“Do Chatbots Dream of Electric Sheep?”

Drawing on Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, the novel that inspired Blade Runner, Joaquim Jorge, INESC-ID researcher in Graphics & Interaction, opens his recent opinion article for the national newspaper Público.

Throughout the piece, the researcher explores the phenomenon of “anima machina”, a concept coined by himself and researcher Catarina Moreira to describe the human tendency to attribute human traits (or even a “soul”) to machines. While acknowledging the fluency of today’s systems, he argues that it should not be mistaken for genuine understanding or inner experience.

The article concludes with a thought-provoking question: “Who answers for what these systems do?” By shifting the focus to responsibility, Joaquim Jorge highlights the importance of establishing accountability for the outputs of Artificial Intelligence (AI), particularly when high-stakes decisions are involved.

Read the whole article (in Portuguese) on Público’s website.

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Photo: ©Instituto Superior Técnico