Discomfort of You: Episodic Selves and Artificial Intelligence

Philosophics — Philosophical and Political Ramblings · Jul 22, 2026 · 5m

Language philosopher Bry Willis explores the philosophical tension inherent in addressing artificial intelligence using personal pronouns. The author describes a personal sense of unease when using the word "you" to prompt a large language model, noting that each interaction is a disconnected, episodic event rather than a continuous relationship. This reflection is rooted in the concept of episodic selfhood, which suggests that neither humans nor machines possess a truly permanent or diachronic identity. By comparing the computational processes of silicon-based AI with human consciousness…