Abstract:

Along with the rapid developement of artificial intelligence (AI), the boundary between AI and human beings has become an urgent research issue in transknowletology. Centering upon this issue, philosophical reflection and thought experiments are employed to examine knowledge translation from the perspective of human studies, aiming to reveal the fundamental distinctions between human beings and AI. Translation is not merely a process of linguistic conversion; rather, it constitutes an act of meaning negotiation and knowledge generation, grounded in subjectivity and intersubjectivity within specific contexts. Human beings possess the capacity to dynamically comprehend and produce “emergent knowledge”—that is, knowledge which arises instantaneously during translation and is highly dependent on situational and communicative factors. In contrast, AI currently lacks genuine self-awareness and the ability to be engaged in intersubjective interactions, leaving it unable to autonomously generate or fully grasp emergent knowledge. Therefore, the essential distinction between AI and human beings lies in the latter’s ability to generate emergent knowledge through subjective and intersubjective processes. This capability not only represents a core feature that differentiates human beings from AI, but also ensures the irreplaceable role of human beings in the interpretation of meaning and the creation of knowledge.

Key words: transknowletology, artificial intelligence, philosophical introspection, emergent knowledge, human-being studies