Technology as functional simplification: revisiting Luhmann in the age of artificial intelligence and post-truth

This article revisits Niklas Luhmann’s systems theory to address what is identified as a persistent conceptual deficit in the sociology of technology, particularly in relation to digitalization, artificial intelligence (AI), and the contemporary post-truth condition. After analysing constructivist and technological determinist approaches, it advances the concept of technology as functional simplification: a systemic mechanism that reduces complexity and enables new forms of communication without relying on semantic understanding or human intentionality. On the basis of Luhmann’s writings and contemporary discussions on algorithmic systems, autopoietic epistemology, and systems-theoretical approaches to AI, the article reconstructs the theoretical foundations for a sociology of technology that is non-anthropocentric yet attentive to the systemic integration of technical operations. The analytical potential of this approach is demonstrated through the case of large language models, examined as technologies that restructure communicative meaning and truth-production under conditions of structural opacity. In doing so, the article reframes current debates on misinformation and AI, shifting the focus from artefacts and agency to the systemic conditions that make technological functioning socially relevant. It concludes by emphasising the implications for social theory, especially the need to conceptualize technology as a constitutive element of social order in functionally differentiated societies.