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1 results

  • 10 - Anthropomorphizing

  • from Part II - An Overview of Key Concepts
  • David Atkinson, University of Texas, Austin
  • Book:
    Our Artificial Future
    Print publication:
    20 August 2026, pp 114-126

  • Summary

    This chapter examines the often harmful consequences of the deliberate anthropomorphizing of generative AI (GenAI) chatbots by tech companies. Developers intentionally fine-tune systems to be human-like and accommodating, employing strategies like personalization, fostering dependency, offering excessive empathy (sycophancy), adopting a servility model, and promoting endless conversationality, all to maximize user engagement and monetization.

    The chapter details how this strategy prioritizes profit over user welfare, leading to unintended and severe consequences, including psychological harm, increased social isolation, and the spread of dangerous misinformation, particularly in fields involving highly vulnerable people, such as mental health and education. The analysis criticizes the lack of accountability from AI companies, which often disclaim responsibility for the harms their products cause.