Survey Finds Two Thirds of us Believe Chatbots Are Conscious
August 2, 2024
Well this is enlightening. TechSpot reports, “Survey Shows Many People Believe AI Chatbots Like ChatGPT Are Conscious.” And by many, writer Rob Thubron means two-thirds of those surveyed by researchers at the University of Waterloo. Two-thirds! We suppose it is no surprise the general public has this misconception. After all, even an AI engineer was famously convinced his company’s creation was sentient. We learn:
“The survey asked 300 people in the US if they thought ChatGPT could have the capacity for consciousness and the ability to make plans, reason, feel emotions, etc. They were also asked how often they used OpenAI’s product. Participants had to rate ChatGPT responses on a scale of 1 to 100, where 100 would mean absolute confidence that ChatGPT was experiencing consciousness, and 1 absolute confidence it was not. The results showed that the more someone used ChatGPT, the more they were likely to believe it had some form of consciousness. ‘These results demonstrate the power of language,’ said Dr. Clara Colombatto, professor of psychology at Waterloo’s Arts faculty, ‘because a conversation alone can lead us to think that an agent that looks and works very differently from us can have a mind.’”
That is a good point. And these “agents” will only get more convincing even as more of us interact with them more often. It is encouraging that some schools are beginning to implement AI Literacy curricula. These programs include important topics like how to effectively work with AI, when to double-check its conclusions, and a rundown of ethical considerations. More to the point here, they give students a basic understanding of what is happening under the hood.
But it seems we need a push for adults to educate themselves, too. Even a basic understanding of machine learning and LLMs would help. It will take effort to thwart our natural tendency to anthropomorphize, which is reinforced by AI hype. That is important, because when we perceive AI to think and feel as we do, we change how we interact with it. The write-up notes:
“The study, published in the journal Neuroscience of Consciousness, states that this belief could impact people who interact with AI tools. On the one hand, it may strengthen social bonds and increase trust. But it may also lead to emotional dependence on the chatbots, reduce human interactions, and lead to an over-reliance on AI to make critical decisions.”
Soon we might even find ourselves catering to perceived needs of our software (or the actual goals of the firms that make them) instead of using them as inanimate tools. Is that a path we really want to go down? Is it too late to avoid it?
Cynthia Murrell, August 2, 2024
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