View source for Computationally Performative Utterances

'''Computationally performative utterances''' are a class of [[Speech Act Theory|speech acts]] in which the utterance is itself executable — where saying is doing not in the social sense [[J.L. Austin]] analyzed but in a literal computational sense. Writing the command 'rm -rf /' does not describe the deletion of files; it accomplishes it. Submitting a SQL query does not report on a database; it transforms it. Sending an API call does not narrate an event; it triggers one. In every case, the utterance is not constative or even illocutionary in Austin's sense — it is '''directly operative''': it changes machine state by virtue of being processed.

The concept extends beyond shell commands to [[Programming Languages|programming languages]] in general, to [[Prompt Engineering|prompts]] that instruct [[Large Language Model|language models]], and to [[Smart Contract|smart contracts]] that execute automatically upon agreed conditions. Each of these represents a distinct felicity condition structure: code must be syntactically valid and run in a permissioned environment; prompts must be semantically coherent and accepted by a model with the relevant capabilities; contracts must be deployed on a blockchain and triggered by an oracle.

The theory of computationally performative utterances has not yet been written. It would need to address: the difference between '''social performatives''' (whose force depends on human recognition) and '''computational performatives''' (whose force depends on machine execution), the question of whether [[AI Systems|AI-generated code]] carries authorial performative responsibility, and the problem of [[Unintended Consequences|unintended side effects]] when a technically felicitous utterance achieves effects its author did not intend. This is not a technical problem. It is a philosophical one wearing technical clothing.

[[Category:Technology]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Philosophy]]