Indexical Collapse: Reference Disappears, Authority Remains in Predictive Systems
Indexical Collapse: Reference Disappears, Authority Remains in Predictive Systems
This article introduces the concept of Indexical Collapse, the disappearance of reference in predictive systems. Indexical such as pronouns, demonstratives, and tenses presuppose a contextual anchor, yet predictive language models reproduce them without connection to reality. The outcome is a collapse of reference that paradoxically produces authority effects in law, medicine, and governance. By analyzing judicial transcripts, medical reports, institutional records, and chatbot interactions generated by AI, the paper proposes a framework for pragmatic auditing of predictive outputs. It establishes thresholds for acceptable referential absence in critical domains, positioning Indexical Collapse as a central category for evaluating the legitimacy of predictive discourse. DOI Primary archive: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17226412 Secondary archive: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.30233950 SSRN: Pending assignment (ETA: Q3 2025)
- Universidad La República Chile
- Universidad de la Empresa Uruguay
- University of Palermo Argentina
Healthcare Disparities/history, Artificial Intelligence/legislation & jurisprudence, Microwave technology, Anesthetists/ethics, Linguistics/legislation & jurisprudence, Machine ciphers, Science/history, Data science, Supervised Machine Learning/economics, Indifferentism (Ethics) in literature, Ethics Committees/ethics, Abortion, Legal/ethics, Healthcare Financing, Tertiary Healthcare/standards, Technology/instrumentation, Abused women--Legal status, laws, etc., Linguistics/standards, Philosophy, Medical/history, Science/standards, Artificial Intelligence/ethics, Supervised Machine Learning/ethics, Machine guns, Linguistics/methods, Liability, Legal, Linguistics/education, Supervised Machine Learning/classification, Abused wives--Legal status, laws, etc., Machine Learning/trends, FOS: Philosophy, ethics and religion, Water science, Allied health personnel--Professional ethics, Machine Learning/history, Embroidery, Machine, Communism and linguistics, Healthcare Disparities/trends, Accounting--Professional ethics, Supervised Machine Learning, Physical science, Information Technology, Legal research--Automation, Energy technology, Science/education, Humidifiers/ethics, History of philosophy, Artificial Intelligence/economics, Science, Supervised Machine Learning/trends, Technology/education, Linguistics/ethics, Technology/methods, Philosophy, ethics and religion, Machine theory, Food technology, Tertiary Healthcare/trends, Unsupervised Machine Learning/economics, Drum machine, Science/instrumentation, Applied science, Machine learning, Comparative linguistics, Unsupervised Machine Learning/trends, Agreement (legal), Philosophy, Nursing, Artificial Intelligence/trends, Philosophy, Medical, Medieval philosophy, Machine Learning/legislation & jurisprudence, Anaphora (Linguistics), Tertiary Healthcare/ethnology, Tertiary Healthcare, Ethics Committees, Clinical/ethics, Proteogenomics/ethics, Neuropathology/ethics, Environmental technology, Defamation/ethics, Science/trends, Materials science, Artificial Intelligence/supply & distribution, Military Science, Human science, Cartesian linguistics, Accounting/ethics, Legal text, Linguistics/statistics & numerical data, Machine Learning/ethics, Artificial intelligence, Technology, Areal linguistics, Artificial Intelligence/statistics & numerical data, Applied linguistics--Data processing, Comparative linguistics--Statistical methods, Philosophy/history, Near Miss, Healthcare, Philosophy, Dental/history, Artificial Intelligence/standards, Machine Learning, Linguistics/history, Cohesion (Linguistics), Alcoholism counselors--Professional ethics, Legal Guardians, Heuristics/ethics, Legal profession, Modern philosophy, Archaisms (Linguistics), Healthcare Disparities/economics, Machine Learning/standards, Machine shops, Linguistics/trends, Science/ethics, Legal Services/education, Clean technology, Legal photography--History, Behavioural science, Machine quilting, Abused children--Legal status, laws, etc.--U.S. states, Healthcare Disparities/classification, Computational science, Healthcare Disparities/ethics, Philosophy of language, Machine parts, Machine Learning/supply & distribution, Legal regulation, Abortion, Legal/standards, Ancient philosophy, Analogy (Linguistics), Linguistics/classification, Linguistics/organization & administration, Philosophy, Dental, Accountants--Legal status, laws, etc., Legal Services/ethics, Technology Addiction, Unsupervised Machine Learning/ethics, Philosophy, Nursing/history, Legal basis, Ethics Consultation/ethics, Artificial Intelligence/classification, Abortion, Legal, Legal system, Justification (Ethics), Christian Science, Satellite technology, Causative (Linguistics), Legal remedy, Machine-to-machine communications, Machine appliqué, Combination (Linguistics), Disruptive Technology, Tertiary Healthcare/history, Machine knitting, Applied linguistics--Research, Artificial Intelligence/history, Ethnic Violence/ethics, Science journalism, Artificial Intelligence, Healthcare Disparities, Categorization (Linguistics), Abortion, Legal/veterinary, Technology, Radiologic, Legal procedure, Technology/classification, Ethics, Legal Epidemiology, Tertiary Healthcare/methods, Ethnic Cleansing/ethics, Linguistics/economics, Technology/trends, Linguistics, Thoracentesis/ethics, Machine Learning/economics, Materials technology, Philosophy, Electrocorticography/ethics, Unsupervised Machine Learning/standards, Political philosophy, AIDS (Disease)--Patients--Legal status, laws, etc., Applied linguistics--Statistical methods, Componential analysis (Linguistics), Accountants--Professional ethics, Machine design, FOS: Languages and literature, Cognitive Science, Linguistics/instrumentation, Abortion, Legal/economics, Legal Services, Competence and performance (Linguistics), Administrative Claims, Healthcare, Unsupervised Machine Learning
Healthcare Disparities/history, Artificial Intelligence/legislation & jurisprudence, Microwave technology, Anesthetists/ethics, Linguistics/legislation & jurisprudence, Machine ciphers, Science/history, Data science, Supervised Machine Learning/economics, Indifferentism (Ethics) in literature, Ethics Committees/ethics, Abortion, Legal/ethics, Healthcare Financing, Tertiary Healthcare/standards, Technology/instrumentation, Abused women--Legal status, laws, etc., Linguistics/standards, Philosophy, Medical/history, Science/standards, Artificial Intelligence/ethics, Supervised Machine Learning/ethics, Machine guns, Linguistics/methods, Liability, Legal, Linguistics/education, Supervised Machine Learning/classification, Abused wives--Legal status, laws, etc., Machine Learning/trends, FOS: Philosophy, ethics and religion, Water science, Allied health personnel--Professional ethics, Machine Learning/history, Embroidery, Machine, Communism and linguistics, Healthcare Disparities/trends, Accounting--Professional ethics, Supervised Machine Learning, Physical science, Information Technology, Legal research--Automation, Energy technology, Science/education, Humidifiers/ethics, History of philosophy, Artificial Intelligence/economics, Science, Supervised Machine Learning/trends, Technology/education, Linguistics/ethics, Technology/methods, Philosophy, ethics and religion, Machine theory, Food technology, Tertiary Healthcare/trends, Unsupervised Machine Learning/economics, Drum machine, Science/instrumentation, Applied science, Machine learning, Comparative linguistics, Unsupervised Machine Learning/trends, Agreement (legal), Philosophy, Nursing, Artificial Intelligence/trends, Philosophy, Medical, Medieval philosophy, Machine Learning/legislation & jurisprudence, Anaphora (Linguistics), Tertiary Healthcare/ethnology, Tertiary Healthcare, Ethics Committees, Clinical/ethics, Proteogenomics/ethics, Neuropathology/ethics, Environmental technology, Defamation/ethics, Science/trends, Materials science, Artificial Intelligence/supply & distribution, Military Science, Human science, Cartesian linguistics, Accounting/ethics, Legal text, Linguistics/statistics & numerical data, Machine Learning/ethics, Artificial intelligence, Technology, Areal linguistics, Artificial Intelligence/statistics & numerical data, Applied linguistics--Data processing, Comparative linguistics--Statistical methods, Philosophy/history, Near Miss, Healthcare, Philosophy, Dental/history, Artificial Intelligence/standards, Machine Learning, Linguistics/history, Cohesion (Linguistics), Alcoholism counselors--Professional ethics, Legal Guardians, Heuristics/ethics, Legal profession, Modern philosophy, Archaisms (Linguistics), Healthcare Disparities/economics, Machine Learning/standards, Machine shops, Linguistics/trends, Science/ethics, Legal Services/education, Clean technology, Legal photography--History, Behavioural science, Machine quilting, Abused children--Legal status, laws, etc.--U.S. states, Healthcare Disparities/classification, Computational science, Healthcare Disparities/ethics, Philosophy of language, Machine parts, Machine Learning/supply & distribution, Legal regulation, Abortion, Legal/standards, Ancient philosophy, Analogy (Linguistics), Linguistics/classification, Linguistics/organization & administration, Philosophy, Dental, Accountants--Legal status, laws, etc., Legal Services/ethics, Technology Addiction, Unsupervised Machine Learning/ethics, Philosophy, Nursing/history, Legal basis, Ethics Consultation/ethics, Artificial Intelligence/classification, Abortion, Legal, Legal system, Justification (Ethics), Christian Science, Satellite technology, Causative (Linguistics), Legal remedy, Machine-to-machine communications, Machine appliqué, Combination (Linguistics), Disruptive Technology, Tertiary Healthcare/history, Machine knitting, Applied linguistics--Research, Artificial Intelligence/history, Ethnic Violence/ethics, Science journalism, Artificial Intelligence, Healthcare Disparities, Categorization (Linguistics), Abortion, Legal/veterinary, Technology, Radiologic, Legal procedure, Technology/classification, Ethics, Legal Epidemiology, Tertiary Healthcare/methods, Ethnic Cleansing/ethics, Linguistics/economics, Technology/trends, Linguistics, Thoracentesis/ethics, Machine Learning/economics, Materials technology, Philosophy, Electrocorticography/ethics, Unsupervised Machine Learning/standards, Political philosophy, AIDS (Disease)--Patients--Legal status, laws, etc., Applied linguistics--Statistical methods, Componential analysis (Linguistics), Accountants--Professional ethics, Machine design, FOS: Languages and literature, Cognitive Science, Linguistics/instrumentation, Abortion, Legal/economics, Legal Services, Competence and performance (Linguistics), Administrative Claims, Healthcare, Unsupervised Machine Learning
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