Prof. Nils Köbis

People are increasingly treating AI as if it possesses a mind. These perceptions can have significant consequences for behaviour and social debates about AI. In a cross-national study involving Australia, India, South Africa, the UK and the USA (total N = 2,470), we examined the relationship between perceptions of agency and experience, current and future consciousness attributions, and emotionality in descriptions of AI. The results showed that both agency and experience predicted consciousness attributions, with experience dominating for current consciousness and agency for future consciousness. Country differences in current consciousness attributions converge on future expectations. Furthermore, higher levels of mind perception correlate with more emotionally charged descriptions of AI. The emotionality of individual descriptions correlates weakly with assumed societal descriptions, with significant differences between countries (especially India and South Africa). Overall, the results suggest that the belief in an AI mind may be a key driver of its social classification.