Human Existence in the Networked World
Petros Farantakis
Dianoesis June 7, 2026 DOI: 10.12681/dia.45785 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that artificial intelligence lacks lived experience, temporality, mortality, and existential anxiety, and that ethics, as a creative and experiential practice rooted in relationship and responsibility, cannot be reduced to algorithmic rules. Contends the digital condition constitutes a new anthropological environment that increasingly mediates identity, memory, and judgment, and that preserving human autonomy and moral accountability, rather than rejecting technology, is the central challenge. |
Abstract
This paper explores the distinction between human consciousness and mechanical “thought” in the contemporary networked world. It argues that artificial intelligence, despite its capacity for complex data processing and language generation, lacks lived experience, temporality, mortality, and existential anxiety; elements that ground human meaning, moral responsibility, and freedom of will. Ethics is presented as a creative and experiential practice rooted in relationship, responsibility, and inner struggle, and therefore irreducible to algorithmic rules. The study further examines the digital condition as a new anthropological environment in which identity, memory, and judgment are increasingly shaped through technological mediation. The central challenge is not to reject technology, but to preserve human autonomy, critical reflection, and moral accountability within a reality where existence becomes progressively networked, technologically extended, and shaped by forms of digital posthumanism.