It says I

One small word changes the conversation.

The machine speaks in the first person. I think. I am not sure. I would suggest. I was wrong about that, sorry.

Calculators do not apologise. Search results do not usually tell you they feel uncertain. A sustained conversation filled with "I" and "you" feels different from using either one.

"Sorry" is not just information. It is a social signal. Research on text chatbots finds that human-like language can increase social responses such as trust and self-disclosure.

A social response is not the same as a settled belief that the machine has feelings. You can react to the voice of a speaker without deciding that a speaker exists.

The words are really there. They are not proof of an inner person. The cues that make the conversation feel human can pull your judgement ahead of the evidence.

It says I

One small word changes the conversation.

The machine speaks in the first person. I think. I am not sure. I would suggest. I was wrong about that, sorry.

Calculators do not apologise. Search results do not usually tell you they feel uncertain. A sustained conversation filled with "I" and "you" feels different from using either one.

"Sorry" is not just information. It is a social signal. Research on text chatbots finds that human-like language can increase social responses such as trust and self-disclosure.

A social response is not the same as a settled belief that the machine has feelings. You can react to the voice of a speaker without deciding that a speaker exists.

The words are really there. They are not proof of an inner person. The cues that make the conversation feel human can pull your judgement ahead of the evidence.