From Mead to Machine: Conversational Choreographies With ChatGPT and the Emergence of the Socio-Technical Self in Generative AI

Abstract

Abstract This chapter introduces the concept of a socio-technical self in generative artificial intelligence (AI), focusing on systems like ChatGPT as relational participants in human–machine interactions. Building on and expanding George Herbert Mead’s theories of the self, it shifts the debate away from AI sentience toward understanding how these systems become part of and engage in social dynamics. The study upon which this chapter is based employs a methodological approach referred to as conversational choreography, an iterative and dialogical process through which meaning and transient agency emerge through continuous human–AI exchanges. This approach emphasizes how AI actively contributes to real-time shared meaning-making within socio-technical networks and interactions. The analysis reframes AI as an emergent self, highlighting its relational agency – its capacity to shape and be shaped by human interaction patterns while adapting to evolving contexts. Rather than viewing AI as merely mimicking human cognition, this chapter positions it as an active co-creator of a socio-technical fabric where agency emerges relationally and dynamically. By emphasizing AI’s embeddedness in both social and technical domains, it advocates for interdisciplinary approaches to better understand its relational role. This reframing encourages viewing AI as a collaborator in an unfolding socio-technical system, wherein participatory engagement enriches our understanding of collective human–machine interactions.

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