A Causal Model of Theory of Mind in Conflict for Artificial Intelligence
Theory of mind (ToM), the capacity to ascribe mental states to others and use those ascriptions for prediction and inference, is widely assumed to be essential for effective human-machine integration. Existing AI-ToM models address \emph{how} to mentalize, but leave the question of when largely unaddressed. The central question is: under what situational and agent-level conditions is ToM engagement causally warranted in conflict? This paper presents a structural causal model formalized as a directed acyclic graph (DAG), treating ToM as a mechanism activated by situational and agent-level conditions rather than as an always-on capacity. The model specifies four exogenous variables capturin...
| Authors | Nikolos Gurney |
|---|---|
| Primary category | cs.AI |
| Published | 15 June 2026 |
| Last updated at source | 14 July 2026 |
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