Who Am I as a Knower? Plato, Asimov, and the Transformation of Epistemic Selfhood in the Age of AI

Abstract

This article examines how artificial intelligence reshapes not only knowledge practices but the experience of knowing itself. While contemporary discussions of AI often focus on accuracy, bias, and educational outcomes, this study shifts attention to the phenomenological and existential dimensions of epistemic change. Drawing on Plato’s allegory of the cave and Isaac Asimov’s speculative narratives, the article develops a conceptual framework for understanding knowledge as a formative and experiential process, characterized by uncertainty, dialogue, and intellectual struggle. Against this background, the article argues that AI-mediated environments introduce a qualitatively different epistemic experience, defined by immediacy, fluency, and reduced cognitive friction. The central claim is that the problem is not whether AI produces correct knowledge, but that it transforms how knowledge is encountered. This transformation contributes to the erosion of the questioning self, diminishing tolerance for uncertainty, replacing dialogue with response, and reducing opportunities for intellectual struggle. The article further explores the implications of this shift for philosophical counseling and education, proposing a reorientation toward practices that restore questioning, sustain uncertainty, and resist premature resolution. It concludes that the ethical challenge posed by AI is not only to regulate its use, but to preserve the conditions under which human beings can remain subjects who question, reflect, and engage meaningfully with knowledge.