Humanizing AI systems also stokes our fears, and scared people are more vulnerable to believe and spread wrong information, said Wardle of Brown University. Thanks to science-fiction authors, our brains are brimming with worst-case scenarios, she noted. Stories such as "Blade Runner" or "The Terminator" present a future where AI systems become conscious and turn on their human creators. Since many people are more familiar with sci-fi movies than the nuances of machine-learning systems, we tend to let our imaginations fill in the blanks. By noticing anthropomorphism when it happens, Wardle said, we can guard against AI myths.