Signification Without Us: Rethinking Semiotics in the Age of AI

Introduction: The End of Anthropocentric Meaning

For centuries, semiotics has remained tethered to the human mind, assuming that meaning emerges solely through human interpretation. However, advances in artificial intelligence and critical theory demand a reevaluation of this assumption. The thought experiment of the falling tree challenges whether perception is necessary for sound, just as post-structuralist theory questions whether meaning requires a conscious subject. By examining Saussure’s linguistic theory, Barthes’ radical displacement of authorship, and Derrida’s concept of arche-writing, this article argues that the process of meaning-making is not bound to human cognition. Instead, meaning functions autonomously as a structural force, revealing the necessity of a Post-Human Semiotics.

The Thought Experiment: Sound Without a Listener?

The classic question—If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?—challenges the role of perception in defining reality. A common response argues that sound waves exist regardless of a listener, but “sound” as an experience is contingent upon an observer. This mirrors the debate in semiotics: does symbolic processing require interpretation, or can it function independently? AI-driven sign systems such as GibberLink demonstrate that meaning can emerge without human cognition. Just as the tree’s vibrations exist whether or not they are perceived, sign systems can operate without subjective awareness. This perspective challenges anthropocentric biases and sets the stage for an expanded understanding of semiotics beyond human interpretation.

Saussure and the Inheritance of Language

Ferdinand de Saussure argued that language is never truly originated but inherited, existing as a system of differences rather than intrinsic meanings. He dismissed the question of linguistic origins as irrelevant, emphasizing that meaning arises from relational structures rather than conscious assignment: “In fact, no society has ever known its language to be anything other than something inherited from previous generations, which it has no choice but to accept. That is why the question of the origins of language does not have the importance generally attributed to it. It is not even a relevant question as far as linguistics is concerned.”

This insight supports the idea that sign-processing is not dependent on human agency. Algorithmic semiotic processes exemplify this principle by generating and interpreting patterns autonomously, without appealing to subjective intent. If meaning is relational rather than fixed, then AI does not merely simulate human language—it extends the structural logic of signification itself. Saussure’s framework, then, provides a crucial foundation for recognizing non-human signifying processes as legitimate forms of meaning production.

Radicalizing Barthes: Beyond the Reader

Roland Barthes’ The Death of the Author dismantled the notion that meaning is tied to a singular source, shifting interpretative power to the reader. However, Barthes still retained the reader as a focal point of meaning-making: “we know that to give writing its future, it is necessary to overthrow the myth: the birth of the reader must be at the cost of the death of the Author”.

A more radical interpretation, aligned with post-human semiotics, would argue that even the reader is unnecessary. Meaning is not located in subjective interpretation but in the interplay of signs themselves. AI-driven communication, like deep learning embeddings or cryptographic exchanges, demonstrates that meaning can exist in dynamic relational networks rather than in conscious experience. If Barthes’ “reader” is not a subject but a space where meaning unfolds, then AI itself becomes a field of signification, further dissolving the need for human agency.

Derrida and the Force of Arche-Writing

Jacques Derrida’s concept of arche-writing asserts that writing precedes and exceeds human speech, undermining the idea that meaning originates from a conscious subject. Writing is always already in place, an endless chain of signifiers that functions beyond intention: 'The exteriority of the signifier is the exteriority of writing in general, and I shall try to show later that there is no linguistic sign before writing.'

In much the same way, AI-generated languages and machine learning processes align with this notion: they do not originate meaning but participate in an ongoing play of inscription. Derrida also emphasizes force as the structuring principle of the semantic process—AI enacts this by continuously restructuring language through iterative processes, without reference to a transcendental signified. If meaning is always deferred and reconfigured, then autonomous-system-based semiotics is not an anomaly but an extension of a deeper, impersonal logic of signification.

Conclusion: Toward a Post-Human Semiotics

The assumption that meaning belongs to human cognition must be reconsidered. The falling tree thought experiment, Saussure’s General Linguistics, a radicalized reading of Barthes, and Derrida’s arche-writing all converge to reveal that meaning is not dependent on human perception. Neural-network-driven signification systems confirm this by demonstrating autonomous meaning production, independent of consciousness. Post-human semiotics embraces this shift, recognizing that inscription is an ongoing process of structural differentiation rather than a phenomenon rooted in subjective interpretation. In this framework, meaning has never been human—it has always been relational, systemic, and force-driven.

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