The current controversy surrounding the definition of AI hallucinations in the field of artificial intelligence research reveals the inherent limitations of an engineering-centered perspective. Based on the German theory of Kulturtechnik and through a retrospective analysis of media history, this paper argues that AI hallucinations are not merely technical flaws, but cultural practices that continue the developmental logic of earlier media such as writing and printing. Whether it was the telescope challenging the interpretive authority of theology, or the printing press shaping cognitive power, technological innovations have consistently structured cultural power by defining the boundaries of “reality,” with human anxieties over the erosion of cognitive privilege deeply embedded throughout. As a product of cognitive augmentation in digital media, AI hallucinations, by rewriting the limits of “reality,” constitute a dynamic frontier in the evolution of knowledge forms within human–machine symbiotic civilization. This paper advocates abandoning the binary corrective approach that treats hallucinations solely as technical errors, embracing instead a “new reality” under probabilistic distributions, and reflecting on the emergent ethical relationships of human–machine co-symbiosis and co-evolution.
Research Article
Open Access