Karolina Urbanska
University of Sheffield, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Papers
2
Total Citations
65
H-Index
2
About
Karolina Urbanska probes the fascinating intersection of psychology, artificial intelligence, and religious cognition. Her research explores how humans conceptualize non-human agents, revealing a striking semantic overlap in how we represent divine beings and advanced robots. In her highly cited 2019 work “God-like robots,” Urbanska demonstrates that people implicitly associate artificial intelligence with supernatural concepts, a finding with profound implications for human-robot interaction. Her 2018 paper “Conscious machines: Robot rights” engages directly with the philosophical and ethical dimensions of machine consciousness, responding to debates in *Science* about whether artificial systems could ever possess subjective experience. With over 65 citations across her core publications, Urbanska’s work bridges cognitive science, theology, and AI ethics. She challenges us to consider how our innate tendency to anthropomorphize—whether gods or machines—shapes our moral reasoning about emerging technologies. Her research is essential reading for anyone interested in the psychology of belief, the cultural reception of AI, or the ethical frameworks we will need as artificial entities become increasingly sophisticated.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1
- 2Conscious machines: Robot rights30 citations · 2018