CHAPTER 15

Having an Affair With Your Own Image

Jacques Lacan’s mirror stage is an apt metaphor for the way in which we see AI within the firm.1 A child at six months is able to recognize itself in a mirror prior to the attainment of body control. The child experiences contrast of the whole picture with its lack of coordination, and the contrast is seen as a rivalry with its image.

The mirror stage involves strain between subject and image. The child identifies with the image as a means of resolving tension. The moment of identification leads to a sense of mastery. A child need only look at Mother for what constitutes omnipotence at this stage of life. Happiness is replaced by the baby’s realization that the mirrored ideal with which it identifies ...

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