The Word in the Machine: an Applied Investigation of LLMs through the Lens of Philosophy of Language
University of Cambridge event
Mon, 17 Nov 2025 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Organiser
Cambridge Digital Humanities
Location
Milstein Seminar Room, Cambridge University Library
Convenor: Alessandro Trevisan, CDH Methods Fellow 2025-26
In this workshop, Alessandro aims to offer a semantic analysis of large language models (LLMs) informed by philosophy of language and literary theory. Central to this approach is Ludwig Wittgenstein’s notion of ‘form of life’, which holds that meaningful uses of language depend on a shared socio-cultural and physiological framework between interlocutors. This raises a provocation for collective reflection with workshop participants: how are we to make sense of language produced by machines that do not inhabit our form of life?
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