The benefits and dangers of anthropomorphic conversational agents

A growing body of research suggests that the recent generation of large language model (LLMs) excel, and in many cases outpace humans, at writing persuasively and empathetically, at inferring user traits from text, and at mimicking human-like conversation believably and effectively-without possessing any true empathy or social understanding. We refer to these systems as "anthropomorphic conversational agents" to aptly conceptualize the ability of LLM-based systems to mimic human communication so convincingly that they become increasingly indistinguishable from human interlocutors. This ability challenges the many efforts that caution against "anthropomorphizing" LLMs, attaching human-like qualities to nonhuman…

• NS
  National Science Foundation

  Award: 2120496
• IO
  Institute of Museum and Library Services
• JS
  John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

  Award: G-2019-58788
• UO
  University of Washington