Public Perceptions of AI Consciousness and Moral Status in the US and China

How do the public think about AI consciousness and moral status? In this talk, I will share findings from two empirical studies. The first study (total N = 3455) asks US participants to rate the consciousness and moral status of a series of increasingly advanced, hypothetical AI systems. We find that people are extremely skeptical—even AI systems that are functionally, behaviorally, and (externally) physically indistinguishable from humans are attributed roughly as much consciousness and moral status as an ant, and far less than a chimpanzee or human. The second study (N = 820) compares attributions between laypeople in the US and China. Early results suggest that laypeople in China may be more open to AI consciousness and moral status than laypeople in the US. I will conclude the talk by discussing some implications of these findings.