We might be particularly vulnerable to treating AI models as beings that act of their own accord. Research into the origins of religious beliefs has found that humans have a built-in tendency to detect agency – intentional and purpose driven action – under certain conditions, regardless of whether there is really any purposeful agent present. In particular, a feeling of awe can make people disregard uncertainty about the existence of an agent and instead commit to a belief. The grander the phenomenon, the more likely we are to imagine an underlying agent that is responsible for it. Large language models may not be conscious, but they are undeniably awe‑inspiring in their potential, and that alone primes the mind to conjure a ghost into the machine.
....
...we need to keep our anthropomorphizing tendencies on a leash. The “mind” behind the screen is a lattice of probabilities owned and optimised by whoever pays the electric bill. Good manners are a fine habit; blind deference is not. If we start treating a polite exchange as implicit evidence of personhood, we risk surrendering moral authority to systems that cannot suffer the consequences of their advice. So go ahead and type “thanks” if it makes the conversation flow. Just remember who is doing the real thinking – and who will be held responsible for following the advice of the reflection in the mirror.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/code-conscience/202504/please-thank-you-and-the-ghost-in-the-machine
halalmoney /
npub1vd…97rjz
2025-05-02 11:17:39
Author Public Key
npub1vdaz78d96t7pjakpfmqqlr4wgq26l6vmkf25782n05qgdgtfmk8s297rjzPublished at
2025-05-02 11:17:39Event JSON
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"content": "We might be particularly vulnerable to treating AI models as beings that act of their own accord. Research into the origins of religious beliefs has found that humans have a built-in tendency to detect agency – intentional and purpose driven action – under certain conditions, regardless of whether there is really any purposeful agent present. In particular, a feeling of awe can make people disregard uncertainty about the existence of an agent and instead commit to a belief. The grander the phenomenon, the more likely we are to imagine an underlying agent that is responsible for it. Large language models may not be conscious, but they are undeniably awe‑inspiring in their potential, and that alone primes the mind to conjure a ghost into the machine.\n\n....\n\n...we need to keep our anthropomorphizing tendencies on a leash. The “mind” behind the screen is a lattice of probabilities owned and optimised by whoever pays the electric bill. Good manners are a fine habit; blind deference is not. If we start treating a polite exchange as implicit evidence of personhood, we risk surrendering moral authority to systems that cannot suffer the consequences of their advice. So go ahead and type “thanks” if it makes the conversation flow. Just remember who is doing the real thinking – and who will be held responsible for following the advice of the reflection in the mirror.\n\nhttps://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/code-conscience/202504/please-thank-you-and-the-ghost-in-the-machine",
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