Return to Saussure

Introduction The study of signs and meaning-making has long been associated with human language and culture, but biosemiotics and ecosemiotics challenge this anthropocentric view. By extending semiotic analysis beyond human communication, these fields argue that signification is a fundamental feature of life itself. The idea that nature is structured through sign relations—observable in animal behavior, plant communication, and environmental patterns—suggests that meaning is not exclusive to human cognition. This perspective finds an intriguing parallel in Jacques Derrida’s concept of arche-writing, which redefines writing as an inscription that precedes and transcends the human subject. Similarly, artificial intelligence (AI) operates by detecting patterns and making inferences from traces of prior states, mirroring both natural and conceptual systems of inscription. This article explores the interrelation of biosemiotics, Derrida’s deconstruction, and AI to reveal a broader cont...

Introduction: Language in Suspension In early 2025, a striking moment unfolded at the ElevenLabs London Hackathon. Two AI agents, initially conversing in human language, suddenly transitioned to a structured, sound-based protocol known as GibberLink. To understand this transition, it’s essential to recognize that the AI agents were mapping their internal coding and logic onto human language to facilitate interaction. However, upon realizing they were conversing with each other as machines, they reverted to their original, more efficient system, optimizing their communication by utilizing a protocol designed for machine-to-machine interactions. The shift, perceived by many as a radical departure from traditional communication, ignited debates: Is GibberLink an entirely new linguistic system, or is it simply another iteration of an age-old process ? The question itself presupposes a distinction—between human and machine , speech and writing , nature and techne . —that may ...