17th March 2026

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What does the philosopher Wittgenstein have to do with chatbots? Well, Wittgenstein’s ideas on language and reality can help us understand whether they could ever really think. The Austrian philosopher’s ideas suggest that chatbots merely imitate humans by learning patterns from large text data, whereas humans involve their own consciousness and subjectivity. But for Wittgenstein, language is also defined by public use rather than private intention—so maybe your ChatGPT therapist is still somewhat grounded in reality.

In today’s culture piece, Tom Clark explores what Wittgenstein would have said about AI through the lens of a new biography written by Anthony Gottlieb. Clark writes: “Some enthuse that, as tech outstrips human capabilities, chatbots will have to be credited with a mind of their own. Others deny anything of the sort, regarding the very term “artificial intelligence” as a misnomer for a conjuring trick based on fancy cut-and-paste operations”.

It’s the first biography on Wittgenstein in 35 years, as no one dared touched it after the success of Ray Monk’s attempt in 1990. If you don’t fancy the 700 pages, Monk has also written for Prospect on Wittgenstein on why his philosophy remains relevant (although this piece itself is from 1999…).

If you want to read to more on the capabilities of robot-minds, check out this piece by Philip Ball from 2023. Ball tackles the big question—can machines think?—and chronologises how AI has developed over time.

Now if your brain isn’t too strained after reading all of that, our latest People piece with comedian Bill Bailey will cheer you up. Regarded as a bit of an oddball, Bailey tells Graeme Green: “I had long hair and a beard. In reviews, people would say, ‘He lives in Middle Earth.’ People love to put a label on you.” Insistent on not making the typical celeb-podcaster pipeline, you can find Bailey on BBC One’s Extraordinary Portraits instead.

I don’t know about you, but I need another coffee after such a philosophy-heavy Lightbulb! Get in touch at kathryn.schoon@prospectmagazine.co.uk.

Kathryn Schoon

Assistant audience editor