CONCEPT
Mediator vs Intermediary
Latour's diagnostic distinction between entities that transmit signal unchanged (intermediaries) and those that transform what passes through them (mediators). The framework that exposes Claude as a mediator of extraordinary power — and the amplifier metaphor as the defining misdescription of the AI moment.
An intermediary transports meaning or force without transformation: what enters it exits unchanged, and knowing the input is sufficient to predict the output. A mediator is the opposite. It transforms what passes through it, introducing its own characteristics — biases, tendencies, architectural preferences — into the signal. The output cannot be predicted from the input alone because the mediator contributes something irreducible to the passage. The distinction matters enormously for AI, because the dominant metaphors — tool, amplifier, assistant, conduit — all describe intermediaries, while the actual operation of large language models is the operation of mediators of unprecedented scope. Governance, responsibility, and critical practice all depend on getting this distinction right.
In The You On AI Field Guide
An intermediary is the paradigmatic modern object: a passive conduit whose job is to convey without altering. A telephone wire, idealized, is an intermediary. So is a calculator that performs arithmetic