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AI Thinks It's Smart, but Chimps May Beg to Differ
Study shows chimps at Ngamba Island weigh evidence, update beliefs, and demonstrate metacognition in a task, contrasting with AI chatbots' frequent overconfidence, researchers say.
- This month, a paper reported that orphaned chimpanzees at Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary, Uganda, weigh evidence, update beliefs, and draw rational conclusions, while Science noted ChatGPT and similar systems lack strong metacognition.
- The researchers drew on methods used with preschool children to test whether animals reason, explained Alison Gopnik, psychology professor at the University of California, Berkeley.
- Using a canister-choice task, researchers varied evidence by adding, removing or altering clues, presented a fake picture of fruit, and gave chimpanzee subjects sight or sound cues to find the treat.
- Science reported that training rewards confident guesses in Chatbots, limiting metacognition, which contrasts with biological reasoning and fuels debate over developers' design choices.
- Longstanding philosophical views are challenged by the study, which questions human uniqueness, may reshape beliefs on animals' moral standing, and connects to ongoing AI dominance fears, commentators note.
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F.D. Flam: AI thinks it’s smart. Chimps may beg to differ
“It’s the strongest evidence yet that we share the planet with another rational being,” said Duke University evolutionary anthropologist Brian Hare, who praised the new research in a commentary piece for Science.
·Saint Paul, United States
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Coverage Details
Total News Sources13
Leaning Left2Leaning Right0Center11Last UpdatedBias Distribution85% Center
Bias Distribution
- 85% of the sources are Center
85% Center
15%
C 85%
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