Artificial Intelligence and the Crisis of Human Agency: A Posthumanist Study of Samuel Beckett is Waiting for Godot in the Digital Age

Abstract

This study examined the crisis of human agency in Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot through the theoretical lens of posthumanism, with particular emphasis on the implications of artificial intelligence in the digital age. The primary objective was to explore how Beckett’s dramatic representation of waiting, repetition, dependence, and fragmented subjectivity anticipates contemporary concerns regarding technologically mediated human existence. The study adopted a qualitative research design and employed textual analysis to examine selected dialogues, stage directions, characterisation, and symbolic elements in the play. Posthumanist theories and contemporary scholarship on artificial intelligence guided the analysis. The findings revealed that Waiting for Godot challenges the traditional humanist conception of the autonomous individual by portraying agency as relational, distributed, and shaped by external forces. The characters’ persistent waiting, repetitive actions, and dependence on absent or dominant authorities reflect the erosion of autonomous decision-making and parallel the growing influence of artificial intelligence, algorithmic systems, and digital technologies on contemporary human behaviour. Furthermore, the relationship between Pozzo and Lucky illustrates technologically mediated power relations, while the symbolic dependence on external objects anticipates the integration of human cognition with technological systems. The study concludes that Beckett’s play extends beyond existential concerns to offer a compelling posthumanist critique of the changing relationship between humans and intelligent technologies. It demonstrates that Waiting for Godot remains highly relevant for understanding the ethical and philosophical challenges posed by artificial intelligence and the transformation of human agency in the twenty-first century.