The Material Agency of a Large Language Model

In the field of ethics of LLMs, agency is a highly contested topic: Can LLMs perform agency? The current discourse on the agency of LLMs is heavily shaped by a traditional, properties-based, individualistic, and anthropocentric approach. In contrast, I propose a relational and network-based approach to agency, drawing on Actor-Network Theory and New Materialism, which is open to non-human agency and a plurality of agencies. Building on this relational, non-anthropocentric perspective, I also introduce a material perspective that has been largely overlooked in the LLM discourse. While LLMs are often thought of as immaterial, I develop a framework that distinguishes various dimensions of their materiality. I refer both to their material production and conditions, as well as how they concretely materialize in our devices and the materializing effects they have on us and our bodies. This perspective highlights the connection of LLMs with culture and material practices, cultural and social values: they are part of us, our culture, our time, politics, and our society. It also shifts the focus from human users as individual agents and opens up a view of the hidden network of multiple agents – human workers, big tech actors, environmental and technological non-human agents, and more – while drawing attention to the diversity and specificities of agencies. This shift transforms the questions currently posed in the ethics of LLMs and opens up new avenues for ethical inquiry.