Rethinking Cognitive Norms in the Age of Artificial Intelligence: Neurodivergent-First Design

The contemporary cognitive norm is often treated as natural. This paper argues it is historical. Modern institutions were shaped during the industrial era, privileging repetition, precision, and predictable execution, producing a narrow cognitive standard over time. Individuals whose cognitive styles diverged from this model became classified as disordered, raising a fundamental question: disorder according to whose order? This paper reframes divergence as structural misalignment rather than individual deficiency and introduces neurodivergent-first design as a framework for human–technology relations. Drawing on the San Francisco Principle — if a system works for a highly specialised user but fails for a broader population, it does not work — the paper proposes designing from cognitive margins outward. Artificial intelligence introduces a structural shift: as a cognitive prosthetic, it adapts to users rather than requiring adaptation. In this context, inclusion becomes not only an ethical imperative but a systemic advantage. The edge case becomes anticipatory of the future majority. This work is part of the OKKA Expanded Intelligence research program on human–synthetic cognition and governance. The program investigates the transformation of intelligence, decision-making, and societal structures in the age of artificial intelligence through philosophical, methodological, and empirical approaches.