Artificial Intelligence as a New Field of Human Interaction: A Critique of Knowledge Production

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17231/comsoc.47(2025).6190

Keywords:

artificial inteligence, communication, knowledge, capitalism

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) has gained a prominent role in human interaction and information production in various social spheres. At the same time, warnings are emerging from multiple institutions and experts regarding its proliferation, whether due to the possibility of automating certain jobs or tasks or the increasing difficulty in distinguishing between what is produced by a human being and what is produced by this new technology. However, in many of these discussions, a set of terms such as “communication”, “information”, “knowledge”, “consciousness” and “creativity”, among others, without due concern for defining these capabilities and situating them historically — hence the rapid descent into a perspective that is either apocalyptic or enthusiastic, without understanding the social processes involved and the possible consequences of the development and application of these technologies. Faced with this discursive landscape, which proliferates in all types of media, by focusing on the production of databases on which the various models of generative AI are based, we aim to situate the development of AI, and more specifically generative AI, historically in the context of the development of capitalism; to advance a critical perspective on human capabilities (namely, communicating, thinking and producing knowledge) and, finally, to try to anticipate the possible consequences of the introduction of these technologies not only in the production process but also in the sphere of consumption.

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Author Biographies

João Francisco Pinho, Instituto de Ciências Sociais, Universidade do Minho, Braga, Portugal

João Francisco Pinho is a master’s student in Sociology at the University of Minho, Braga, Portugal. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Sociology from NOVA University Lisbon and a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Instituto Superior Técnico. His current research interests include the production of artificial intelligence, the production of scientific knowledge, and the relationship between the climate crisis and the development of capitalism.

Fernando Bessa Ribeiro, Centro Interdisciplinar em Ciências Sociais, Instituto de Ciências Sociais, Universidade do Minho, Braga, Portugal

Fernando Bessa Ribeiro is an associate professor at the Institute of Social Sciences, University of Minho, where he currently serves as director of the Department of Sociology. He holds a PhD in Social Sciences from the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro and also teaches Sociology at NOVA University Lisbon. He is a researcher at the Interdisciplinary Centre for Social Sciences. His main areas of interest include capitalism, housing, and urban issues, on which he has published extensively in both national and international journals. He was recently awarded the António Dornelas Prize for his contribution to the study A Pobreza em Portugal: Trajetos e Quotidianos, conducted in collaboration with a team of researchers and funded by the Francisco Manuel dos Santos Foundation.

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Published

2025-06-23

How to Cite

Pinho, J. F., & Bessa Ribeiro, F. . (2025). Artificial Intelligence as a New Field of Human Interaction: A Critique of Knowledge Production. Comunicação E Sociedade, 47, e025008. https://doi.org/10.17231/comsoc.47(2025).6190