Varieties and dynamics of cognitive extensions via AI systems

In this article, we argue that Hernandez-Orallo and Vold’s (2019) definitions and characterizations of AI systems as cognitive extenders fail to capture the complexity and dynamics involved in AI-enabled cognitive extensions (AI-EXT). More specifically, they assume that AI systems can extend cognition only insofar they are not autonomous and that any form of AI-EXT necessarily enhances the cognitive capacities of the user. Thus, the aim of this article is to overcome these two limitations, offering a more comprehensive framework of AI-EXT capable of accommodating AI autonomy and the variety of effects of cognitive extensions, not reducible to cognitive enhancement. To do so, we first present and argue in favor of an integrationist and multidimensional account of the extended cognition thesis (EXT). We then apply Fasoli’s (2017) taxonomy of cognitive artifacts to distinguish three types of relationships between the agent and the AI system (constitutive, complementary, and substitutive), and we analyze the relationship between AI autonomy and its potential for cognitive extension. We argue that our framework offers a more fine-grained and flexible account of the varieties and dynamics of cognitive extensions via AI systems. To support this claim, we conclude the article presenting real-world cases of AI-EXT.