Conspiracy Theories as Culturally Evolved Epistemologies: A Perspective for the Age of AI

Conspiracy theories are widespread, varied, and socially consequential. While research has identified psychological and social correlates of conspiracy endorsement, debate continues over whether there is a general predisposition toward conspiratorial thinking and whether it should be treated as pathological. We argue that dominant theoretical efforts overlook the cultural dynamics that sustain conspiratorial worldviews. By reviewing empirical and philosophical work, we propose that conspiracy theories are best understood as culturally evolved epistemologies—frameworks that can prescribe what counts as evidence, who is trustworthy, and how to handle disconfirmation. Drawing on cultural evolutionary theory and network psychometrics, we show how this perspective can explain the persistence of conspiracy subcultures, their diversity, and their integration with broader belief systems. Finally, we discuss how artificial intelligence can accelerate the spread of conspiracy narratives, increasingly become the subject of new conspiracy theories, and at the same time offer novel tools for mapping, analyzing, and countering them.