From Talking Tools to Metahumans: Social Interaction Semiotic Skill and the Authority of AI Chatbots

As chatbots trained on Large Language Models become more sophisticated, their responses can sometimes seem uncanny, as if they come from a source that is mysterious, inexplicable, or even divine. Webb Keane, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Michigan, examines what happens when people treat artificial intelligence as a kind of “metahuman.” He explains how this reflects a broader human tendency to project authority onto technologies we do not fully understand. Keane explores how that sense of authority emerges through social interaction, and how the unequal ways humans and metahumans address one another can make AI’s power feel intuitively real. Series: "Ethics, Religion and Public Life: Walter H. Capps Center Series" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 41542]