Postphenomenological analysis of the relations between generative AI and education

This paper offers a postphenomenological analysis of the multifaceted ways generative artificial intelligence (GAI) reshapes teaching, learning, and educational environments. Drawing on Don Ihde’s relational framework, it examines GAI across four technological mediation types: embodiment, hermeneutic, alterity, and background relations, to illuminate its role as cognitive extension, interpretive lens, quasi-other, and infrastructural force. The analysis reveals that GAI tools, such as ChatGPT, mediate not only the content and form of learning but also learners’ and educators’ agency, authorship, and epistemic authority. Embodiment relations highlight shifts in cognitive agency as thinking tasks are delegated to AI; hermeneutic relations expose the interpretive framing embedded in AI-generated outputs; alterity relations capture the dialogic, quasi-partner role GAI can assume; and background relations uncover the silent architectures of algorithmic governance, datafication, and surveillance shaping educational lifeworlds. The discussion emphasizes the risks of epistemic passivity, over reliance, and reduced democratic participation alongside the potential for enhanced reflection, collaboration, and critical engagement. The paper argues for pedagogical and policy responses that foreground transparency, equity, and human-centered agency. By situating GAI within postphenomenology, it reframes debates from instrumental adoption toward reflective, relational pedagogy, ensuring that AI integration in education supports meaningful human judgment and the co-construction of knowledge.