The Gift of Language: Large Language Models and the Extended Mind

Proponents of the extended mind insist that human states and cognitive processes can, at times, include non-biological resources that lie external to the bodily boundaries. In the present chapter, we apply this idea to large language models (LLMs), suggesting that some LLMs exist as extended cognitive (or computational) systems. We focus in particular on LLMs that exploit retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) techniques and online computational tools, proposing that these systems constitute extended architectures whose capabilities are realized, in part, by external structures. Drawing on parallels with classic cases of human cognitive extension, we argue that extended LLMs raise important philosophical questions concerning the nature and limits of artificial intelligence. We also draw attention to the role of language in supporting the emergence of extended systems. LLMs, it is suggested, are particularly well placed to benefit from their immersion in an online ecology that is home to a sizable chunk of human symbolic and technological culture.