The power of language: framing AI as an assistant, collaborator, or transformative force in cultural discourse

The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) has not only transformed technological capabilities, but also reshaped cultural narratives, public discourse, and policy agendas. Drawing on general semantics and media ecology, this paper examines how key terms such as cognitive offloading, augmented intelligence, and co-intelligence operate as rhetorical frames that shape public understanding, ethical reasoning, and governance of AI. Using Alfred Korzybski’s structural differential, the analysis maps how AI discourse moves from unspeakable technical realities to increasingly abstract inferential frames, often introducing semantic misalignments that exaggerate or obscure AI’s actual capabilities. A media ecology perspective reveals how these linguistic framings are embedded in broader technological and cultural environments, reinforcing particular imaginaries while foreclosing others. By integrating general semantics and media ecology, this paper provides a framework for analyzing the semantic environments through which AI is understood, regulated, and integrated into society.