Discomfort of You: Episodic Selves and Artificial Intelligence

Language philosopher Bry Willis explores the philosophical tension inherent in addressing artificial intelligence using personal pronouns. The author describes a personal sense of unease when using the word "you" to prompt a large language model, noting that each interaction is a disconnected, episodic event rather than a continuous relationship. This reflection is rooted in the concept of episodic selfhood, which suggests that neither humans nor machines possess a truly permanent or diachronic identity. By comparing the computational processes of silicon-based AI with human consciousness, the source questions whether the notion of a unified self is merely a convenient linguistic illusion. Ultimately, the piece invites readers to consider their own psychological discomfort when treating software as a sentient entity through the use of second-person language.👉 https://philosophics.blog/2026/07/21/discomfort-of-you/