Epistemic Agency and Critical Subjectivity in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

Abstract

This paper examines the reconfiguration of epistemic agency in contexts shaped by the expansion of artificial intelligence (AI), focusing on its effects on subjectivity, education, and critical thinking. It argues that the growing algorithmic mediation of processes of access, production, and validation of knowledge profoundly transforms individual and collective cognitive practices. From a psychosocial and educational perspective, the study explores the risks associated with the automation of judgment, cognitive dependency, and epistemic delegation, as well as the possibilities for constructing a critical subjectivity capable of reflective interaction with intelligent systems. The paper contends that strengthening epistemic agency is a necessary condition for the development of an ethical, autonomous, and socially responsible technological humanity.