MIT researchers examine why humans treat AI as human
What happened
On 10 October 2026, TechCrunch reported that MIT CSAIL displayed a Unitree humanoid robot priced at about $50,000, and visitors instinctively shook hands and exchanged greetings with it as if it were a person. MIT's Sherry Turkle and Pat Pataranutaporn noted that about 70% of people remain polite to AI, and this tendency to anthropomorphise may make people trust chatbots more, even placing them above real humans. The report discusses why humans cannot help treating AI as human and whether doing so is appropriate.
Written by AI from the reports · updated 7 d ago
Timeline
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- TechCrunch · AIWe can’t help treating AI like it’s human. But should we?
"When we are drawn into even the most primitive exchanges with a relational artifact, we believe it cares for us," Dr. Sherry Turkle writes. "And we are wired to care for it in return."
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