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Multiple philosophical traditions\u2014post-phenomenology, extended mind theory, and distributed cognition\u2014have independently converged on this question, yet each reaches toward the developmental dimension without the theoretical resources to resolve it. This paper argues that the convergence reveals a structural gap: existing frameworks can describe how technologies mediate experience but lack the developmental apparatus to specify what determines whether a given encounter builds internal capacity or substitutes for it. Drawing on object relations theory\u2014particularly Winnicott, Bion, and Bollas\u2014the paper develops the Dynamic Transitional Object (DTO): a relational framework specifying the conditions under which AI interaction produces development rather than erosion. The framework identifies metabolization\u2014the transformation of AI-generated material into owned thought\u2014as the differentiating process, and epistemic seduction\u2014the designed pull toward bypassing that work\u2014as the structural force opposing it. What determines the outcome is not the technology but the relational\u2013epistemic stance. When institutional evaluative frameworks cannot distinguish genuine capacity from its convincing performance, the developmental question ceases to be individual.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1007\/s00146-026-02984-0","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,19]],"date-time":"2026-03-19T06:38:27Z","timestamp":1773902307000},"page":"5027-5042","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["The relational\u2013epistemic stance: generative AI as a dynamic transitional object"],"prefix":"10.1007","volume":"41","author":[{"given":"Roi","family":"Ezra","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Moshe","family":"Mishali","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,19]]},"reference":[{"key":"2984_CR1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s11097-025-10094-3","author":"XE Barandiaran","year":"2025","unstructured":"Barandiaran XE, Almendros LS (2025) Transforming agency: on the mode of existence of large language models. 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