Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her)Jun 1, 2023

Here is another case study in how anthropomorphization feeds AI hype --- and now AI doomerism.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/4a33gj/ai-controlled-drone-goes-rogue-kills-human-operator-in-usaf-simulated-test

The headline starts it off with "Goes Rogue". That's a predicate that is used to describe people, not tools. (Also, I'm fairly sure no one actually died, but the headline could be clearer about that, too.)

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USAF Official Says He ‘Misspoke’ About AI Drone Killing Human Operator in Simulated Test

The Air Force's Chief of AI Test and Operations initially said an AI drone "killed the operator because that person was keeping it from accomplishing its objective."

Show threadGwladys Pendlebury

@emilymbender What do you think is driving the anthropomorphism? MSM, society, the establishment?

We use "what" both as a subject and an object to make questions about things, abstract terms, but not about people. Yet ‘driving’ implies action, motivation, an ability to manipulate the environment. is MSM, society, the establishment single minded entity?

Human cognition and by extension their use of language is complex and interesting.

Jun 2, 2023 at 10:17amWeb