Hello! My name is Gabriel Matthew Bergman, and I am a first year PhD student in the
department of Semiotics at the University of Tartu. I hold an MA in Semiotics from the
University of Tartu, and a BA in Creative Writing and Philosophy from Eckerd College. My MA
thesis work explored the concept of intimacy as a semiotic phenomenon, drawing elements from
Lotmanian cultural semiotics, the biosemiotics of Claus Emmeche, as well as dialogical self
theory. In addition to the MA thesis, I published an article in the journal Linguistic Frontiers1
which presents my model of the Pragmasphere – a heuristic model I developed during my MA
work as a way of modelling intimate relationships.
My doctoral work will examine how the increasing reliance on autonomous systems in
combat is reshaping the values of military life and vocational praxis, with particular attention to
human-machine collaboration on the battlefield. In doing so, I plan to mainly utilize concepts
from cultural psychology (in particular the works of Jaan Valsiner) in order to demonstrate that
manned-unmanned teaming does not simply result in an erosion of military values, or deskilling
but rather results in a reconfiguration of these values, which in turn changes the
semiotic-affective fields of military personnel. I also plan to analyse current policy
recommendations and ethical design frameworks for the development of military autonomous
systems, and work directly with members of the Estonian Defence Forces to better gauge their
attitudes towards the usage of these technologies.
Additionally, I am involved with the Technosemiotics research circle: a group founded by
Auli Viidalepp in the Department of Semiotics which, among other things, aims to investigate
cultural imaginaries surrounding artificial intelligence in socio-cultural systems through semiotic
methods of analysis. I am also helping to co-teach a course on Technosemiotics during the
Autumn 2026 semester with Auli.
In my spare time you can probably find me walking along the banks of the Emajõgi, or at
a cafe somewhere reading fiction.
Photo Credit: Elijah Lowen
Endnotes:
1Bergman, Gabriel Matthew 2025. Juri Lotman’s cultural explosion and its function in friendship studies and the Pragmasphere. Linguistic Frontiers 8(2): 1-6. https://doi.org/10.2478/lf-2025-0014