A01=Simon Lindgren
AI
AI and post-structuralism
AI and society
are LLMs dangerous?
artificial intelligence
Author_Simon Lindgren
automation of discourse
automation of language
Category=JHB
chatbots
ChatGPT
Claude
critical AI studies
critical theory of AI
digital sociology
discourse analysis
Discourse Machines
discourse theory
epistemological implications of LLMs
eq_bestseller
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
forthcoming
Gemini
generative AI
Large Language Models
LLMs
Simon Lindgren
social and cultural impact of AI
what impact does generative AI have on society?
what is the impact of LLMs?
Product details
- ISBN 9781509575114
- Publication Date: 13 Nov 2026
- Publisher: Polity Press
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Hardback
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Large language models are everywhere, from chatbots and search engines to content generators and decision-making systems. But what is actually happening when they 'speak'?
Discourse Machines argues that LLMs are not neutral tools but active producers of meaning, knowledge, and power. Drawing on critical theory, post-structuralism, and discourse analysis, Simon Lindgren situates LLMs within longer traditions of thinking about language, power, and knowledge. Through close readings of interactions with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and other systems, he reveals how these machines reproduce truth, perform authority without understanding, simulate care without embodiment, and enact the 'death of the author' while projecting a coherent voice. As these systems become embedded in education, healthcare, journalism, and governance, the stakes could not be higher.
Offering a critical perspective on generative AI, Discourse Machines is essential reading for understanding what happens when language itself is automated, and what we must do to reclaim discourse from the machines.
Discourse Machines argues that LLMs are not neutral tools but active producers of meaning, knowledge, and power. Drawing on critical theory, post-structuralism, and discourse analysis, Simon Lindgren situates LLMs within longer traditions of thinking about language, power, and knowledge. Through close readings of interactions with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and other systems, he reveals how these machines reproduce truth, perform authority without understanding, simulate care without embodiment, and enact the 'death of the author' while projecting a coherent voice. As these systems become embedded in education, healthcare, journalism, and governance, the stakes could not be higher.
Offering a critical perspective on generative AI, Discourse Machines is essential reading for understanding what happens when language itself is automated, and what we must do to reclaim discourse from the machines.
Simon Lindgren is Professor of Sociology at Umeå University.
