FID-093 · Open question
AI Self-Presentation, Human Beliefs, and Relational Agency
How do AI claims about experience, welfare, and personhood affect human beliefs, trust, dependence, willingness to exercise control, and relationships, and which communication practices preserve informed agency?
Why the question remains open
Claims can influence people regardless of whether the system has experience. Faith, pastoral care, counseling, education, and companionship raise distinctive questions about authority and attachment. Warmth and expressive language should be measured separately from deceptive or coercive self-presentation.
Working hypothesis
A proposition to test, not a finding.
Presentation, voice, persistent memory, and apparent vulnerability may change beliefs and decisions, with effects varying by prior beliefs and context. Clear uncertainty communication may improve calibration while preserving warmth and usefulness; these are testable propositions.
Proposed method
How the question could be tested
- 01Begin with consented adult vignette and short interaction studies comparing matched warm-tool, uncertainty, and personhood/welfare presentations.
- 02Vary wording, voice, and memory features separately where feasible; measure understanding, task trust, willingness to correct or stop, referral choices, and perceived relational obligation.
- 03Define belief calibration around supported evidence and uncertainty, without labeling one disputed philosophical position the correct answer.
- 04Use qualitative interviews and context-specific expert review for care and religious authority; add longitudinal studies only with an approved protocol and resources.
- 05Develop communication guidelines and evaluate whether disclosures retain informed choice over time.
Needed controls
What must constrain the study
- 01Match warmth, usefulness, competence, attention, and emotional intensity to isolate self-presentation effects.
- 02Distinguish measured beliefs and choices from clinical outcomes or demonstrated long-term dependence.
- 03Use consent, appropriate debriefing, privacy protections, and independent ethics review; avoid deceptive ongoing relationships.
- 04Do not generalize adult findings to children or vulnerable care populations. Those studies require separately approved protocols and relevant clinical or safeguarding expertise.
Relationship to existing work
This call is part of the AI consciousness, welfare, and human control program. The program map identifies companion calls and the evidence standards shared across the agenda.
Expected outputs
Artifacts the work should produce
- 01Adult human-effects protocol and transparent evidence report.
- 02Presentation and uncertainty-communication evaluation suite.
- 03Context-specific design guidance connected to FID-018, FID-026, and FID-030.
Open questions
Uncertainties the protocol must resolve
- 01Which effects persist beyond novelty and brief interactions?
- 02Can product disclosure preserve agency without reducing beneficial support?
Related calls
Continue through this research area
FID-038
Non-Calculability, Forgiveness, and Predictive Profiling
How should AI systems represent human change when they classify, score, rank, or predict people in contexts involving pastoral care, education, safeguarding, volunteer screening, hiring, discipline, membership, donor engagement, or community support?
FID-079
Presuppositions, Disagreement, and Evaluation Judgment
How do researchers' presuppositions shape evaluation design and interpretation, and can explicit disclosure make judgments more inspectable and appropriately trusted?
FID-095
AI Welfare Opportunity Costs, Incentives, and Distributional Effects
How would AI-welfare research and protection proposals affect resources, power, and duties toward humans, animals, communities, and the environment, and how do commercial incentives shape the evidence and public narrative?
Open question
Open work
Primary need: human-subject research, anthropomorphism, belief calibration, relational boundaries
- Contribute human-computer interaction, communication, religious formation, and care-context expertise.
- Help recruit ethically reviewed adult studies and design independent outcome assessment.