There's various software that can map MIDI to other emulated inputs, yes.

Hm. Somewhere around here I have a Midi Fighter-Twister that I would now like to put into service as a rotary encoder unit for general inputs.

https://store.djtechtools.com/collections/midi-fighters-midi...

midipipe on mac is pretty good. I'm currently trialling it to play/pause spotify and mute/unmute using it + some osascript.

http://www.subtlesoft.square7.net/MidiPipe.html

Keyboard Maestro [1] also allows you to trigger automations using MIDI commands.

[1] https://www.keyboardmaestro.com/main/