Psycho-Technography

This document formally defines and introduces the term psycho-technography, coined and authored by Katalin Klara Bartfai-Walcott, to describe a foundational mechanism in the digital architecture of AI-driven systems. Psycho-technography refers to the systematized capture, modeling, and substitution of human interiority, emotion, belief, and intent, through computational systems that reconstruct the person as a behavioral artifact rather than a sovereign subject. It identifies how digital systems infer and operationalize internal human states without consent, representation, or presence. The term fills a critical linguistic and conceptual gap in current discussions of surveillance, behavioral profiling, and digital agency. Where existing terms describe outcomes or power structures, psycho-technography describes the architectural process that displaces subjectivity and authorship through computation. This document is the authoritative record of the concept’s definition, authorship, and intended applications. It establishes the term's intellectual provenance and lays the groundwork for its future use in academic, legal, and technical contexts concerning digital sovereignty, privacy, identity, and human-centered AI. Released under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC-BY 4.0) to support public citation, academic exploration, and responsible adoption.