Abstract:

The notion that the digital turn primarily signals a shift in human consciousness is widespread among contemporary philosophers. However, identifying the nature of this shift and significant evidence for its presence has proven elusive for many years. The recent emergence of Generative AI (GAI) strongly underscores the revolutionary aspects of the digital era and its profound impact on our perception and understanding of the world. Understanding this transformative shift is crucial, particularly in domains like education. Our study delves into digital epistemology, aiming to characterize how education and people's understanding of the world have evolved since the digital transformation, notably with the advent of GAI.

The theoretical foundation of our approach lies in postphenomenology, examining the intricate relations between humans, technology, and the surrounding world. Departing from conventional epistemology, we replace separated subjects and objects with a shared experience of being in the world, overcoming the dominance of the traditional, substantial worldview by adopting an alternative, relational approach.

This paper explores a pedagogical approach grounded in constructionism as a viable methodology for learning in the digital age. Within constructionism, learners' relationships with technology are integral, allowing children to construct knowledge in an embodied way with a computer. A key concept in our study is “objects-to-think-with," as introduced by Papert, referring to any tool or resource that learners can use to explore and develop their understanding of a particular concept or domain.

Our study posits that AI-powered chatbots, like ChatGPT, are prospective "objects-to-think-with" in the AI era, marking the evolution of the digital age. Another important concept in our study is "bricolage" introduced by Turkle and Papert as an interaction with a computer reflecting a "soft" epistemology. They characterized "bricoleur" programmers and compared them to painters, sculptors, and writers guided by their work as they go along rather than adhering to a predetermined plan. Presently, dialogues with ChatGPT, with their reflective and associative nature, exemplify a "bricoleur conversation." Ideas and knowledge evolve nonlinearly, constituting a human and machine co-construction - a bricolage epistemology in practice.

Based on interviews with experts in education, digital technologies, and educational leadership, our study reveals the essential role of bricoleur epistemology in contemporary learning activities and the shift in experts' beliefs. The study results suggest that the epistemological shift in the AI age becomes evident when ChatGPT is employed as an object-to-think-with. It embodies Turkle and Papert's "soft" bricoleur epistemology, moving away from traditional linear and "substantial prior"-based thinking towards co-constructed relations between humans and technology, shaping knowledge through their reflective dialogue. We see these findings as a significant basis for developing and implementing new learning and teaching methods in which GAI has an integral part.

Keywords:

Digital epistemology, Constructionism, Generative AI.