framework, based on the use of choice-framing to guide individuals toward presumed beneficial outcomes, initially appeared to preserve liberty, at AI-driven scale, it threatens to erode autonomy. To counteract this risk, the paper proposes a philosophic turn in AI design. AI should be constructed to facilitate decentralized truth-seeking and open-ended inquiry, mirroring the Socratic method of philosophical dialogue. By promoting individual and collective adaptive learning, such AI systems would empower users to maintain control over their judgments, augmenting their agency without undermining autonomy. The paper concludes by outlining essential features for autonomy-preserving AI systems, sketching a path toward AI systems that enhance human judgment rather than undermine it

Agency (philosophy · Autonomy · Cognitive reframing · Dilemma · Epistemology · Framing (construction · Mirroring · Philosophy of science · Political science · Rhetoric · Sociology · Computer Science · Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics · Engineering · Ethics and Social Impacts of AI · Law · Psychology · Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment · Social Psychology

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