Critical Phenomenology of Prompting in Artificial Intelligence
This paper analyzes the philosophy of prompting as a tool within the context of the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI), particularly in large language models (LLMs). The topic is justified bythe need to understand the prompt as a mediating space between human intentionality, language, and the sociopolitical structures that shape interactions with these technologies. The centralobjective is to examine how prompting reflects ethical, ontological, and epistemological tensionsthat arise in the construction of meaning within AI systems. Methodologically, the study adopts a critical-phenomenological approach, combining first-person experiences (user) with practical experimentation of prompts in different scenarios. The results demonstrate that the prompt is not merely a technical instruction but a discursive practice, where human decisions, such asthe configuration of “parameters” (e. g., temperature and Top P), directly influence the outputsgenerated by AI systems. While these decisions appear technical, they carry significant ethical and epistemological implications that demand critical examination. The study concludes that it is essential to adopt an interdisciplinary approach that integrates technical development withphilosophical reflection. This approach would foster an ethical, conscious, and responsible use ofAI while recognizing the central role of humans in interactions with these emerging technologies.
Authors
- Jorge González Arocha (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3296-255X)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Sophía
- Published
- 2025-07-14
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.17163/soph.n39.2025.04
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Ethics and Social Impacts of AI
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 2.37
Funders
- Universidad Politécnica Salesiana del Ecuador