GoKawiilLMU study: people deny AI consciousness even when it mimics human behavior exactly
Researchers at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, led by Dr. Louis Longin and Dr. Ophelia Deroy, surveyed almost 1,100 participants on whether artificial agents and humans possess mental states after being shown identical descriptions of behavior, such as reacting to sounds or recognizing others' emotions. Published in Cognition, the study found participants consistently attributed less consciousness to AI than to humans performing the same actions under the same conditions.
GoKawiil's interpretation of the reporting above, not reported fact.
The findings suggest people separate judgments about intelligent-seeming behavior from judgments about genuine inner experience, which could shape how society debates AI rights, trust, and regulation as machines grow more capable of mimicking human responses. Deroy's comment that people may use mental-state language for AI simply because 'we lack better words' implies current vocabulary could be misleading public perception of what AI actually is. This distinction may also influence how courts, policymakers, and companies frame accountability when AI systems act autonomously.
- Study involved nearly 1,100 participants comparing attributions of mental states to AI versus humans under identical scenarios.
- Researchers found people consistently judge AI as less conscious than humans even with identical behavior.
- Authors suggest human-like language used for AI may stem from vocabulary limits rather than belief in true consciousness.
Source: sciencedaily.com, 2026-10-14
Published there as: “AI can act exactly like a human, but we still don't think it's conscious”
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