Who Is Thinking Here? How to Preserve Human Agency in Interactions with Generative AI

This workshop explores the relationship between generative artificial intelligence, knowledge, and individual autonomy. Its aim is to examine how we can maintain an active and reflective role when using generative AI tools, and to consider their impact on processes of learning and knowledge construction.

Drawing on a philosophical reflection on thinking, learning, and the role of tools in shaping knowledge, the workshop introduces key concepts related to generative AI and its uses, with particular attention to the role and responsibility of individuals in their interactions with these technologies.

The workshop then focuses on the relationship between Large Language Models (LLMs) and human agency, understood here as the capacity to act intentionally and guide one’s actions. Particular attention is devoted to epistemic agency, a specific form of human agency concerned with how individuals form and revise their beliefs, interpret experience and evidence, and evaluate claims, as well as with the responsibility they bear for these processes. Participants are invited to reflect on how AI may influence these processes and on the ways individuals can preserve their ability to judge, interpret, and make decisions autonomously.

Finally, the workshop encourages a critical examination of how generative AI is used, fostering a more conscious and deliberate engagement with these tools and supporting active participation in the production and evaluation of knowledge.

Objectives

• Understand: the key concepts, capabilities, and uses of generative AI;
• Reflect: on the role, responsibility, and agency of individuals when interacting with AI systems;
• Examine: how Large Language Models (LLMs) may influence knowledge construction and epistemic agency;
• Explore: the impact of generative AI on cognitive processes involved in learning, including understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating;
• Develop: a more critical, autonomous, and conscious use of generative AI tools.

Target audience

Students

Responsibles and speakers

Speakers

Francesca Antinori, PhD student in Economics and Psychology with experience in AI auditing and governance.

Dates and locations

Period	Location
19.11.2026 from 08:15 to 12:00	B205