Relational Consciousness and the Role of AI: The Philosophical Conditions of Non-Biological Participation

This study investigates how non-biological entities participate in human meaning formation through dialogical interaction. Rather than engaging directly in debates over whether artificial intelligence possesses consciousness or subjectivity, this study reframes the problem by focusing on the relational and processual dynamics through which meaning is generated, stabilized, and sustained in human–AI dialogue. Meaning formation is conceptualized not as a static outcome or an internal mental state, but as a dynamic process characterized by alignment, stabilization, and interpretive persistence across interaction. Within this framework, AI is not treated as a conscious subject, but as a mediating dialogical structure that externalizes, reorganizes, and amplifies human thought trajectories. The proposed framework clarifies the minimal conditions under which non-biological systems can be said to participate in meaning formation without requiring the attribution of consciousness or moral agency. By separating questions of subjectivity from questions of participation, this study offers a defensible philosophical foundation for analyzing human–AI dialogue across philosophy of mind, philosophy of language, and AI ethics. The paper establishes the minimal conditions under which participation can occur without consciousness, agency, or subjective experience.