Not Minds, but Signs: Reframing LLMs through Semiotics

ArXi:2505.17080v3 Announce Type: replace This paper challenges the prevailing tendency to frame Large Language Models (LLMs) as cognitive systems, arguing instead for a semiotic perspective that situates these models within the broader dynamics of sign manipulation and meaning-making. Rather than assuming that LLMs understand language or simulate human thought, we propose that their primary function is to recombine, recontextualize, and circulate linguistic forms based on probabilistic associations.