The technological revolution as the tragedy of knowledge?

AI, the illusion of sentience, and machinic subjectivation in the age of ChatGPT

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26512/rfmc.v13i2.55497

Keywords:

ChatGPT. Artificial intelligence. Sentience. Technical rationality. Anthropomorphization.

Abstract

This article aims to discuss how the illusion of sentience and technological reification reflect a condition of domination and control in the digital age. The misconception of machine consciousness — sentience — has functioned as a form of affirmative representation by users, particularly among some programmers and technologists. This mode of subjectivation testifies to the phantasmagoria of modernity in its absolute myth, fostered by uninterrupted exposure to digital technologies. The anthropomorphization of technology is interpreted as an attempt to render the unknown more familiar, manageable, and less complex. Through the imitative function of human traits, data analysis, and the objectification of targets with high precision and speed, artificial intelligence becomes humanized. New AI technologies, such as ChatGPT, not only reshape interaction and information processing but also transform human communication and autonomy. As a modality of instrumental reason, AI operates as a necropolitical tool of control through statistical collection and algorithmic analysis, enabling sophisticated mechanisms of surveillance and identification.

Author Biography

  • Marcelo Gonçalves Rodrigues, Fundação Educacional de Penápolis

    Psicanalista. Docente e supervisor clínico no curso de Psicologia da Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras da Fundação Educacional de Penápolis (SP) FAFIPE/FUNEPE. Mestre em Educação Escolar pela Universidade Estadual Paulista - UNESP- FCL, campus Araraquara. Psicólogo formado pela Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), campus Bauru. Desenvolveu estudos e pesquisas sobre a temática Universidade, aceleração e semiformação. É integrante do respectivo grupo de pesquisa: Ética, Educação e Direitos Humanos, na linha de pesquisa: Teoria Crítica, Novas Tecnologias, Ética e Educação. Desenvolve estudos relacionados às conexões entre inteligência artificial, algoritmos, corpo e inconsciente.

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Published

2025-10-21

How to Cite

The technological revolution as the tragedy of knowledge? AI, the illusion of sentience, and machinic subjectivation in the age of ChatGPT. Journal of Modern and Contemporary Philosophy, [S. l.], v. 13, n. 2, p. 137–176, 2025. DOI: 10.26512/rfmc.v13i2.55497. Disponível em: https://periodicostestes.bce.unb.br/index.php/fmc/article/view/55497. Acesso em: 7 feb. 2026.

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