Artificial Intelligence and Embodiment: Conceptual borrowing and semantic drift

In special education, learning is closely tied to bodily experience. The body is seen as central to the perception-action process, and learning is understood as a social and em-bodied phenomenon (Merleau-Ponty, 1945; Vygotsky, 1934). Artificial Intelligence, by con-trast, suggests that cognition can take place in digital systems without a physical body, im-plying a perspective that overlooks the role of embodiment. This tension stems from differing interpretations of the term “intelligence” and reveals a case of conceptual borrowing: the adoption of terms from neighboring fields to build the vocabulary of emerging disciplines. Conceptual borrowing is not a neutral act. Borrowed terms carry with them a “conceptual baggage” that can shape and sometimes distort understanding in the borrowing field (Floridi & Nobre, 2024). This paper examines these dynamics and explores their potential impact on educational practices and on the understanding of learning processes