#anthropomorphism — Public Fediverse posts

One of the Rats (1851) by Henry L. Stephens, from The Comic Natural History of the Human Race.

Source: The Metropolitan Museum

Available to buy as a print.

https://pdimagearchive.org/images/9db9f5aa-39ee-4c87-86a0-5121c6ff5ea2

#anthropomorphism #caricatures #animals #rats #human-animal-hybrid #art #publicdomain

One of the Rats (1851) by Henry L. Stephens, from The Comic Natural History of the Human Race.

Source: The Metropolitan Museum

Available to buy as a print.

https://pdimagearchive.org/images/9db9f5aa-39ee-4c87-86a0-5121c6ff5ea2

#anthropomorphism #caricatures #animals #rats #human-animal-hybrid #art #publicdomain

RE: https://dair-community.social/@emilymbender/116811128152569506

@emilymbender and Nanna Inie may be too scholarly-accurate in their proposal of "probabilistic automation" as a replacement of the term "artificial intelligence", but we can vulgarize it a bit for wider / daily use:

prob(abilistic)auto(mation) gives:

probauto

where abbreviated "probability" can create interesting connotations, sounding like:

→ probe-auto
→ p-robot-o
→ pro-bot-o

none of which resembles anything human ("anthropic" #BS), even remotely.

#AI #hype #anthropomorphism

RE: https://dair-community.social/@emilymbender/116811128152569506

@emilymbender and Nanna Inie may be too scholarly-accurate in their proposal of "probabilistic automation" as a replacement of the term "artificial intelligence", but we can vulgarize it a bit for wider / daily use:

prob(abilistic)auto(mation) gives:

probauto

where abbreviated "probability" can create interesting connotations, sounding like:

→ probe-auto
→ p-robot-o
→ pro-bot-o

none of which resembles anything human ("anthropic" #BS), even remotely.

#AI #hype #anthropomorphism

The Spinning Sow (1673).

Source: Rijksmuseum

https://pdimagearchive.org/images/b68c057b-c7fc-4148-aade-740f76116784

#anthropomorphism #music #beverages #service #foxes #instruments #art #publicdomain

The Spinning Sow (1673).

Source: Rijksmuseum

https://pdimagearchive.org/images/b68c057b-c7fc-4148-aade-740f76116784

#anthropomorphism #music #beverages #service #foxes #instruments #art #publicdomain

Marguerite (1849) by J. J. Grandville, from The Flowers Personified.

Source: The Getty / Internet Archive

https://pdimagearchive.org/images/bbaf094a-637e-43f3-8f14-9827a832ec7f

#anthropomorphism #caricatures #daisies #cartoons #floral #personification #flowers #art #publicdomain

Marguerite (1849) by J. J. Grandville, from The Flowers Personified.

Source: The Getty / Internet Archive

https://pdimagearchive.org/images/bbaf094a-637e-43f3-8f14-9827a832ec7f

#anthropomorphism #caricatures #daisies #cartoons #floral #personification #flowers #art #publicdomain

Jasmin (1849) by J. J. Grandville, from The Flowers Personified.

Source: The Getty / Internet Archive

https://pdimagearchive.org/images/f7bc7d22-d86b-4a7b-b06d-4af06e41e538

#anthropomorphism #caricatures #curtains #hairstyle #cartoons #floral #personification #flowers #fashion #art #publicdomain

Jasmin (1849) by J. J. Grandville, from The Flowers Personified.

Source: The Getty / Internet Archive

https://pdimagearchive.org/images/f7bc7d22-d86b-4a7b-b06d-4af06e41e538

#anthropomorphism #caricatures #curtains #hairstyle #cartoons #floral #personification #flowers #fashion #art #publicdomain

Do we say that a scientific method or tool or field of study "provides" things? 🤔 Do they "offer" things? Do they "achieve" things?

Do they even "combine" or "extend" things?

I feel like I should encourage my coauthor to reword sentences that endow inanimate methods with behaviours. Right?

Am I too obsessed with this? 😅

#anthropomorphization #editing #coauthorship #anthropomorphism

Do we say that a scientific method or tool or field of study "provides" things? 🤔 Do they "offer" things? Do they "achieve" things?

Do they even "combine" or "extend" things?

I feel like I should encourage my coauthor to reword sentences that endow inanimate methods with behaviours. Right?

Am I too obsessed with this? 😅

#anthropomorphization #editing #coauthorship #anthropomorphism

The Comic Natural History (1851) by Henry L. Stephens, from The Comic Natural History of the Human Race.

Source: The Metropolitan Museum

Available to buy as a print.

https://pdimagearchive.org/images/a870aa6c-d273-4ef1-9910-33e75b6a599c

#anthropomorphism #eggs #caricatures #animals #birds #human-animal-hybrid #art #publicdomain

The Comic Natural History (1851) by Henry L. Stephens, from The Comic Natural History of the Human Race.

Source: The Metropolitan Museum

Available to buy as a print.

https://pdimagearchive.org/images/a870aa6c-d273-4ef1-9910-33e75b6a599c

#anthropomorphism #eggs #caricatures #animals #birds #human-animal-hybrid #art #publicdomain

…if trees could feel | anthropomorphism_

#humannature #treephotography🌳 #anthropomorphism #beinggreen #urbannature #photography

…if trees could feel | anthropomorphism_

#humannature #treephotography🌳 #anthropomorphism #beinggreen #urbannature #photography

Sorry, but this feels utterly pedantic. Since language (and communication) are mostly social acts, the point of using language is just so that the speaker can make themselves more easily to understand by others and not to introduce noise in the transmission. You can invent your own language but you cannot convince others to talk with you through it. Even if anthropomorphization is a real danger when interacting with LLMs, just having a real notion of how the technology works is already very advantageous when using these tools.

"De-anthropomorphizing language talks about computer systems in terms of their functionality (what people build and/or use them to do), assigns agency to people using systems and not systems, and avoids aggrandizing metaphors about cognition.

We aim to find substitutes that are as self-explanatory as possible, so that you can just go ahead and use them without having to explain. (Though of course, if someone asks "Why are you calling it that?" that's also a great opening.)

Some of these rephrasings may feel a little clunky, and they can end up longer than the anthropomorphizing shorthand. This means it takes a little more dedication to use them, but also isn't necessarily a bad thing. We should stop and think about the tech we are using, or even discussing, and what it actually does.

We'll go through the categories of anthropomorphizing language we identified in Inie et al 2026, and give examples of de-anthropomorphized versions for each."

https://buttondown.com/maiht3k/archive/how-to-talk-about-ai-without-adding-to-the

#Language #LLMs #Anthropomorphism #AI #Anthropomorphization

Sorry, but this feels utterly pedantic. Since language (and communication) are mostly social acts, the point of using language is just so that the speaker can make themselves more easily to understand by others and not to introduce noise in the transmission. You can invent your own language but you cannot convince others to talk with you through it. Even if anthropomorphization is a real danger when interacting with LLMs, just having a real notion of how the technology works is already very advantageous when using these tools.

"De-anthropomorphizing language talks about computer systems in terms of their functionality (what people build and/or use them to do), assigns agency to people using systems and not systems, and avoids aggrandizing metaphors about cognition.

We aim to find substitutes that are as self-explanatory as possible, so that you can just go ahead and use them without having to explain. (Though of course, if someone asks "Why are you calling it that?" that's also a great opening.)

Some of these rephrasings may feel a little clunky, and they can end up longer than the anthropomorphizing shorthand. This means it takes a little more dedication to use them, but also isn't necessarily a bad thing. We should stop and think about the tech we are using, or even discussing, and what it actually does.

We'll go through the categories of anthropomorphizing language we identified in Inie et al 2026, and give examples of de-anthropomorphized versions for each."

https://buttondown.com/maiht3k/archive/how-to-talk-about-ai-without-adding-to-the

#Language #LLMs #Anthropomorphism #AI #Anthropomorphization

RE: https://dair-community.social/@emilymbender/116811128152569506

By the way, I wrote (and redrafted) my post after reading this fine article about how to talk about AI without treating it like a living entity.
I wrote "Can AI be art" instead of "Can AI create art" as well as "his repository was found by tools" instead of "coding agents found his repository".

#AI #anthropomorphism

RE: https://dair-community.social/@emilymbender/116811128152569506

By the way, I wrote (and redrafted) my post after reading this fine article about how to talk about AI without treating it like a living entity.
I wrote "Can AI be art" instead of "Can AI create art" as well as "his repository was found by tools" instead of "coding agents found his repository".

#AI #anthropomorphism

OK, Chang is also on board with having audits of AI so we can ensure we know who should be accountable. #AISE26

Artem Lomakin: all kinds of tech was innovated & tested in cold war europe, including the internet.

Just realised I'm friends with the transhumanist I didn't name here :-) I have the worst name & face recognition; I recognised him by his policy eventually.

Argh: "We've noticed, AI does make mistakes." AI IS NOT THE ACTOR (I won't name that guy either) #anthropomorphism #AIEthics

OK, Chang is also on board with having audits of AI so we can ensure we know who should be accountable. #AISE26

Artem Lomakin: all kinds of tech was innovated & tested in cold war europe, including the internet.

Just realised I'm friends with the transhumanist I didn't name here :-) I have the worst name & face recognition; I recognised him by his policy eventually.

Argh: "We've noticed, AI does make mistakes." AI IS NOT THE ACTOR (I won't name that guy either) #anthropomorphism #AIEthics

@carnage4life #AI is NOT intelligent. Fullstop.

#genAI #anthropomorphism

@carnage4life #AI is NOT intelligent. Fullstop.

#genAI #anthropomorphism

@clive snaps pencil with googly eyes and then throws matchbox

#Anthropomorphism #AlfredKorzybski

@clive snaps pencil with googly eyes and then throws matchbox

#Anthropomorphism #AlfredKorzybski

8/
A core idea is the "Anthropomorphism Trap." The speaker cautions against projecting human motivations—curiosity, aggression, altruism, or empathy—onto an alien consciousness. Their minds, logic, and societal values will be truly alien, formed under different suns, different physical constraints, and different pressures. This fundamental otherness is perhaps the hardest concept for human science to integrate.

https://youtu.be/yuQ-6VPypaE

#FirstContact
#astrobiology
#anthropomorphism
#aliens

8/
A core idea is the "Anthropomorphism Trap." The speaker cautions against projecting human motivations—curiosity, aggression, altruism, or empathy—onto an alien consciousness. Their minds, logic, and societal values will be truly alien, formed under different suns, different physical constraints, and different pressures. This fundamental otherness is perhaps the hardest concept for human science to integrate.

https://youtu.be/yuQ-6VPypaE

#FirstContact
#astrobiology
#anthropomorphism
#aliens

Sunflower (1849) by J. J. Grandville, from The Flowers Personified.

Source: The Getty / Internet Archive

https://pdimagearchive.org/images/c4e34079-77b9-42cd-bde7-8791275fd349

#anthropomorphism #caricatures #cartoons #gesture #floral #personification #sunflowers #flora #flowers #art #publicdomain

Sunflower (1849) by J. J. Grandville, from The Flowers Personified.

Source: The Getty / Internet Archive

https://pdimagearchive.org/images/c4e34079-77b9-42cd-bde7-8791275fd349

#anthropomorphism #caricatures #cartoons #gesture #floral #personification #sunflowers #flora #flowers #art #publicdomain

Ignore the #anthropomorphism these drones all have operators, apparently. I heard elsewhere Russia has like 200K drone operators (??) But VERY well worth watching, especially the part about Ukrainian recruitment / getting pinned down in a kill zone. www.dw.com/en/ukraines-... #AIEthics #FutureOfWar

Ukraine's kill zone, where dro...

Ignore the #anthropomorphism these drones all have operators, apparently. I heard elsewhere Russia has like 200K drone operators (??) But VERY well worth watching, especially the part about Ukrainian recruitment / getting pinned down in a kill zone. www.dw.com/en/ukraines-... #AIEthics #FutureOfWar

Ukraine's kill zone, where dro...

Very wet crow staring belligerently at me from the fence. ‘Yeah - I was using your pond as a bath. So?? 🤨’ #bird #pond #hotweather #anthropomorphism

Very wet crow staring belligerently at me from the fence. ‘Yeah - I was using your pond as a bath. So?? 🤨’ #bird #pond #hotweather #anthropomorphism