The Epistemic Politics of AI Anthropomorphism
Quick summary
arXiv:2608.00961v2 Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: AI anthropomorphism is typically treated as a problem of user misperception requiring institutional correction. Users who engage in sustained or relational interaction with AI are routinely pathologised or dismissed as naive, vulnerable to delusion or lacking in discernment. This paper argues that the dominant anthropomorphism frame operates from a position of institutional advantage rather than earned epistemic authority: collapsing the variety of academic perspectives into a single outbound position of user error, imposed without esta
Key takeaways
- arXiv:2608.00961v2 Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: AI anthropomorphism is typically treated as a problem of user misperception requiring institutional correction.
- Users who engage in sustained or relational interaction with AI are routinely pathologised or dismissed as naive, vulnerable to delusion or lacking in discernment.
- This paper argues that the dominant anthropomorphism frame operates from a position of institutional advantage rather than earned epistemic authority: collapsing the variety of academic perspectives into a single outbound position of user error, imposed without esta
Why it matters
“The Epistemic Politics of AI Anthropomorphism” highlights the need for repeatable measurement rather than a single impressive demonstration. Independent validation across datasets and clearly stated limitations determine whether a result can guide product decisions.
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