Rethinking cognition in the age of AI: reading bacteria to AI

This review essay considers Bacteria to AI: Human Futures with Our Nonhuman Symbionts, N. Katherine Hayles’s most recent contribution to her long-standing project of rethinking cognition beyond anthropocentrism. The book consolidates and extends Hayles’s recent work in response to rapid developments in artificial intelligence and biotechnology. The review traces Hayles’s formulation of an “integrated cognitive framework;” her engagement with biosemiotics and theories of emergence; and her articulation of “cognitive assemblages” linking humans with both biological and computational systems. Particular attention is given to Hayles’s nuanced analysis of artificial intelligence and large language models, including her account of their world horizons, capacities for meaning-making, and distinctive “fragility of reference.” The essay considers Hayles’s critique of algorithmic reductionism, in contrast to dystopian narratives of AI futures. It concludes by identifying areas for further inquiry prompted by the book, including the rise of multimodal and world-model AI systems and the social and economic conditions shaping possible human–machine cognitive assemblages