GPT-4o reads the mind in the eyes

James W. A. Strachan; Oriana Pansardi; Eugenio Scaliti; Marco Celotto; Krati Saxena; Chunzhi Yi; Fabio Manzi; Alessandro Rufo; Guido Manzi; Michael S. A. Graziano; Stefano Panzeri; Cristina Becchio

arXiv · 2410.22309

GPT-4o reads the mind in the eyes

James W. A. Strachan·Oriana Pansardi·Eugenio Scaliti·Marco Celotto·Krati Saxena·Chunzhi Yi·Fabio Manzi·Alessandro Rufo·Guido Manzi·Michael S. A. Graziano·Stefano Panzeri·Cristina Becchio

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Abstract

Large Language Models (LLMs) are capable of reproducing human-like inferences, including inferences about emotions and mental states, from text. Whether this capability extends beyond text to other modalities remains unclear. Humans possess a sophisticated ability to read the mind in the eyes of other people. Here we tested whether this ability is also present in GPT-4o, a multimodal LLM. Using two versions of a widely used theory of mind test, the Reading the Mind in Eyes Test and the Multiracial Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test, we found that GPT-4o outperformed humans in interpreting mental states from upright faces but underperformed humans when faces were inverted. While humans in our sample showed no difference between White and Non-white faces, GPT-4o's accuracy was higher for White than for Non-white faces. GPT-4o's errors were not random but revealed a highly consistent, yet incorrect, processing of mental-state information across trials, with an orientation-dependent error structure that qualitatively differed from that of humans for inverted faces but not for upright faces. These findings highlight how advanced mental state inference abilities and human-like face processing signatures, such as inversion effects, coexist in GPT-4o alongside substantial differences in information processing compared to humans.

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James W. A. Strachan, Oriana Pansardi, Eugenio Scaliti, Marco Celotto, Krati Saxena, Chunzhi Yi, Fabio Manzi, Alessandro Rufo, Guido Manzi, Michael S. A. Graziano, Stefano Panzeri, Cristina Becchio. 2024-10-30. GPT-4o reads the mind in the eyes. https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.22309

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