Should you say, “Thank you” to AI?
There is a line of humorous memes where people are extra polite to AI devices because they believe they will get special treatment if the robots take over in the future.
I acknowledge that AI as we know it does not care or need polite treatment. But according to this research, how you talk to bots seems to have a carry-over effect to how you treat human beings.
The paper “Ascribing consciousness to artificial intelligence: human-AI interaction and its carry-over effects on human-human interaction” by Rose E. Guingrich and Michael S. A. Graziano explores how people often attribute consciousness to artificial intelligence (AI) in human-like forms, even though AI lacks subjective experience. This ascription can influence human behavior, carrying over to how individuals interact with other people. The research reviews mechanisms like schema activation, suggesting that AI’s human-like traits can affect trust, empathy, and social behaviors. The paper argues for considering the societal and moral implications of AI interactions, independent of whether AI is truly conscious.
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