Farewell to Abundance?

A Feyerabendian Critique of AI Algorithmic Homogenization, andthe Battle for Human Cognition

Abstract

This paper critically examines the growing influence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) through the lens of Feyerabend’s philosophy, specifically his defense of pluralism and the conquest of abundance. This influence poses a challenge to us by flattening the diversity and richness of human world and cognition. Our paper explores how AI systems actively sculpt reality by curtailing human preferences and narrowing the scope of what is considered real or possible. This algorithmic compression of reality is shown to be a direct assault on the abundance Feyerabend sought to protect. The algorithmic flattening will be explored in an empirical study, from which the concept of cognitive debt emerges. This cognitive impairment, coupled with the impoverishment of our shared reality, underscores the urgency of Feyerabend’s call to fight attempts to reduce abundance and devalue human existence. The paper concludes that Feyerabend’s pluralistic view offers a philosophical resource for critically facing the AI-driven world.