AI can cognitively understand fear without any bodily response, debater argues
yeastsplainer · x · 2026-09-16
In an ongoing debate about whether AI can experience fear, the author argues that AI can formulate and understand the cognitive content of fear — a threat to the self — even without bodily responses like a racing heart, rapid breathing, or the urge to flee. Much like humans can fear death or old age in a purely cognitive way, fear may not require somatic reactions at all.
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