Artificial Intelligence and Knowledge in the 21st Century: Revisiting Heidegger's Perspective on Technology

Abstract

The 21st century has witnessed the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a powerful tool in the technological age that is redefining the nature of knowledge against the traditional forms of knowing and learning, reshaping how knowledge is generated, stored and disseminated. While AI promises efficiency, automation and enhanced productivity with new epistemological frontiers, it also raises profound philosophical questions on how to relate with the growing technological trends such that it does not risk reducing knowledge to calculable data systematization and diminishing human authenticity and meaning. This paper revisits Martin Heidegger's perspective on technology, focusing on his concept of Enframing (Gestell) and “standing reserve (Bestand): the
transformation of knowledge into a calculable resource to be stored; optimized and controlled. This paper presents an in-depth analysis and argues against the dominance and overtaken of knowledge by a data-driven systemization of software and machine learning systems that risk reducing knowledge to mere retrieving of stored information while obscuring deeper understanding rooted
in human context, experience and reflection. The exercise calls for a renewed engagement with Heidegger's philosophy. Noting the transformative nature of AI and its multistability innovations, the paper concludes by addressing AI's ethical, existential and epistemological challenges and implications. The paper proposes a more collaborative technological development that is participatory and safeguards human meaning, dignity and authenticity that is devoid of hard technological determinism.