Semantic Entropy and Cognitive Collapse: AI, Language, and the Future of Meaning

This paper explores the growing dissonance between linguistic fluency and semantic depth in the age of advanced language models. Drawing on information theory, semiotics, and cognitive science, it introduces the concept of semantic entropy—the measure of uncertainty or degradation in meaning within linguistic systems. As artificial intelligence becomes more proficient at generating human-like text, it paradoxically contributes to a cognitive collapse, where surface coherence masks the erosion of conceptual clarity and cultural understanding. The paper proposes a framework to diagnose and mitigate this collapse, highlighting the importance of epistemic integrity, human-AI co-semantics, and the preservation of symbolic diversity in the evolving landscape of digital communication.