Circling the Void: Using Heidegger and Lacan to think about Large Language Models
Year: 2023
Type: preprint
Abstract: This essay bridges two disparate lines of inquiry: Large Language Models (LLMs) and continental philosophy, specifically Martin Heidegger's reflections on language and Jacques Lacan's structural psychoanalysis grounded in Sigmund Freud's theories. We argue that the linguistic conceptualizations put forth by Heidegger, Freud, and Lacan, primarily employed in clinical frameworks, find surprising resonance in the operations of modern LLMs. This parallel allows us to bring into focus a central theme of continental discourse—negation and negativity—largely absent in current LLM research. Our approach diverges radically from conventional philosophy of artificial intelligence, which primarily engages with analytic philosophy. Here, we build our discourse on thinkers often overlooked in this field, delineating the ontological differences of our approach. Our goal is to foster a dialogue between AI researchers and continental philosophers, highlighting the mutual insights that these two distinct perspectives can offer.
Source: Research Square
Authors: Marc Heimann, Anne-Friederike Hübener
Institution: Hochschule Niederrhein
Language: English
Subfield: History and Philosophy of Science
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4379744978