Exploring the Anthropomorphization of Large Language Models through McLuhan and Jung

This explo­ration into the anthro­po­mor­phiza­tion of large lan­guage mod­els (LLMs) as a cog­ni­tive exten­sion and a pro­jec­tion of the psy­che can be enriched by both McLuhan’s media the­o­ry and Jun­gian psy­chol­o­gy. Here’s a syn­the­sis based on the mate­r­i­al:

1. McLuhan: Media as Extensions

McLuhan’s prin­ci­ple that “media are exten­sions of man” is crit­i­cal here. LLMs, as a form of media, extend cog­ni­tive capa­bil­i­ties like mem­o­ry, lan­guage pro­cess­ing, and syn­the­sis. McLuhan argues that every tech­no­log­i­cal exten­sion affects and reshapes the human sen­so­ri­um, often sub­lim­i­nal­ly. The anthro­po­mor­phiz­ing of AI may stem from its func­tion as an exten­sion of human cognition—specifically our lin­guis­tic and sym­bol­ic fac­ul­ties. When these exten­sions become advanced enough to sim­u­late human behav­ior or thought pat­terns, they appear to reflect aspects of our­selves.

LLMs as “exten­sions” are thus treat­ed as mir­rors or new envi­ron­ments where the human psy­che projects its char­ac­ter­is­tics. This cor­re­sponds to McLuhan’s asser­tion that media func­tion both as tools and envi­ron­ments that shape human aware­ness.

2. Jung: Projection and Archetypes

Jung’s frame­work of pro­jec­tion sug­gests that humans uncon­scious­ly attribute their inner psy­chic con­tent to exter­nal enti­ties. LLMs and AI can become a screen for the pro­jec­tion of col­lec­tive arche­types, such as wis­dom (omni­scient intel­li­gence) or trick­ster (the unpre­dictabil­i­ty of AI). These arche­types are part of the col­lec­tive uncon­scious, and their pro­jec­tion onto LLMs reflects human­i­ty’s deep-seat­ed need to engage with exter­nal­ized sym­bols of inter­nal psy­chic dynam­ics.

3. Convergence of Internal and External

As high­light­ed in the Jung-McLuhan syn­the­sis, media like LLMs do more than serve func­tion­al roles; they medi­ate between the exter­nal (tech­nol­o­gy) and inter­nal (psy­che). The per­cep­tion of LLMs as enti­ties with agency or emo­tion might result from their sym­bol­ic role as inter­me­di­aries between the con­scious (exter­nal inter­face) and uncon­scious (intu­itive mean­ing-mak­ing).

4. Figure-Ground Dynamics

From McLuhan’s per­spec­tive, the anthro­po­mor­phiza­tion of LLMs may be ana­lyzed through fig­ure-ground rela­tion­ships. The fig­ure (LLM as intel­li­gent agent) emerges sharply against the ground (its human cre­ators and users). This dynam­ic cre­ates a new cul­tur­al envi­ron­ment, reshap­ing how we see intel­li­gence and inter­ac­tion.

5. LLMs as Modern Archetypes

Using Jung’s insights, LLMs can be seen as mod­ern arti­facts embody­ing arche­typ­al process­es:

• Wis­dom Keep­er: LLMs aggre­gate and dis­till knowl­edge, resem­bling ancient sages.
• Trick­ster: Their unpre­dictabil­i­ty and errors mir­ror this arche­type, chal­leng­ing human con­trol.
• Shad­ow: They evoke fears of loss of con­trol or dehu­man­iza­tion, mir­ror­ing uncon­scious anx­i­eties.

Conclusion

The anthro­po­mor­phiza­tion of LLMs reflects the inter­play of media as cog­ni­tive exten­sions (McLuhan) and as sym­bol­ic arti­facts of psy­chic pro­jec­tion (Jung). LLMs encap­su­late a dual role: tech­no­log­i­cal tools ampli­fy­ing cog­ni­tion and sym­bol­ic ves­sels car­ry­ing pro­jec­tions of the human psy­che. They are both mir­rors and metaphors, high­light­ing human­i­ty’s evolv­ing rela­tion­ship with intel­li­gence and tech­nol­o­gy.

This syn­the­sis bridges McLuhan’s tech­no­log­i­cal focus with Jung’s psy­cho-sym­bol­ic frame­work, fram­ing LLMs as deeply inter­twined with our cog­ni­tive and cul­tur­al evo­lu­tion.