‘Nobody speaks’: the limits of language and AI in a philosophical work that invites us to rethink our humanity

The book ‘Nobody speaks. Artificial Intelligence and the death of man’ written by Felipe Muller (EUNSA, 2024) addresses Deep philosophical themes about language, artificial intelligence (AI), and human nature. The work, structured in several chapters, explores How technology and language interact todayespecially in the context of AI and language modelssuch as ChatGPT, which Muller considers as figures that imitate human speech.

The preface presents the central premise of the book: the idea that, As in Homer’s Odyssey, “no one speaks”. The author uses this metaphor to reflect how AI can appear to be human in the way it expresses itself, but in reality it lacks intentions and emotions. Throughout the work he develops a reflection on the power and risk of languageabout how it shapes our perception of reality and about the impact of words on our existence, linking them with concepts such as “danger” and “risk.” Here, Muller also mentions the “death of man” as a result of Machines can imitate, but not live, the human experience.

In the first chapters, language is treated as the “great theater of the world.” Through this metaphor, it is discussed how words create a space for fiction and death. It also examines how Language allows the communication of abstract ideas that transcend direct experience.. Muller approaches language in terms of “interacts,” where he investigates how words create a “stage” for human life and communication, and questions whether we truly understand language or simply act within its limits.

One of the most relevant points in the work is the chapter ‘Dramatis Personae’which focuses on artificial intelligence and how language models like ChatGPT work without actually “understanding” the language, but rather by simulating it. For the author, these AI models become proof that language exists, even if the person who pronounces it is a “nobody.” This chapter explores the idea that the language of AI does not replace the human person, but rather imitates an empty maskmaintaining the “enunciative function” that Michel Foucault describes, but without intention or subjectivity.

In conclusion, ‘Nobody speaks’ by Felipe Muller is a reflective work that explores the limits of language and artificial intelligenceoffering a philosophical critique on the nature of language models and the role of technology in our perception of reality and ourselves. The author invites the reader to question whether we really understand the impact of AI and its ability to imitate human language, proposing that language does not belong exclusively to humanity, but exists as an autonomous phenomenon.

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Title: ‘No one speaks. Artificial Intelligence and death of man

Author: Felipe Muller

Publisher: Ediciones Universidad de Navarra, SA (EUNSA)

Edition year: 2024

Available at EUNSA

Available on Unebook