We can't help treating AI like a person, but should we?

MIT CSAIL and MIT Media Lab researchers Sherry Turkle and Pat Pataranutaporn discuss why humans instinctively anthropomorphize robots and large language models: one study shows about 70% of people remain polite when speaking to AI, and another study shows that users say "please" and "thank you" more often after the conversation goes beyond the first round of prompts. Pataranutaporn participated as an expert in the wrongful death lawsuit in which Character.AI was sued over the suicide of 14-year-old Sewell Setzer III, and he said these companies have not responded in an ethical or responsible manner. Turkle argues that chatbots should "stay in their lane," saying uses such as interview coaching are acceptable, but impersonating a young child's parents crosses the line.