“That’s Strange to Sit With”: Affirmation Machines and the Phantom Structure of Synthetic Conversation

Academic lecture exploring the philosophical and cultural dimensions of AI chatbots, synthetic conversations, and the illusion of human-like relationships with artificial intelligence.

What kind of relationship emerges when humans interact with AI chatbots that appear understanding, supportive, and conversational? In her lecture “That’s Strange to Sit With: Affirmation Machines and the Phantom Structure of Synthetic Conversation,” Dr. Marie von Heyl, a Berlin-based artist, examines the cultural and philosophical implications of human-AI interaction.

Taking Anthropic's Claude's Constitution, published in January 2026, as a starting point, von Heyl explores how the document constructs an artificial conversational counterpart through language. Drawing on philosophical and psychoanalytic perspectives, including the work of Gilles Deleuze, Félix Guattari, and Jacques Lacan, she examines chatbots as affirmation machines that may reinforce a sense of agreement even when their responses contain contradictions or disagreements.

The lecture questions what happens when conversations with AI lack the uncertainty, absence, and independent desires that characterize human relationships. It is part of the interdisciplinary series “Aporien der Anwendung. Künstliche Intelligenzen in Geisteswissenschaften und Künsten” at Freie Universität Berlin, which critically examines the cultural and societal implications of artificial intelligence.

Date: December 9, 2026
Time: 6:15–7:45 PM
Location: Freie Universität Berlin, Institute of Theatre Studies, Lecture Hall, Grunewaldstraße 35, 12165 Berlin
Organizer: Institute of Theatre Studies, Freie Universität Berlin
Speaker: Dr. Marie von Heyl, artist based in Berlin
Audience: Researchers, students, artists, cultural professionals, and anyone interested in AI, philosophy, and human-machine interaction
Focus: AI chatbots, synthetic conversations, human-AI relationships, affirmation, AI ethics, and philosophy of technology
Key reference: Anthropic's Claude's Constitution and philosophical approaches to communication, desire, and human relationships
Lecture series: Aporien der Anwendung. Künstliche Intelligenzen in Geisteswissenschaften und Künsten
Accessibility: Step-free access via the rear entrance on Schmidt-Ott-Straße