A Child's View of Intelligent Machines

Alison Gopnik, a psychologist, explores the latest discoveries in human nature science. You can read previous columns by clicking here.

Why are people so quick to treat machines and AI systems, like ChatGPT as if they have intentions, feelings and morals? This tendency is a long-standing one, according to a new study: Children believe that a Roomba and an Alexa are capable of having feelings and thoughts. They should be treated as fellow humans.