Researchers from Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich conducted a study involving nearly 1,100 participants to analyze how people perceive artificial intelligence. The findings indicate that while individuals readily attribute awareness to AI, they consistently deny it consciousness, regardless of how human-like the model's behavior appears.
In the experiment, participants evaluated scenarios where both AI and humans responded to environmental sounds and emotions. While AI models received high awareness ratings comparable to humans, their consciousness scores remained significantly lower than those of even the least responsive human subjects.
The study, published in the journal Cognition, highlights a discrepancy between public discourse and actual human perception. Authors suggest that people use anthropomorphic language for AI primarily due to a lack of better terminology, rather than a genuine belief in machine sentience.
Experts note that the term awareness is often used as a convenient substitute for consciousness. However, researchers warn that this linguistic shift may lead to a reductionist view of human consciousness, as society attempts to fit AI into existing mental frameworks.
