How AI’s Self-Prolongation Influences People’s Perceptions of Its Autonomous Mind: The Case of U.S. Residents

Abstract

The expanding integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in various aspects of society makes the infosphere around us increasingly complex. Humanity already faces many obstacles trying to have a better understanding of our own minds, but now we have to continue finding ways to make sense of the minds of AI. The issue of AI’s capability to have independent thinking is of special attention. When dealing with such an unfamiliar concept, people may rely on existing human properties, such as survival desire, to make assessments. Employing information-processing-based Bayesian Mindsponge Framework (BMF) analytics on a dataset of 266 residents in the United States, we found that the more people believe that an AI agent seeks continued functioning, the more they believe in that AI agent’s capability of having a mind of its own. Moreover, we also found that the above association becomes stronger if a person is more familiar with personally interacting with AI. This suggests a directional pattern of value reinforcement in perceptions of AI. As the information processing of AI becomes even more sophisticated in the future, it will be much harder to set clear boundaries about what it means to have an autonomous mind.

Development and validation of the AI attitude scale (AIAS-4): a brief measure of general attitude toward artificial intelligence

“…The expansion of AI’s roles in society and its increasing sophistication adds several layers of complexity that the human mind must challenge when thinking about AI agents. Recent research based on the information-processing-based Bayesian Mindsponge Framework (BMF, see “Mindsponge Theory,” Vuong, 2023 ) found that people’s perceptions of an AI’s autonomous mind were influenced by their beliefs about the AI’s desire for self-prolongation ( Vuong et al, 2023 ). This suggests a directional pattern of value reinforcement in perceptions of AI and indicates that as AI becomes more sophisticated in the future, it will be harder to set clear boundaries about what it means to have an autonomous mind, therefore changing the perception, evaluation, and the core attitude toward AI agents.…”

The potential of incorporating mindsponge into the Technological Acceptance Model

“…It aimed to extend and strengthen TAM using the dynamic informationprocessing-based approach to study complex and constantly changing problems in the new digital infosphere. It should be noted that the research protocol applied in the study -Bayesian Mindsponge Framework (BMF) analytics [5] -has also shown the effectiveness and flexibility of using mindsponge elements to examine human perceptions of AI characteristics and behaviors [6,7].…”

Rethinking the effects of performance expectancy and effort expectancy on new technology adoption: Evidence from Moroccan nursing students

“…Notably, Mantello, Ho, Nguyen, and Vuong (2023) have recently used the Mindsponge theory to update the TAM, proposing the Mindsponge Technological Acceptance Model (MTAM) to explain the individual's attitudes toward the harvesting of non-conscious data by AI systems. Besides MTAM, various studies relevant to the adoption of ICT and digital environment have also used mindsponge theory as a theoretical basis or framework for reasoning (Ho et al, 2022;Hswen, Nguemdjo, Yom-Tov, Marcus, & Ventelou, 2022;Kumar et al, 2023;Li, Tang, Zhou, & Wan, 2022;Nguyen et al, 2023;Tran et al, 2020;Vuong et al, 2021;Vuong et al, 2023aVuong et al, , 2023bJ. Wang, Liu, & Cai, 2022;R.…”