François J. Bourdoncle - Homo ex machina

Transhumanism. Artificial Intelligence. These words are everywhere — abstract, yet already woven into our lives. Enhanced human? Surpassed human? Assisted? Enslaved? Obsolete? What will this emerging mechanical human become? Who will it touch — and how? Who wins, who loses?

You’ll see no faces here. Our avatars have replaced them. Real faces still appear on dating apps, but who can trust them now? Speech, exiled from a dogmatic “good thinking” that has grown oppressive, erupts violently on social networks, masked behind aliases.

Teenagers take their own lives on the advice of ChatGPT, after months of dialogue with a soulless, faceless friend. Tech platforms now wield powers once reserved for states, racing—despite growing warnings from experts toward “super-intelligence.”

And, as with climate change, we look away.

Again.

No face left to see.