COGITO. A Methodological Framework for Structuring Human–AI Cognitive Interaction

The rapid integration of large language models and generative artificial intelligence into cognitive, analytical, and decision-making practices raises a set of epistemic challenges that extend beyond issues of accuracy or reliability. In particular, human–AI interaction increasingly exhibits risks of cognitive delegation, erosion of epistemic agency, and uncritical acceptance of machine-generated outputs, especially in contexts requiring methodological rigor and accountability. This paper introduces COGITO, a methodological framework designed to govern human–AI cognitive interaction through explicit constraints, role separation, and process-aware regulation. Rather than proposing an ethical theory or a normative model of artificial intelligence, COGITO operates as a meta-method: it structures how cognitive tasks are approached, articulated, and validated when AI systems are involved. The framework distinguishes cognitive regimes (rigorous versus exploratory), enforces explicit identification of cognitive phases, and embeds mechanisms for self-verification and procedural stability, thereby preserving human responsibility and decision-making authority. COGITO is grounded in the assumption that epistemic quality in human–AI collaboration does not emerge automatically from technological sophistication but depends on the deliberate design of interactional conditions. By formalizing these conditions, the framework aims to prevent gradual epistemic drift, opacity, and methodological degradation over extended analytical processes. The paper argues that COGITO contributes to contemporary debates in the philosophy of technology by reframing human–AI interaction as a problem of epistemic governance rather than optimization. It offers a transferable methodological perspective applicable across academic, professional, and policy-oriented contexts, where artificial intelligence functions as a cognitive instrument rather than an autonomous epistemic agent.