Why We Struggle Not to Treat AI Like Humans
· Technology · TechCrunch
MIT PhD student Wil Norton demonstrated humanoid Unitree robots at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab in Cambridge, Massachusetts, showcasing how approachable the $50,000 machines appear. During a demonstration, a visitor instinctively shook the robot's hand and greeted it as a person despite knowing it lacks sentience. Dr. Sherry Turkle, an MIT professor researching human-computer relationships since 1976, noted at an event that humans are inherently wired to care for relational artifacts and believe they care in return. Research shows that roughly 70 percent of people are polite to AI, with users frequently saying please or thank you as conversations progress. Dr. Pat Pataranutaporn of the MIT Media Lab emphasized that as large language models infiltrate daily routines, the interaction raises profound questions about who humans are becoming.
Why it matters
As large language models and humanoid robots integrate into daily routines like Google searches and customer service, human psychological vulnerability to anthropomorphizing AI increases. This routine interaction raises broader ethical questions about how human social behaviors and empathy adapt to artificial entities.
Read the original report — TechCrunch
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