Criticism and A.I.deology: problemi di interpretazione

This chapter investigates the status and future of literary criticism in the age of generative artificial intelligence by reframing the debate through the lens of ideology. Starting from the long-declared “death” of both the author and the critic, the essay interrogates whether contemporary AI systems—particularly Large Language Models capable of producing literary texts—represent a definitive rupture for critical interpretation or, conversely, an opportunity for its reconfiguration. Drawing on Terry Eagleton’s theory of ideology as a pre-textual and structuring force, the chapter argues that AI-generated literature, despite lacking intentionality and embodied experience, is far from ideologically neutral. Through a dialogue with hermeneutics, aesthetic theory, and Marxist criticism, the analysis explores the concepts of sense, proprium of the human, and necessity in relation to artificial creativity, highlighting the limits imposed by the absence of historical “thrownness.” A case study on short horror narratives generated by different LLMs demonstrates how ideological assumptions—such as transhumanism, surveillance capitalism, and techno-progressivism—are nevertheless reproduced through training data and meta-authorial design choices. The chapter ultimately contends that literary criticism remains essential as a tool for unveiling the hidden ideological frameworks embedded in AI-generated texts, positioning the critic as a key mediator between algorithmic production, cultural meaning, and power structures.