Federico Jose T. Lagdameo, “Digital Governmentality: Technological Subjectivation and AI”, Kaabigan: Journal of the Panpacific University, Vol. 3:2, 1-17 (July 2025)
doi: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.16786093
Abstract:
This article develops a Foucauldian analysis of artificial intelligence technologies, particularly large language models such as ChatGPT, as contemporary technologies of power. Building upon Michel Foucault’s genealogical critique of disciplinary and biopolitical regimes, it argues that AI systems instantiate new modes of subjectivation through algorithmic rationalities, predictive analytics, and interface designs that structure the conduct of users and the intelligibility of populations. These systems do not merely facilitate communication or automate tasks; they quietly shape behavior, organize possibilities for action, and determine what counts as truth or relevance in everyday life. AI thus functions as a digital apparatus of governmentality—disciplining individuals and regulating populations under the guise of neutrality and efficiency. By drawing out the continuities between modern technologies of power and today’s intelligent systems, this paper seeks to denaturalize the present configuration of the digital subject and open the possibility for a renewed exercise of critique and freedom.
Keywords: Foucault, artificial intelligence, subjectivation, ChatGPT, LLMs, digital governmentality
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