Seems like this study set people up to believe a system was trying to help them so instead of seeing a random set of events unfolding they were looking for a pattern and then trying to attribute that pattern to the system they believed was helping them.<p>This doesn&#x27;t seem like the placebo effect, it seems like an example of the human mind trying to find patterns that don&#x27;t exist. Just like when someone tells you a cloud looks like something and then you can&#x27;t stop seeing that thing in the clouds until it goes away. Tell people there&#x27;s an AI and they can&#x27;t stop seeing it, even if it&#x27;s not there.