Simondon today: Rational Agents and Digital Individuation
by Mauro Saitta
pp. 71-87 Issue 22 (11,2) July-December 2024 ISSN (online): 2539/2239 ISSN (print): 2389-8232 DOI: https://doi.org/10.14718/SoftPower.2024.11.2.4
Abstract
In light of the techno-scientific progress achieved to date, this paper aims to assess the continued validity of the notions of information, form, homeostasis, and points of indeterminacy within machines, as elaborated by Gilbert Simondon, in reference to rational agents, as understood by artificial intelligence. Additionally, I will examine the concept of individuation developed by the French philosopher and attempt to rethink it, considering how the digital milieu affects humans. It can be argued that the digital subject represents a technical individual distinct from the human subject. In this regard, I will endeavour to understand how the individuation process of the latter is profoundly influenced and short-circuited by the former, to the extent that the individual becomes a dis-individual.