Artificial Intelligence through the Lens of Martin Heidegger’s Philosophy of Technology

This article approaches artificial intelligence (AI) through the philosophical perspective of Martin Heidegger, arguing that AI should not be regarded merely as a technical tool but as a paradigmatic expression of the essence of modern technology: Gestell (enframing). For Heidegger, Gestell is a mode of revealing in which the world and human beings are transformed into Bestand (standing-reserve), that is, entities or resources ready for optimization and exploitation. AI, with its immense capacities for data processing and computation, replicates the entire logic of Gestell: it reduces life, language, and even the human being to manipulable units of data. Heidegger warns that the dominance of Gestell leads to nihilism, wherein the logic of calculation obscures the meaning and being of things. In response, he does not call for the rejection of technology. Instead, he proposes an attitude of Gelassenheit (releasement) and meditative thinking, aiming to cultivate a “free relationship” with technology – an understanding of the danger of enframing and the possibility that attentiveness to this danger may open a path toward a saving power. This article argues that AI is not merely a technical challenge but also poses profound ontological questions concerning human existence and freedom in the digital age.