Speech acts and AI

Speech acts and AI

From Philosopher's Zone by ABC

April 9, 2026 · 35 min

About this episode

The episode explores the implications of AI-generated speech acts in the workplace and questions the authority of such commands given AI's lack of intention.

Speech acts - utterances that have the power to make things happen in the world - are increasingly being created by AI, especially in certain workplaces where it's not uncommon to receive orders and instructions from an algorithm. The power of a speech act is often understood as emanating from the intention of its author - but if AI lacks the capacity for intention, how much authority do AI-generated workplace commands really have?

Topics covered

  • speech acts
  • AI
  • workplace commands
  • intention
  • authority

Keywords

  • speech acts
  • AI
  • workplace
  • commands
  • intention
  • authority

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: AI

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