The Internet in the Artificial Intelligence Age: a New Logic of Access to Knowledge and its Cognitive Consequences
Abstract
The article analyzes the transformation of the Internet in the context of the development of generative artificial intelligence (AI). It argues that the contemporary digital environment is gradually shifting away from the navigational model, in which users independently search for, select, and compare sources, and is acquiring the features of a delivery model, where information is provided through personalized feeds, recommendations, and generated responses. This shift in the logic of access to knowledge is shown to be accompanied by a transformation of cognitive practices: a number of operations related to the search, synthesis, and interpretation of information are delegated to algorithmic systems, while user activity increasingly focuses on refining, selecting, and editing ready-made outputs. Particular attention is paid to changes in the field of creativity. The concept of algorithmically mediated creativity is proposed to describe such a new form of creative activity in which algorithmic systems generate a range of possible solutions, while humans perform the functions of directing, evaluating, combining, and editing them. These processes are found to have significant social implications, including changes in the user’s role, the rethinking of subject autonomy, the risks of standardization in cultural production, and transformations in the ways of interacting with information online. The article also examines the impact of algorithmic mediation on the structure of the information environment, particularly the intensification of filtering, personalization, and the fragmentation of public discourse. It is emphasized that the growing role of generative systems reshapes the nature of trust in information, as the boundary between what is created and what is reproduced becomes less apparent to the user. The study demonstrates that the development of AI transforms not only the technological forms of access to knowledge, but also the cognitive and social mechanisms of its acquisition and production.artificial intelligence
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References
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