Do You Mind? User Perceptions of Machine Consciousness
International Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems April 19, 2023 A. Scott, Daniel Neumann, J. Niess et al.
Many people already perceive a degree of consciousness in currently available interactive technologies such as GPT-3, a voice chat bot, and a robot vacuum cleaner. A survey of 100 people explored their conceptualizations of consciousness and whether they perceive it in these technologies. Responses revealed dynamic tensions between denial and speculation, thinking and feeling, interaction and experience, control and independence, and rigidity and spontaneity. These tensions can inform future research into perceptions of machine consciousness and the challenges it represents for human-computer interaction, emphasizing the field's importance in an era of machine consciousness, whether real, perceived, or denied.