What does the correlation between the anthropomorphisation of technologies and the automation of humans mean?

Abstract

Abstract In recent years, the phenomenon of anthropomorphisation of technologies, especially artificial intelligence, has been extensively studied. The reciprocal phenomenon, which may be defined as the automation of humans, has been studied less extensively. And the correlation between the two phenomena has been studied even less. The objective of the article is to contribute to filling the gap by addressing the following question: if we realise that there is a direct proportionality between the anthropomorphisation of technologies and the automation of humans, what may their direct proportionality mean from a philosophical perspective? More precisely, what may their direct proportionality mean for both the way we think of technologies and the way we think of humans, i.e. ourselves? The argument I will propose is that, even though, more superficially, the coexistence of the two phenomena seems to be symptomatic of the radicalisation of typically neoliberal values, starting with humans thought of as optimised and productive as technologies, less superficially, it may be symptomatic of their crisis, because, as paradoxical as it may seem, radicalising the automation of humans means sabotaging their optimisation and productivity and, thus, escaping typically neoliberal values.