Digital Authenticity and Cultural Subjectivity: Ethical Scrutiny and Practical Paths of Generative AI in the Living Inheritance of Qiaoxiang Intangible Cultural Heritage

Abstract

In the era of transition from digitalization to intelligence, Generative Artificial Intelligence (AIGC) acts as a technological force with ontological significance, deeply intervening in the field of living inheritance of Qiaoxiang (hometowns of overseas Chinese) Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH). While this intervention empowers cultural production and communication, it also triggers profound ethical anxiety: Does the "simulacra" generated by algorithms disintegrate the "authenticity" of ICH? Does the expansion of technological rationality lead to the sinking of the "cultural subjectivity" of inheritors? Based on the cultural ecology of Jiangmen Qiaoxiang, this paper integrates theoretical perspectives from philosophy of technology, media ecology, and cultural sociology to examine the ethical dilemmas of AIGC intervention in ICH inheritance. The study points out that Generative AI has induced a cognitive shift from "historical authenticity" to "digital authenticity," as well as a transfer of power from "endogenous subjects" to "algorithmic agents." Facing ethical risks such as "hallucinatory narratives," "algorithmic bias," and "bodily absence," we must transcend mere techno-optimism and construct an ethical regulation and practical path based on "human-machine collaboration." By establishing the status of inheritors as value legislators, constructing a dual-drive mechanism of "Knowledge Graph + Large Model" in vertical fields, and reshaping the inheritance field of the dialectical unity of "embodiment and disembodiment," we can achieve reconciliation between technological logic and cultural logic, ensuring the living continuation and subjective reshaping of Qiaoxiang ICH in the digital age.