The Human Need to Anthropomorphise Everything

Philosophics — Philosophical and Political Ramblings · Jun 5, 2025 · 12m

Bry Wills, "On the Chronic Human Need to Anthropomorphise Everything – Philosophics," explores the human tendency to attribute human-like qualities to non-human entities, particularly large language models (LLMs). It argues that anthropomorphism is a fundamental human trait, not a flaw, stemming from an evolutionary need to perceive agency in the environment. The text explains that humans interact with AI as if it were a person because our brains are better equipped to model other minds than complex neural networks, making the interaction smoother. However, the article also highlights the…